Mold treatment company and president of Restoring the entire United States Michael Rubino helped over 1,000 families remove mold from their homes for cleaner air and better health. In his book, Medic Mold, he provides step-by-step instructions for fixing mold and improving indoor air quality.
Take a closer look at indoor air quality, mold toxicity, and mold treatment
We consume a lot of air – 20,000 breaths a day on average. Like food and water, the quality of the air we consume is important to our health, but it is often the last factor to be checked when our bodies are unwell. But after working with many doctors and helping over a thousand families improve indoor air quality, it has become increasingly clear to me that clean indoor air is important to overall health. A common indoor air contaminant is mold.
What is mold?
Mold is a general term used to describe more than 100,000 species of fungi, including molds. It is a living organism that begins as a spore (a small seed) and continues to grow and survive conditions with moisture (typically a leak) and organic food sources (eg, wood). and other things that make up houses and buildings). When mold grows in one location, it creates spores and toxic compounds that can contaminate the air and spread throughout the home.
Symptoms of mold poisoning
When breathing contaminated air over time, it can lead to mycotoxins in the body, which is when the body is exposed to so much mold that the immune system can’t get rid of it. This can cause chronic inflammation, which can lead to chronic inflammatory reaction syndrome. CIRS can manifest itself as a range of symptoms: brain fog, chronic fatigue syndrome, respiratory infections, asthma, eczema, skin rashes, weight changes, anxiety, and depression . People I work with have also reported that mold toxicity has exacerbated conditions such as Hashimoto’s disease, Lyme disease, Sjögren’s syndrome, lupus, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), bacteria Epstein-Barr withdrawal and other autoimmune disorders.
In my experience, brain fog is a very common symptom of mold poisoning. Mold toxicity can cause inflammation and make it difficult for people to process speech and focus. I have seen clients frequently lose their minds when speaking or have difficulty building coherent sentences. One of my clients started talking bad about her after a long period of exposure to mold. In extreme cases, I’ve seen people lose their jobs because they couldn’t keep up their work no matter how hard they tried.
Signs of mold in the house
Although an estimated 50% of homes in the US have a history of water damage, most homes with mold growth show little or no sign of it. Usually, mold is hidden behind walls; in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems due to poor filtration or maintenance; in basements and crawl spaces; or in the attic. But common signs of mold are:
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Stains like coffee damage ceilings or walls due to old leaks
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A recent leak (mold can grow rapidly twenty-four to forty-eight hours from the start of the leak)
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Musty odors from gaseous byproducts of mold growth (also known as mVOCs or microbial volatile organic compounds)
If you suspect mold in your home, I recommend that you contact a professional mold handler immediately.
Treatment of mold
As the name implies, mold treatment is the process of remediating or treating mold — essentially removing mold from a home or building. I’ve been doing mold treatment for over a decade, and the removal process varies — depending on where the mold grows, how long it grows, the size of the house or building, etc.
In any case, the key to effective mold treatment — and what differentiates my method from industry standard methods — is the removal of mold, spores (or particles), toxic compounds its damage and any other by-products that mold growth produces. Leaving behind these toxic by-products, which are often done during standard mold handling, can contribute to further mold growth and ongoing health problems.
I started by working with best expert in the United States to conduct thorough tests to help identify biological contaminants that are affecting people living in the home. Considering most mold problems are behind walls, in lofts, or crawl spaces, you need someone who can inspect these areas for water damage (for mold or mildew). cannot grow without water). And when you examine the areas around water damage, you can pinpoint exactly where mold grows and how it spreads. This is critical to the remediation process, as well as working with mold testers who perform accurate sampling and testing: power level testing (targeting specific areas). water damage), cross-contamination sampling (dust sampling) and ERMI (Environmental Relative Humidity Index) sampling.
Once I have the results from the test, I can visit the home to make a plan. All in all, I’m looking for things that are often left out or not done properly during the build process that allow mold to grow. I start by tackling what I call bust building. This is a term that I define as poor design of the home that creates an opportunity for microbial growth — the source of leaks or excess moisture. For example, a bathroom exhaust fan vents into the attic instead of outside, allowing excess moisture to enter the attic. Or exposed soil in the crawl space allows permanent moisture to grow mold inside the crawl space. When I am able to resolve the structural problems, I remove the mold using the remedial procedure outlined in Medic Mold.
Other companies often take a more abstract approach to their testing. Instead of looking at the source of mold growth, they simply took one (or two) samples of the air inside the rooms in the home that the customer was concerned about. Air samples are often taken in a small part of a room (step by step) which provides extremely limited information about the air quality in the entire room and house. However, they use this information to create an analysis. It’s like going to the doctor when you’re sick and when they do a blood test to determine what’s going on in your body, they just check the vitamin D levels. It’s impossible to get a full picture. with this analysis. There are many technologies available to measure the air quality of a home, outside of an air sample. And it is important to work with an inspector or repair company this works properly and thoroughly.
Stages of mold treatment:
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Identify the source of mold growth.
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Removes mold, spores and toxic byproducts (key to effective remediation).
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Fix the source of mold growth to prevent mold from returning.
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Clean the entire house thoroughly to remove any residual mold spores and toxic compounds that may have spread throughout the home.
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Incorporate preventive measures (e.g., install better air filters in the HVAC system to improve air quality).
Prevent mold
Mold needs moisture to grow, so in general anything that minimizes humidity in the home is helpful in preventing mold growth. However, it is difficult (basically impossible) to stop water from entering the house from time to time. So, the most effective way to prevent or minimize mold growth is to schedule an annual mold inspection with a professional. And between annual inspections, address leaks right away — mold can grow within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of the start of a leak. If you are moving into a new home, I recommend that you schedule a mold test before you move in. You can find recommended mold testing professionals here.
Michael Rubino is a leader in the mold and treat space and advocate for better indoor air quality. He is the president of a mold treatment company Restoring the entire United States, The author of Medic Mold, a mold fixer that is board certified by IICRC (Institute for Accreditation of Cleaning and Restoration Certification) and ACAC (American Council for Accredited Accreditation), and a member of Indoor Air Quality Association.
This newspaper only gives true information. It is not, nor is it intended as a substitute for, professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. To the extent that this article represents the advice of physicians or medical professionals, the views expressed are those of the expert cited and do not necessarily represent the views of Goop.
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