mold remediation
Southern Insurance Restoration
Services personnel have been in the Disaster Restoration business a
combined 70 years. We have a reputation within the insurance industry for quality, integrity and excellent service. Given our reputation within the disaster restoration industry, it was natural for us to next provide Mold Remediation. If you find mold in your home or business and need to determine if the mold is harmful and how to remove it, you'll want to call
SIRS. Our experienced technicians are vital for successful remediation. The mold remediation specialists at
SIRS have all completed advanced training and are experienced in the handling of water mitigation and mold remediation.
The recent media attention and consumer awareness of the possible health risks of mold has created new challenges for our business. Both Dave's have aggressively educated themselves in this emerging property loss area in order to protect the health of their employees, customers, and the insurance companies. We have also joined the American Indoor Air Quality Council (AmIAQ) and the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) to keep the business informed on this evolving controversy. SIRSŪ of Hopkinsville / Clarksville works with insurance companies, industrial hygienists, and property managers completing small and large mold projects in homes and businesses.
Mold Remediation Services:
- Mold Contamination Assessment
- Environmental Engineering Controls
- Restorative Drying
- Microbial Remediation
- Pack-out & Storage
What you don't see can hurt you.
Mold in buildings can compromise structures and make people sick. Often, that mold lurks in hidden places -- behind the walls, in the air conditioning system, on the underside of Grandma's old chest of drawers.
Yet people often ignore those sources, simply because they're not visible, said Jeffrey May, a mold-investigation specialist and author of "The Mold Survival Guide."
"People react most strongly to what they can see," said May, who owns May Indoor Air Investigations in Cambridge, Mass. So the slimy gunk in the shower or the black stuff in the attic may worry them, when those probably aren't nearly as threatening as what's under the basement carpet or behind the paneling.
Before you panic and start tearing out drywall, however, you should know that serious mold infestations aren't rampant. In fact, most houses don't have a significant mold problem, said David Sheron & David Hulslander, co-owners of SIRS, LLC., an Kentucky company that specializes in mold inspection, testing and remediation.
In those that do, there's some sort of underlying cause, such as improper ventilation, a leak in a water pipe or a bathtub overflow, Hulslander said. "The mold follows the water," he said, "and the water doesn't just appear in the house."
Even if your house does have mold, the problem may not be significant if no one in the house is sensitive to it, said Thad Godish, a professor of natural resources and environmental management at Ball State University, who has researched mold contamination of buildings. But for people who are sensitive to it, mold can trigger asthma, chronic coughs and more serious respiratory ailments.
Mold is in the air all the time, Sill and May said, so it's impossible to achieve a level of sterility that would make a house mold-free. Nevertheless, May believes mold shouldn't be growing unchecked in any home.
So what is mold, anyway?
Mold is fungus -- actually, any of many types of fungi. Mold plays a useful role in nature, because it secretes enzymes that break down matter.
Mold becomes a problem, however, when it starts feeding on things we don't want it to, such as the wood frames of our houses or the paper that covers drywall. Mold can weaken and ultimately destroy parts of a house. It can send spores and other particles into the air we breathe.
"Mold is out there doing its job," Godish said. "It's trying to eat your house down. If you give it a chance, it will."
The most common types of fungi in a home -- what we typically refer to as mold or mildew -- belong to the genera "Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Alternaria, Stachybotrys and Chaetomium." Different types of mold feed on different substances, such as wood, cellulose, dust and soap scum. All need food and water.
How big a problem these molds pose depends partly on how much is present. A trace of mold around the edges of windows isn't likely to release enough spores to cause health problems, Sill said, while a moldy section of basement wall could be a breeding ground of misery.
The type of mold is significant, too. Many molds found in a house are superficial, May said -- they grow on a surface but don't attack what's underneath. But Godish said those molds can set the stage for other fungi to come in and hasten the destruction.
One of the most common hidden sources of mold in modern buildings is the air-conditioning system, May said. In summer, water pools in the unit and provides the perfect breeding ground for mold. In winter, when the mold is dry, particles are easily picked up and blown through the air.
Basements and crawl spaces are other places where mold tends to grow. The relative humidity typically is higher there than in the rest of the house, and Sill said the darkness allows mold to grow faster.
Mold is also common in attics and bathrooms -- particularly bathrooms that don't have a fan or that stay steamy for a long time, Sill said. Houses that are left unheated can experience mold growth, too, because moisture from the air condenses on the cold walls.
Paradoxically, the one type of mold that's probably gotten the most attention and caused the most fear -- the so-called toxic black mold -- isn't a common source of health problems, May and Godish said.
While it's true that "Stachybotrys chartarum" produces a mycotoxin that's very poisonous -- you can die from eating it -- May and Godish said there's no strong scientific evidence that the mold causes significant health problems if it's not disturbed. It also grows only in areas that stay very wet, so it's not all that common.
Overreactions to mold in general aren't uncommon. Sill said many people have the misconception that any kind of mold permanently harms a home's value. "It can be fixed," he said.
How mold is remediated depends on the material it has affected, Sill said. Treatment might involve removing the mold using a HEPA vacuum, sanding surfaces, treating with a biocide or applying a material that encapsulates the surface. Porous materials such as drywall, insulation and mattresses may need to be removed.
Depending on the extent of the problem, the cost of testing remediation can be significant, although some insurance policies will cover it.
Better to prevent the problem in the first place, the experts agree.
Human Health Risks from Mold Exposure
In the wake of heavy rainfall and flooding caused by hurricanes Katrina,
Rita, and Wilma, there is a great potential for mold contamination of buildings
and for human exposures to large amounts of mold. Whether or not this
constitutes a major public health concern is a matter of current interest. The
object of this article is to give insurance adjusters a basic understanding of
what mold is and what threat molds pose to human health. The floods of water in
2005 will most likely be followed by floods of lawsuits with individuals and
companies claiming damages from mold contamination of their homes and
businesses. This has obvious ramifications for the insurance industry.
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Molds are members of the fungus family that also includes yeasts and mushrooms.
Molds are ubiquitous in outdoor and indoor environments and always have been. It
is normal to find molds, mildew, and other members of the fungi family in the
air and on surfaces, both indoors and outdoors. When people are exposed to high
enough levels of mold, however, they can experience adverse health effects.
These effects can range from mild allergic-type symptoms to life-threatening
infections.
Besides oxygen from the air, molds need three things in order to grow and
proliferate. These are 1) a food source, 2) moisture, and 3) a place to grow.
Like all living organisms, molds need a source of food. Molds utilize cellulose
and proteins as food sources. This is in fact their function in the natural
world. Without the action of molds, bacteria, and other "decomposers", dead
material would accumulate and litter the world. In the indoor environment, molds
use cellulose-containing building materials (for example, wood, sheet rock,
wallpaper, etc.) as food sources.
Mold problems in buildings are almost always the result of the accumulation of
water or moisture. This can come about when water enters an indoor space because
of a damaged roof, a flooding event, plumbing leaks, improperly designed or
operated air conditioning systems, damp basements, combustion sources, or other
sources of indoor moisture. This is an obvious problem now on the Gulf Coast
where severe storms have caused large amounts of rainfall and severe flooding.
In most cases, molds can proliferate if wet materials are not dried out within
several days time. This is especially true in warmer climates.
The third requirement for mold growth, a place to grow, is easily met in most
indoor environments. Molds only have to have a surface on which they can gain a
foothold and grow. Molds are often found on ceiling tiles, walls, behind wall
paper, on insulation, and even growing on wooden wall studs.
WHAT LEVELS OF MOLDS ARE OF CONCERN?
There are no widely accepted standards or guidelines for mold exposures like
there are for exposures to chemicals. The main reason for this is that there is
a wide range of sensitivity to molds and other microbial agents between
individuals and a variety of other factors that are specific to the individual
person's indoor environment. Because there are no established standards, the
evaluation of health risks of exposure to microbial agents, including molds, is
a more qualitative process and requires a greater degree of scientific and
professional judgment.
What is usually done to evaluate the potential for mold problems is to measure
airborne mold levels both indoors and outdoors of the subject building. It is
generally acknowledged that indoor air quality is usually acceptable if indoor
levels of molds are less than one-half to one-third of outdoor levels. There is
concern for occupant's health if indoor mold levels exceed these fractions of
outdoor levels, or if significant amounts of species of mold are found indoors
which are not concurrently found outdoors. If either of these conditions is
found to exist, it is evidence that there is a source of mold proliferation
indoors.
Recent surveys have measured outdoor and indoor mold levels in residential and
commercial buildings at various locations throughout the country. These
investigators found that the average number of molds in outdoor air was between
500 and 600 colony-forming units per cubic meter (CFU/m3). The average mold
levels seen in the air at nearby indoor locations were between 100 and 200 CFU/m3.
Airborne levels of indoor mold thus typically average three to five times lower
than corresponding outdoor levels. Less than 10% of all buildings surveyed had
indoor levels of molds in excess of 1000 CFU/m3. (Note: since individual mold
spores are too small to see and count, mold samples are cultured and allowed to
grow. The numbers of mold colonies that grow up in culture are then counted.
This number is then divided by the total volume of air sampled, giving the
number of "colony-forming units" per cubic meter of air.) These survey data give
us at least a rough idea of what "normal" levels of molds are in indoor air.
WHAT ARE THE HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS OF OVER-EXPOSURE TO MOLDS?
Much has been written about lately in the scientific literature and in the lay
press concerning the health threat posed by mold exposure. In some cases the
news media has sensationalized the hazards posed by molds. After all, as I
mentioned earlier, molds are found virtually everywhere and have been present on
earth long before humans were. For molds to all of a sudden become something
akin to a plague does not make sense. Tossing around terms like "toxic mold" may
sell newspapers and magazines, but there are really very few instances where the
most hazardous types of molds are present in great enough quantities to be a
real threat to most people's health.
The first thing to keep in mind is the basic toxicological tenet that "the dose
makes the poison". Small amounts of mold exposure pose little or no risk, but
just like anything else (including water or oxygen) if the exposure is great
enough, harm can result. Human exposure to excessive amounts of mold can cause a
variety of adverse health effects. Mold exposure can affect the respiratory
system, the immune system, the skin and eyes, and the nervous system. In each
case, there is a range of effects depending on the amount of exposure, the
type(s) of mold present, and the individual's innate susceptibility to molds.
These adverse health effects can be caused by exposure to both viable and
sterile molds, volatile organic compounds released by molds, or by a class of
chemicals called mycotoxins, which are released by some molds under certain
environmental conditions.
Respiratory effects include less serious and short-term effects such as nose,
throat and lung irritation to intermediate and longer-term illnesses such as
chronic sinusitis, asthma, and hypersensitivity pneumonitis to very serious and
potentially life-threatening diseases such as respiratory fungal infections.
There is also a range in immune response to mold exposure. The most common of
these effects are the allergies from which many people suffer. More serious
effects can include hypersensitivity and anaphylactic reactions,
immunosuppression, and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (from
over-exposure to Aspergillus mold). The symptoms relating to the skin and eyes
range from minor skin irritation and rashes to dermatitis, conjunctivitis, and
in severe cases, cutaneous fungal infections. Nervous system effects of
over-exposure to molds can include headache, fatigue, and dizziness.
Widespread news coverage has suggested a huge public health threat from molds.
This has engendered popular concern bordering on hysteria in some cases. The
weight of the scientific evidence, however, shows that otherwise healthy
individuals are only very rarely affected by mold exposure (other than having
allergic symptoms). People with compromised immune systems (for example, cancer
patients receiving chemotherapy, organ transplant patients taking
immunosuppressive drugs, AIDS patients, and patients with uncontrolled diabetes)
are the populations most at risk for the more serious mold-related infections
and other conditions.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Molds and other microbial agents are present everywhere. Despite recent "scares"
portrayed in the media, it is relatively rare for mold exposure to cause serious
health problems for most people. It is undeniable that there are cases of
over-exposure to molds and there certainly are some individuals who are
especially at risk. With all of the water damage from the recent hurricanes, the
potential for mold growth in the Gulf Coast region is a very definite concern.
The insurance industry should be vigilant, but not unduly swayed by media
reports suggesting that mold exposures will have catastrophic effects on public
health.
An excellent resource for more information on molds, health effects of mold
exposure, and mold remediation strategies is a Web Site operated by the U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). That site is www.osha.gov/SLTC/molds.
If you are interested in further information on Mold Remediation, please note the following sites....
AmIAQ-American Indoor Air Quality Council
ASCR-Association of Specialists in Cleaning & Restoration
Enviro Bay (Avoiding Mold Liabilities)
FEMA-Federal Emergency Management Agency
IICRC-Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification
OSHA_Occupational Safety & Health Administration: Guide to Mold in the Workplace
The Environmental Protection Agency
The International Association of Mold Remediation Specialists
Mold Free-a Division of Microbiological Services
The New York City Guidelines on Assessment and Remediation of Fungi in Outdoor Environments
