Peril in air? Mold pros sound alarm

[Guest guest]

Peril in air? Mold pros sound alarm

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-

12/1138172677132380.xml

Lolis Elie

My mother's house had been gutted, pressure-washed and treated for

mold.

But we decided to have an independent mold expert do a final test.

My great fear was that we'd find ourselves sick a year from now and

not realize that there was mold growing behind the walls.

We were told that you should get two tests of the air inside the

house and two tests of the air outside.

As soon as the tester walked in, he started looking suspiciously at

the little dark spots on the studs. I assumed these were the dead

remnants of the mold that had been killed by the bleach and other

cleaning chemicals.

He hardly took another step. It wasn't worth doing the air test, he

said. There was so much mold visible that nothing short of a

thorough cleaning would do.

The cost of thoroughly cleaning a medium-sized house? Roughly

$10,000.

Pervasive problem

I know a lot of people who are doing their own gutting and cleaning.

Hiring contractors these days is so expensive that doing much of the

work yourself is financially necessary for some people.

But is it worth it?

" Killing molds does not remove the threat, " said Jeff Bishop, a

technical adviser for the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and

Restoration Certification, the group that certifies mold-removal

professionals.

" If I go in there and spray a disinfectant, including chlorine

bleach or hydrogen peroxide and even bleach the black stain, I still

have a potentially harmful environment for me and my family, " Bishop

said. " This is the point that is not being made adequately in the

media down there in New Orleans. "

Even in the best of times, mold is pervasive. But most adults can

handle the presence of small amounts of mold with no major problem.

Indeed Dr. Brobson Lutz, the spokesperson for the Orleans Parish

Medical Society, contends, " The newest mythical threat on the block

is mold. "

" Mold growth indicates excessive moisture, but environmental molds

are more legal fodder than disease producers, " he wrote in The Times-

Picayune's Web edition a week after Hurricane Katrina.

But, Bishop said, small children, senior citizens, expectant

mothers, AIDS patients and others with compromised immune systems

could become very ill if exposed to an environment filled with mold.

Cutting the cost

You can save some money by doing all of the work yourself and then

have a professional test your air quality. But of course the

professionals suggest that you hire a professional to do the whole

thing.

" By doing all the tear out and all the stuff that doesn't require a

high level of expertise, you can cut the cost in half, " Bishop said.

.. . . . . . .

For more information, go to the " storm victims " section of

www.certifiedcleaners.org. For information on having your home

tested, go to the Indoor Air Quality Association Web site at

iaqa.com.

Lolis Elie can be reached at lelie@... or (504)

826-3330.