Help Protect our Children's Health in School

[Guest guest]

Spray Foam Insulation and NCFI® - Help Protect our Children's Health

in School

North Carolina Manufacturing Company Makes " Healthy Schools for

Healthy Children " a Corporate Mission

http://sprayfoam.com/npps/story.cfm?nppage=182

SprayFoam.com - Brielle,NJ,USA

November 11, 2008 - Mount Airy, N.C., - NCFI Polyurethanes announces

a major corporate initiative, www.HS4HC.com, to help make every new

school being built, and those being renovated, healthy environments

for our children by educating architects, builders, school boards,

administrators, superintendents, principals and teachers about the

dangers of mold and the simple ways they can prevent it.

" We are making 2009 the year of healthier schools, " says

, Senior Vice President. " We are dedicating our staff to an

internal program we are calling Healthy Schools for Healthy Children

that involves informing and working with the building and education

communities to make schools safer and healthier for every child by

inhibiting the dangerous growth of toxic mold. "

" According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), as many as 1,000

species of mold have been found in our homes, " states . " Mold

spores come into buildings on the air or attached to clothing and

there is nothing any of us can do to prevent that. But, what we can

do is deny mold what it needs to grow and become dangerous—moisture,

and we are experts at keeping out moisture! "

When mold grows out of control in a classroom and school environment

it releases spores which are breathed in by all children. According

to Ruth Etzel, M.D., former chairwoman of the Committee on

Environmental Health of the American Academy of

Pediatrics, " Children are more susceptible to mold-related illness

than adults, because their lungs and other organs are still

developing. "

The problem of mold in school buildings is not a new concern.

According to a Government Accounting Office (GAO) report, 20 percent

of the country's 80,000 public schools have indoor air quality

problems. According to the report, " Microbiological contaminants—

particularly molds—account for half of indoor air health complaints.

That means as many as 7,500 public schools have indoor air problems

related to mold. " There is no way of really knowing how many more

schools have undiscovered mold problems.

What is known is that mold in schools makes children very sick.

Exposure to mold produces diverse symptoms—fatigue, eye irritation,

respiratory problems, nausea, headaches—and can lead to more severe

illnesses like Asthma, Organic Dust Toxic Syndrome with an abrupt

onset of fever, flu-like symptoms, and respiratory symptoms—and

pulmonary hemorrhages and hemosiderosis—bleeding of the lungs.

The company believes most, if not all, of the nation's public

schools can be made healthier by paying more attention to the

building's envelope—the exterior walls, roof, and insulation. " If we

start at the point where moisture enters the building, we can put up

a barrier—a flak jacket of sorts—against moisture, and, without

moisture mold cannot live and grow, " adds Don Schumacher, Director

of Marketing. " Our product, InsulBloc®, is polyurethane foam applied

during construction of new schools to exterior walls—masonry block,

concrete, stone, etc.—or onto the interior for extreme retrofit of

older buildings. The liquid foam enters every crack, expands, cures

in place, and forms a seamless membrane that seals and insulates the

building against moisture. We make another product that does the

same for roofs and we've been using them successfully for many years

in all kinds of buildings from homes to commercial buildings and

even schools. We know it works! Now, we've got to convince the

people designing and building schools that it is the best way to

keep mold from harming our children. Whether they choose our product

or another, spray polyurethane foam will block moisture and prevent

mold. It will go a long way toward making our schools healthier and

our children certainly deserve that. "

According to , " It can also save schools money. InsulBloc®

spray foam insulation is a safe moisture barrier system that

contains no ozone depleting chemicals and contains renewable

agricultural products like sugar beets and corn. It's safe, long-

lasting and even allows schools to focus their limited maintenance

budgets on things like HVAC upkeep—another major point at which

moisture enters buildings and collects—rather than extremely costly

wall repairs or replacement.

The program will include free educational materials and an

informational web site. " We hope to expand the program to include

other companies and individuals—architects, contractors, facility

managers, school personnel— who truly care about the health of our

children and are willing to make the right choices to ensure we

provide Healthy Schools for Healthy Children. "

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About NCFI

NCFI was organized in 1964 by research chemist, Dr. H. W. Bradley

and Barnhardt Manufacturing Company. NCFI is headquartered in Mount

Airy, NC and manufactures polyurethane foam chemical systems for

spray foam-in-place insulation commonly referred to as SPF, roofing,

marine floatation, packaging, specialty molding, and many other

uses. NCFI has other manufacturing plants in High Point and Hickory,

North Carolina, in addition to Dalton, Ga., and Salt Lake City,

Utah. To learn more about HS4HC visit www.HS4HC.com, for more

information about NCFI please visit www.NCFI.com.

For follow-up information or to schedule an interview, please call

Dale McGlothlin at (202) 341-8615.