Senator Tackles Toxic Mold

September 24, 2008

The Epoch Times - New York,NY*

By Lin

Epoch Times Staff Sep 23, 2008

4667.html

NEW YORK—Before the wet winter months come around and beckon mold

into our homes, State Senator Liz Krueger warns that anyone who

claims they can remediate mold had better know what they are doing.

Krueger is putting forth legislation that requires commercial mold

cleaners be certified by the Department of Environmental

Conservation according to requirements to be set by her task force.

The task force will define what is a toxic mold and who is qualified

to clean it.

Similar regulations have been put in place for lead and asbestos

abatement.

Krueger hopes that with certification requirements, residents can

effectively banish mold before it banishes them. " Residents of an

entire building had to move out and sue their landlord due to mold

that was never properly remediated, " Krueger said.

Mold can affect new and old buildings alike, as long as it's moist

inside. Because the fur we know as mold is just the visible part of

the organism, it's hard to get rid of it completely.

" You can scrub your walls, you can scrub your bathroom, and it can

be behind the walls and in the walls and be doing just as much

health damage whether you see it or not, " Krueger said.

Mold releases spores, which can cause allergic reactions in some

people. Poor indoor air caused by mold is a known trigger of asthma

and other respiratory problems.

Goldman, the housing organizer at Make the Road New York, a

community advocacy group based out of Bushwick, Brooklyn, says that

current practices are not regulated at all.

" There are no specific requirements of who is qualified and who is

not, " he said. " In Bushwick, they (residents) basically bring in

anyone who could do it the cheapest. " Usually the cleaners would

first paint over the mold, and if that doesn't do the trick, put

plywood over the hole where moisture comes in, according to Goldman.

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