Re: When to use an antifungal-mold in the car

[Guest guest]

Robin-I'm having the same issues with mold in my cars. It's the A/C which is the

new bad thing in my life. They are all starting to turn on me but the car's the

worst because it's such an enclosed space that the mold is just right on top of

you. I can;t afford a new car and even my husband's car is bad (normally we just

trade till we can lease a new one) so I'm just driving with no AC, and with a

mask on and with the windows wide open. But the intense exposure is totally

knocking me down. Now 2 AC's in my house have turned moldy. I can only assume

it;s the fact that I am more sensitive now. It CAN " T be that my luck is SO bad,

can it?

I'm thinking not to replace my bedroom one-close up the hole in the wall and buy

a cheap one for the window. If I have to keep changing the AC every 3 years

because of mold I might as well be smart about it.

Is this happening to anyone else? Because I have had 6 AC's this year turn moldy

on me (3 cars-3 home). What am I doing wrong!?

>

> Thanks, .. my parents tested their cars and they have high levels of mold

spores (air sampling). I am not sure if this is not just outside are circulating

in car..?? But they were advised to use UV lights to kill the mold.. which I

know will leave fragments and toxins, antigens... sheesh.. this is complicated.

>

> Im not sure how air circulates in a car and how to clean a spore-y car and if

possible.. there was no A/P as was in the house.. I think many of these spores

are outdoor spores.

>

> Robin

>

[Guest guest]

Surella, AC's will all go moldy if you don't outfit them with a good filter.

See if you can do an message search and find May's posts about AC. He

has given us good advice or get one of his paperback books that discuss AC, or

get in the library. He says to make a filter to put on them but goes into more

detail. Here's

a couple of threads from the past. There are ALOT of threads on AC in the

group. One way to find is to put 'WEB filter' in search box:

/message/69975

/message/42932

>

> Robin-I'm having the same issues with mold in my cars. It's the A/C which is

the new bad thing in my life. They are all starting to turn on me but the car's

the worst because it's such an enclosed space that the mold is just right on top

of you. I can;t afford a new car and even my husband's car is bad (normally we

just trade till we can lease a new one) so I'm just driving with no AC, and with

a mask on and with the windows wide open. But the intense exposure is totally

knocking me down. Now 2 AC's in my house have turned moldy. I can only assume

it;s the fact that I am more sensitive now. It CAN " T be that my luck is SO bad,

can it?

> I'm thinking not to replace my bedroom one-close up the hole in the wall and

buy a cheap one for the window. If I have to keep changing the AC every 3 years

because of mold I might as well be smart about it.

> Is this happening to anyone else? Because I have had 6 AC's this year turn

moldy on me (3 cars-3 home). What am I doing wrong!?

>

[Guest guest]

Is the car new ??  Maybe it is not mold but plastic you are reacting to. 

Maybe

it is off-gassing of the car or fomaldehyde, glues, etc

 

 

God Bless !!

dragonflymcs

Mayleen

_______________________________

From: surellabaer <surellabaer@...>

Sent: Sat, September 4, 2010 8:40:29 PM

Subject: [] Re: When to use an antifungal-mold in the car

 

Robin-I'm having the same issues with mold in my cars. It's the A/C which is the

[Guest guest]

You're not doing anything wrong. Microbial growth in an A/C is inevitable.

There's dust and water!

No window or mini-split comes with adequate filtration, so you have to

supplement. The best you can do for window units is get supplemental filter

material (min. MERV-7 or MERV-8) and tape it to the outside of the intake (if it

will not fit inside). Web products makes an electrostatic filter that can be cut

to size: <http://www.webproducts.com/Categories.bok>.

May

May Indoor Air Investigations LLC

>

> Robin-I'm having the same issues with mold in my cars. It's the A/C which is

the new bad thing in my life. They are all starting to turn on me but the car's

the worst because it's such an enclosed space that the mold is just right on top

of you. I can;t afford a new car and even my husband's car is bad (normally we

just trade till we can lease a new one) so I'm just driving with no AC, and with

a mask on and with the windows wide open. But the intense exposure is totally

knocking me down. Now 2 AC's in my house have turned moldy. I can only assume

it;s the fact that I am more sensitive now. It CAN " T be that my luck is SO bad,

can it?

> I'm thinking not to replace my bedroom one-close up the hole in the wall and

buy a cheap one for the window. If I have to keep changing the AC every 3 years

because of mold I might as well be smart about it.

> Is this happening to anyone else? Because I have had 6 AC's this year turn

moldy on me (3 cars-3 home). What am I doing wrong!?

>

[Guest guest]

I know about the VOC's in cars-normally I make my husband drive the new one6

months to offgas it because I can't drive it at all. VOC migraines are my worst

ever. But good suggestion-some people don;t think that new car smell is deadly!

>

> Is the car new ??  Maybe it is not mold but plastic you are reacting to. 

Maybe

> it is off-gassing of the car or fomaldehyde, glues, etc

>  

>  

> God Bless !!

> dragonflymcs

> Mayleen

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the info. I don't understand how the filter makes a difference

though. I use the same filter I have used forever. The mold issue is just

recent. I looked at Jeff's post and I do understand the running the AC on fan

for a while to dry everything of. But for how long? Is 5 minutes enough? Is an

hour too long? I'm sorry but in my state of exposure I really need specific

instructions. I can't follow theory but if you tell me a,b,c steps I can do it.

Jeff-if you are reading this, may I email you with questions? Thanks, Barb!

Surella

>

> Surella, AC's will all go moldy if you don't outfit them with a good filter.

See if you can do an message search and find May's posts about AC. He

has given us good advice or get one of his paperback books that discuss AC, or

get in the library. He says to make a filter to put on them but goes into more

detail. Here's

a couple of threads from the past. There are ALOT of threads on AC in the

group. One way to find is to put 'WEB filter' in search box:

/message/69975

> /message/42932

[Guest guest]

mold reactivity up-regulates with time and exposure. This is the hardest part of

the illness to deal with. You are trying to hit a moving target. All the severe

reactors I know eventually have to give up AC totally, in retrospect, the last

houses I left were probably just the AC, then my travel trailer went terminally

bad the 3rd time I turned on the AC, then the studio I built went bad because of

AC. then the Jeep got mold in the AC. Every used car I tried the AC was already

too bad, so I moved on to new cars, but everytime they are test driven, the AC

is turned on, It was summer, all bad. So I ordered a new truck, from a MCS

afflicted salesperson. She picked it up off the train personally, drove it to

the dealership, pulled the plug on the AC, and I had a car I could drive. You

have to pull the plug-otherwise the AC comes on with the de-frost. Before that I

had spent a month and a fortune trying to clean the AC in my jeep.

>

> Robin-I'm having the same issues with mold in my cars. It's the A/C which is

the new bad thing in my life. They are all starting to turn on me

[Guest guest]

Im sorry youve had so many go bad. I think we have been using the same bad or

dirty one in house and cars for too long. Had no idea about HVAC care (thank you

for the links, Barb). Our coils have not been cleaned for over 10 years and the

electronic filters (I know there is debate about those) has not been working for

possibly most of those years. We are going to purchase Air Bear filters to take

the place of them and get the coils cleaned when the kids and I are out of here.

We would put UV lights on either side of coils but we have an older system that

wont accomodate and we plan to move.

This time for my parents and thei cars (and house insepction that showed more

spores after 2 days of air scrubbing than before), it seems they were cutting

down a tree in their yard as the car was being inspected. The inspeictor didnt

think or think to tell my parents that this could effect the results.

There was also ongoing landscape demolition and house repair (they found the

source of an outdood leak) going on at the same time. A good deal of exterior

wall was exposed to the interior plywood and yet the " remediator " thinks its a

good time to microban and scrub the air (not my choice, not my house).

So, it seems very likely the reports they receievd were " contaminated " and no

good. We are all sick of the crazy trail the inspector and " remediator " led them

on.. the " remediator " seemed to think it was ok to microban the house yet again

and run possibly dirty scrubbers (he rented them and then charged them way too

much for his services) while the house was undergoing demolition.

My parents didnt know to question. They didnt tell me what was going on so I

couldnt help. So we are left with a lot of money down the drain, a house full of

microban and mold spores that shouldnt be there.

We are about sick of it. She was told to put black lights in the cars and then

detail them well. With 5000 to 100000 spores per cu meter it was a good idea to

detail well at least and I would love to know what to do about air

conditioning.. how to flush that out?? Im sure construction workers must deal

with these levels of mold spores (and realize cant compare healthy folks with

unhealthy HLA type folks).

The house Ive suggested some Dr. Bronners soap with water to wash down surfaces

where microban has been slathered. At least it will help get it off surface, I

hope. Hepa vaccing and that it.

It just gets to a point where you can do just so much and unless you are working

with informed people you things can spiral downward fast.. which they did.

So my question as well is how to address the AC specifiically of a car.. I got

that we can change the car cabin filter. Im going to do an internet search.. I

think we are recycling air inside or bringing air from outside in, so I dont see

how to create as clean a car envirnoment as one can with a house, except with no

water damage (in each) less dangerous spores. There are air purifiers you can

put in the car. The ones I have found sit in the front seat.

I know the UV killed the mold and left fragments but this was not my decision. I

did read on another mold oriented list that UV might address mycotoxins.. Not

sure how the UV should be used or if true.

Robin

>

> Robin-I'm having the same issues with mold in my cars. It's the A/C which is

the new bad thing in my life. They are all starting to turn on me but the car's

the worst because it's such an enclosed space that the mold is just right

[Guest guest]

Robin, what does it mean, to use blacklight to detail car?

>

>She was told to put black lights in the cars and then detail them well. With

5000 to 100000 spores per cu meter it was a good idea to detail well at least

[Guest guest]

They used two black lights (UV) in the car for so many hours then left windows

open as per instructions to seemingly air out something from the use of the UV

lights then they detailed the car(had someone clean it really well). The

remediator " gave " them the lights and the instructions.

Robin

> >

> >She was told to put black lights in the cars and then detail them well. With

5000 to 100000 spores per cu meter it was a good idea to detail well at least

>

[Guest guest]

Especially when your car sits closed on a hot summer day, it is full of fumes

when you open it.   Turn on the A/C and  turn vents away from you open the

window to exhaust the fumes out of the car. Is what I do for those cases. 

So you know it is mold not VOC's , sorry  

God Bless !!

dragonflymcs

Mayleen

________________________________

From: surellabaer <surellabaer@...>

Sent: Sun, September 5, 2010 9:32:12 AM

Subject: [] Re: When to use an antifungal-mold in the car

 

I know about the VOC's in cars-normally I make my husband drive the new one6

months to offgas it because I can't drive it at all. VOC migraines are my worst

ever. But good suggestion-some people don;t think that new car smell is deadly!

[Guest guest]

If you use UV lights to kill mold in a car ac, where do you aim it? I don;t get

cars at all and can't see anywhere that would be open to the UV's.

I've sprayed hydrogen peroxide in the window ducts and that seemed to help with

the smell but my eyes still burn in the car so I know some little mold is still

there.

Thanks for your help!

>

> Im sorry youve had so many go bad. I think we have been using the same bad or

dirty one in house and cars for too long. Had no idea about HVAC care (thank you

for the links, Barb). Our coils have not been cleaned for over 10 years and the

electronic filters (I know there is debate about those) has not been working for

possibly most of those years. We are going to purchase Air Bear filters to take

the place of them and get the coils cleaned when the kids and I are out of here.

We would put UV lights on either side of coils but we have an older system that

wont accomodate and we plan to move.

>

> This time for my parents and thei cars (and house insepction that showed more

spores after 2 days of air scrubbing than before), it seems they were cutting

down a tree in their yard as the car was being inspected. The inspeictor didnt

think or think to tell my

[Guest guest]

I would love to know this as well. Also.. is this indoor and or car. Not sure

pulling in air (car) from outide would be considered using the fan.

Thank you..

Robin

>

> Thanks for the info. I don't understand how the filter makes a difference

though. I use the same filter I have used forever. The mold issue is just

recent. I looked at Jeff's post and I do understand the running the AC on fan

for a while to dry everything of. But for how long? Is 5 minutes enough? Is an

hour too long? I'm sorry but in my state of exposure I really need specific

instructions. I can't follow theory but if you tell me a,b,c steps I can do it.

>

[Guest guest]

they used the UV lights in the car interior (not saying that had to.. this is

what the " remediator " told them to do) and I dont know exactly how.. can ask.

Im not understanding completely.. its outdoor spores or spores we bring in that

might get in the coils or hose and grow mold.. how likely is that?

I can see the HVAC system.. the coils are contained in a box and its wet in

there. Im guessing the same is true for car AC coils.. so it would make sense to

get them cleaned periodically.

basics on how to keep a car AC system as healthy as possible would be nice to

know.

My husband said he thinks the coils are n the dash board, so not sure how easy

to get to and with HVAC system the UV lights are used constantly.

Robin

>

> If you use UV lights to kill mold in a car ac, where do you aim it? I don;t

get cars at all and can't see anywhere that would be open to the UV's.

> I've sprayed hydrogen peroxide in the window ducts and that seemed to help

with the smell but my eyes still burn in the car so I know some little mold is

still there.

> Thanks for your help!

>

>

[Guest guest]

After my first exposure I had my truck ozoned... big mistake. It made both me

and my girlfriend extremely sick for about a month after it was done. I ended up

taking it back to the company that did it and they detailed the interior a

second time which helped a little but it still created problems for me for a

couple of months. I came across a company here in town that used the fogging

method which seemed to help in terms of me not being as symptomatic when I drove

my truck. I was a little leery about spending more money on something else to

try to save my truck but I was desperate and was willing to try just about

anything. It worked so well that now that Im going to move again Im going to

call that same company and see if they'll do it again, the first time it was

done the tech that was doing it said sometimes it works and sometimes it

doesn't.

>

> they used the UV lights in the car interior (not saying that had to.. this is

what the " remediator " told them to do) and I dont know exactly how.. can ask.

>

> Im not understanding completely.. its outdoor spores or spores we bring in

that might get in the coils or hose and grow mold.. how likely is that?

>

> I can see the HVAC system.. the coils are contained in a box and its wet in

there. Im guessing the same is true for car AC coils.. so it would make sense to

get them cleaned periodically.

>

> basics on how to keep a car AC system as healthy as possible would be nice to

know.

>

> My husband said he thinks the coils are n the dash board, so not sure how easy

to get to and with HVAC system the UV lights are used constantly.

>

> Robin

[Guest guest]

Tug: What is the name of the product that they used to fog your truck with?

Thanks~ D

>

> After my first exposure I had my truck ozoned... big mistake. It made both me

and my girlfriend extremely sick for about a month after it was done. I ended up

taking it back to the company that did it and they detailed the interior a

second time which helped a little but it still created problems for me for a

couple of months. I came across a company here in town that used the fogging

method which seemed to help in terms of me not being as symptomatic when I drove

my truck. I was a little leery about spending more money on something else to

try to save my truck but I was desperate and was willing to try just about

anything. It worked so well that now that Im going to move again Im going to

call that same company and see if they'll do it again, the first time it was

done the tech that was doing it said sometimes it works and sometimes it

doesn't.

>