Help with household mold investigation

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I would appreciate any advice I can get. We moved into our new home

six years ago. A little over a year ago, I noticed the odor of mold

or mildew that seemed to be coming from the shower drain in our

second floor master bathroom. There was no visible sign of mildew in

the shower. I bought drain cleaner and poured it in the drain but

the odor was back in three or four days. I tried several types of

drain cleaner and the results were the same. I tried pouring bleach

in the drain and at first it would keep the odor away for a while,

but eventually the odor was back in less than a day. Eventually, I

noticed that I was wheezing whenever I came into the bedroom. I had

a terrible bout of bronchitis where I could hardly breathe at all. I

had to stop three or four times to rest on my way up the stairs. I

started coughing up bloody mucus. The doctor prescribed steroids and

an asthma inhaler. I had a chest x-ray which was clear. The doctor

felt that since I had never been a " wheezer " before, I would not need

to continue the inhaler once the bronchitis was gone.

I did recover from that episode, but in the last month or so I have

started wheezing all the time. I am having to use the inhaler

several times a day. My husband sleeps with a breathing machine

called a CPAP because of sleep apnea, and the air he breathes at

night is filtered. He hasn't had any breathing problems.

Eventually I decided that the moldy odor and my breathing problems

were probably related so I started to investigate on the web. The

stories I have read about stachybotrus are very frightening and I

want to do whatever it takes to investigate this problem. We had a

home inspector come to check for mold. He was able to look at the

wall behind the shower and could see nothing, but when he checked the

ceiling of my husband's office, which is directly below our bathroom,

he found waterstains that point to a water leak. I can't believe I

had never seen the marks before.

Now we want to have someone come out but we have no idea who to

contact. Our state board of health recommended that we have someone

look inside the walls with a mirror and light, but they had no

suggestion as to how to have whatever we find tested to see what it

is. We are wondering if we should contact our homeowner's insurance

company and what kind of cooperation (or lack of it) we can expect

from them if we do.

My husband and I have four young adult children in the house as well

as a not quite two year old grandson, and I am very concerned about

everyone's health.

Thanks for your help.

Penny

[Guest guest]

Dear Penny --

You'll hear from a lot greater minds than mine, but I've been quite

successful in keeping mold down with vinegar.

I only clean drains with baking soda and vinegar ... I use it as a

deodorizer and if the drain gets plugged, I use it to open the drain.

Some people can't handle vinegar, but use a respirator ... you know it's

gotta be safer than the products sold for drain opening purposes.

I have also found that I do far better when I stay off of all drugs. My

doctor has prescribed oxygen for me, which I use on an as needed basis ...

and never for more than 20 mins or so at a time. I do things differently

than most, so my primary care doctors are a chiropractor and acupuncturists

(two, one primarily deals w/my MCS and the other primarily deals w/a benign

tumor I developed in my former, very toxic workplace).

Since I've retired and am no longer subjected to 8/5 exposures I use my

oxygen less and less ... and my health has improved dramatically. Of

course, I do not use any scented products and continue to avoid them when

others use them by wearing my respirator and sometimes using oxygen.

I also never use any standard cleaning products. My husband and I are very

healthy and we've never had our grandchildren get sick when they've visited

us.

If you are interested in more info, you can check out EHN's website ...

especially General Links, page C, Clean ...

http://users.lanminds.com/~wilworks/ehnlinx/c.htm#Clean

Good luck! -- barb

=====================

At 11:22 PM +0000 6/5/00, Jeff wrote:

>Hi,

>

>I would appreciate any advice I can get. We moved into our new home

>six years ago. A little over a year ago, I noticed the odor of mold

>or mildew that seemed to be coming from the shower drain in our

>second floor master bathroom. There was no visible sign of mildew in

>the shower. I bought drain cleaner and poured it in the drain but

>the odor was back in three or four days. I tried several types of

>drain cleaner and the results were the same. I tried pouring bleach

>in the drain and at first it would keep the odor away for a while,

>but eventually the odor was back in less than a day. Eventually, I

>noticed that I was wheezing whenever I came into the bedroom. I had

>a terrible bout of bronchitis where I could hardly breathe at all. I

>had to stop three or four times to rest on my way up the stairs. I

>started coughing up bloody mucus. The doctor prescribed steroids and

>an asthma inhaler. I had a chest x-ray which was clear. The doctor

>felt that since I had never been a " wheezer " before, I would not need

>to continue the inhaler once the bronchitis was gone.

>

>I did recover from that episode, but in the last month or so I have

>started wheezing all the time. I am having to use the inhaler

>several times a day. My husband sleeps with a breathing machine

>called a CPAP because of sleep apnea, and the air he breathes at

>night is filtered. He hasn't had any breathing problems.

>

>Eventually I decided that the moldy odor and my breathing problems

>were probably related so I started to investigate on the web. The

>stories I have read about stachybotrus are very frightening and I

>want to do whatever it takes to investigate this problem. We had a

>home inspector come to check for mold. He was able to look at the

>wall behind the shower and could see nothing, but when he checked the

>ceiling of my husband's office, which is directly below our bathroom,

>he found waterstains that point to a water leak. I can't believe I

>had never seen the marks before.

>

>Now we want to have someone come out but we have no idea who to

>contact. Our state board of health recommended that we have someone

>look inside the walls with a mirror and light, but they had no

>suggestion as to how to have whatever we find tested to see what it

>is. We are wondering if we should contact our homeowner's insurance

>company and what kind of cooperation (or lack of it) we can expect

>from them if we do.

>

>My husband and I have four young adult children in the house as well

>as a not quite two year old grandson, and I am very concerned about

>everyone's health.

>

>Thanks for your help.

>

>Penny

opinions expressed are strictly barb's!

+++

Sensitive to synthetic fragrances?

The FDA Petition is still open.

Reference: Docket Number: 99P-1340/CP 1

WRITE! <fdadockets@...>

More info on petition:

http://users.lanminds.com/~wilworks/FDApetition/bkgrinfo.htm

Environmental Health Network

(info on EMF/fragrances/MCS/pesticides)

http://www.ehnca.org

Fragranced Products Information Network

(well researched and documented info on fragrances)

http://www.ameliaww.com/fpin/fpin.htm

[Guest guest]

Hi Penny,

I am still a novice at this mold stuff but will be happy to share what I

have learned, most of it here. This has been a very helpful group to me and

I hope it is to you too. One (maybe) non mold related comment is that if you

have a septic system you should be careful about how much bleach you put down

your drain. Enough bleach will kill off the bacteria that allow your tank

and drain field to function. I don't have a good answer for you about what

you can use but wonder if the problem isn't in your plumbing other than the

fact that there may be a leak. It seems to me the mold problem is in the

cellulose products inside your walls that have gotten wet not in the plumbing

itself.

We have a few small isolated spots on our ceilings where there is mold

growing on the ceiling. In one of these rooms the spot on the ceiling is

only about 8 " in diameter. I put on a hepa filter mask and removed one

section of paneling on the wall adjacent to that spot on the ceiling. There

is mold all over the entire back side of that paneling and the insulation in

the wall is fully impregnated with what appears to be mold from the ceiling

all the way to the baseboard. I was, and am still, amazed at how far from

the visible spot the mold had grown behind the walls. I did not take down

the adjacent panels but will leave that for someone with an intact immune

system.

After reading here we have decided to move out of our home for the

duration of the repair process because the mold spores are bound to become

aerosolized when the various construction crews do their work. You may not

have to do this and I will be interested in reading the responses of the

others here that know more than I. We think this is imperative because we

know that I have immune system problems related to what has been called

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Histoplasmosis. I don't think the

physicians I have been to so far are very knowledgeable (about mold as it

relates to health) but they do concur that the mold has got to go and I have

decided to be safe rather than sorry. My wife has been making a temporary

apartment for us in the second story of our garage. I think we move out this

weekend as the electrician finally got the electricity hooked up yesterday.

Based on my current knowledge we are following these steps and I think

they would apply to your situation too. Anyone out there in cyberland with a

better idea is welcome to chime in and correct any misconceptions on my part.

First you need to stop the leak. As soon as we are out I will schedule the

roofer to fix our leak. Next you need to determine the scope of the problem.

After the roof is tight again carpenters will come in and rip out the

paneling and dry wall and expose the structural supports (studs) and

insulation until they stop finding mold growth. Any studs or rafters that

are rotten will be replaced. The remaining structural support will be first

treated with a 10% bleach solution then sanded then treated with one of the

commercially available fungal retardants (I have had several brand names

recommended but with no experience I will not endorse any particular one).

Anyone with experience is welcome to chime in here if they know of a good or

a bad one or one that is so toxic it is worse than the mold. Then the

interior dry wall and paneling will be replaced.

As far as getting the mold tested: I went to two different places, I

found a lab here in my home state by getting on the phone and calling around.

I started with the health department and called a company that recommended

another company. They explained how to take a sample and pack it up and send

it off. It cost $50. per slide. The other place was our Vet. One of our

cats had to have knee surgery and I discussed the mold with our Vet. and he

was very interested and gave me a little bottle of culture medium and told me

how to make a culture. After about 5 days we sent that to his lab and they

too identified the molds. That sample cost $37. The interesting thing was

the two labs came up with four different kinds of molds from the same exact

place. Although that was confusing I am glad that none of them were

Stachybotrys.

The last step will be to air out and cook out any airborne chemicals or

preservative or fumes from dies or whatever. Once everything moldy is ripped

out, treated and or replaced with new we will crank up the heat as hot as we

can get it with the house all closed up for several days and then continue

the heating for several days more with the windows open and fans moving the

air out.

I hope some of this is helpful and I look forward to the responses from

this highly informed group.

Kru Heller sick since 6/94 Powhatan, Va.