Q. Nov. 18, 2011. Dear Phillip, We have been under
contract with a local air conditioning service company since 2005 for
them to service both heatng/AC units 2 X a year. I spoke with their
representative at length before signing a contract with them so they
would understand how important it was for my health to be able to
breathe clean air inside our home. We even had a special filter system
plus an ultraviolet system installed on each unit to limit dust and to
kill dangerous mold, mildew, bacteria and viruses. I was aware of the
effectiveness of the UV light as I was undergoing Ultra Violet Blood
Irradiation treatments by my physician to kill pathogens in my
bloodstream so I requested this info from Morris-Jenkins concerning our
systems. I was bedridden/housebound with Lyme disease for 5 years, but
with the proper alternative treatments/supplements, the Lord raised me
up in October 2009, Blessed by His Glorious Name!! My husband had NOT
been ill until February 2009 when he began suffering from chronic
pneumonia, upper and lower respiratory infections, pleurisy, pleural
effusion (fluid in pleural sack around the lung) and pleural granuloma
(the pleural sack pinches together at intervals, causing pockets of
fluid), accompanied by severe pain. He has been unable to work since
then. When my health began deteriorating again the first of this year, I
was shocked beyond belief because I power walk daily, we eat a healthy
diet of organic fruits and vegetables along with free range meat, and we
take only alternative treatments and pharmaceutical-grade supplements
prescribed by an alternative MD who helped me overcome the ravages of
Lyme disease. I was determined to find the root cause problem. In August
2011, I realized how much better I felt physically, mentally and
emotionally AWAY FROM OUR HOME on a shopping trip or outside working in
the yard. It came to me to have the quality of the air in our home
tested. A local mold inspector assessed our crawlspace and the air
inside our home and outside in the yard. I am attaching a copy of his
report for your review. When we read the mold inspector’s report and
saw the attached pictures of obvious mold in our entire crawlspace,
again, we were shocked beyond belief because we had been PROACTIVE
against anything like this happening to our home by signing a contract
with the air conditioning service company to inspect our systems 2 X a
year and by having the special filter system and the Blue-Tube UV system
on each of our htng/AC systems. We had covered our bases – so then, HOW
DID THIS HAPPEN? The mold inspector indicated to us that the tape had
come loose from the plastic sheeting covering the humidifier on the AC
system, which is suppose to be an enclosed, contained system. This
allowed moisture and heat from our hot and humid North Carolina summers
to enter, thus giving the mold a chance to proliferate. In Chapter 1 of
your
Mold Legal Guide Book, you state, “There are numerous approaches
to filing actions in the area (of mold), ranging from personal injury to
breach of contract to bad faith.” The air conditioning company
maintenance agreement states: “ONGOING SAFETY INSPECTIONS: Your peace
of mind is our goal. We will assess your home’s air conditioning and
heating systems to ensure they are in safe operating condition. You’ll
receive a detailed report of our findings, and we’ll explain any
concerns. WE’LL ALERT YOU TO POTENTIAL EMERGENCIES BEFORE THEY BECOME
DISUPTIVE PROBLEMS.” When the air conditioning company representative
came out to inspect and assess the current situation, we told him we had
been depending on their technicians to point out potential problems as
they arose as stated in their contract with us because my husband and I
are 67 and 66 years old respectively and knew we would not be crawling
under the house for any reason!! His response was that THEIR TECHNICIANS
WERE NOT TRAINED TO RECOGNIZE MOLD therefore his company was not
responsible for the mold beginning in the air handler and spreading
throughout the entire crawlspace of our home even though the UV system
brochure they gave us states: “THE PROBLEM: The moist environment
INSIDE OF YOUR AIR HANDLING SYSTEM can be the PERFECT BREEDING GROUND
FOR MANY DANGEROUS MOLDS AND MICRO-ORGANISMS.” If this is true, then WHY
AREN’T THAT COMPANY’S TECHNICIANS TRAINED TO RECOGNISE THE DANGEROUS
MOLD WHEN THEY SEE IT??? We believe that the
company is in “breach of contract” with us resulting in personal injury,
loss of income and loss of a safe living environment within our home.
Can you recommend a “mold” lawyer in our area or direct us as to how to
locate one? I understand that we need an attorney well versed in mold
lawsuits to be effective. Mr. Frye, my husband and I are both
chronically ill with compromised immune systems, upper and lower
respiratory problems, gastrointestinal problems, etc., etc. As stated
above, we are 67 and 66 years old respectively and my husband has been
unable to work because of chronic pneumonia etal in 2 ½ years all due to
the mold. We have no money for mold remediation at this time. We have 2
estimates: $6,000. + and $8,000. + but both remediation companies
wanted to use harmful chemical that I am allergic to.
What can we do as a “stop gap” now until we can
do the completed your recommended
25 step remediation at a later date? Also, I have recently
read that for best results you need a cluster of
UV lights with reflectors rather
than just 1 UV light per system as we have currently.
Do you have any input on this subject?
Thank you for expertise and we look forward to hearing from you as soon
as possible.
A.
After reading your very detailed letter and your lab analysis lab
report, you certainly need to own your own Bio3Blaster
ozone generator from our company and a low-cost Hurricane model
fogging machine (buy online at
http://www.dynafog.com).
If you want your mold remediation to be done properly and effectively
you need to hire handymen to carry out your and my mold remediation
instructions rather than use an expensive mold remediation contractor.
Most professional mold remediations are done poorly because of
inadequate worker training and numerous shortcuts taken in the
remediation job. Your first
air
conditioning mold
remediation
step should be to use the Bio3Blaster
ozone generator for at least one hour in the crawl space, and into
your heating/cooling ducts, attic, and in all rooms of the house. Be
sure to read the safety and use instructions posted at
http://www.envirodetectives.com/ozone_blasting.htm. Then, you will use
boric acid powder dissolved in hot water (buy 50 lbs for heavy
application in your home from
http://www.moldmart.net)
to be applied by both spraying with a $40 hand pump garden sprayer and
with fogging (into hard to reach areas and inside heating/cooling
equipment and ducts). Fog boric acid powder mixed with hot water into
the HVAC air conditioning equipment and ducts, the crawl space, and the
attic. The visible mold growth in the crawl space can be removed later.
The above first two steps are quick and effective mold relief for you in
view of your and your husband's serious mold health problems and the
severity of the existing mold growth in your crawl space and inside your
living areas. Please sign up on
Mold Mart for my $99 mold advice program (unlimited email advice for
60 days) so I can guide you step by step as to what to do. You are
absolutely right that just one UV light is inadequate to kill mold for
incoming air into your heating/cooling system. Your discovery that it
takes multiple UV bulbs inside a reflective service "kill box" is
important to you. It takes about 350,000 uwats per second of UV energy
to kill mold spores. One UV bulb provides about 10,000 to 20,000 wats.
But don't worry about the kill box right now. Your health requires that
you do the ozone treatment and the boric powder spraying and fogging
immediately. To find a good attorney, use the Martindale-Hubbell
directory of attorneys online or in the reference department of a big
public library to find an "environmental" attorney specialist in your
area. Best wishes, Phillip Fry, Certified Environmental Hygienist
Q.
How can you tell the difference between dust on
a ceiling air conditioning diffuser or mold?
A.
Mold testing is the answer. You should use
mold test kits or the Scotch tape
lift
sampling technique to collect a sample of the mystery substance
on the air conditioning ceiling diffuser for submission to Mold Inspector
Laboratory for mold analysis and
mold identification.
You can also use mold test kits from a large hardware or home improvement
store.
You
also need to know how seriously and where your home might be mold
contaminated. Your next step to solve the problem is to mold test the air of
each room, basement, crawl space, attic, and the outward air flow from each
heating/cooling duct register for the possible presence of elevated levels
of airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test.
Elevated mold levels signify a possible serious mold infestation problem and
health threat.
Hire a Certified Mold Inspector. To know how to do mold
remediation safely and effectively, please visit:
Mold Removal.
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