Archive for June 2006
Help Prevent Mold and Mildew Damage; MovinCool(R) Spot-Cooling Technology Dries and Dehumidifies Mold-Prone and Water-Damaged Areas
June 30, 2006, 9:37 pmLONG BEACH, Calif. –(Business Wire)– June 30, 2006 — It threatens schools, homes, buildings and hospitals … mold is a growing problem nationwide, causing numerous health conditions and billions of dollars in damage each year. Portable air-conditioning units have the capabilities to prevent mold and mildew damage. Their unique spot-cooling technology effectively aids in drying out and dehumidifying mold-prone areas on an ongoing basis, or in the event of a disaster when damage occurs from leaks or flooding.
MovinCool(R) units can help prevent mold and mildew by speeding up the drying process with flexible ducting options and various spot-drying configurations. In the fast-drying setup, MovinCool(R) uses high-volume warm air to extract moisture much faster than using fans or dehumidifiers alone.
MovinCool(R) units can also cool and dry at the same time by simply ducting the warm air from the room. For low-temperature conditions, MovinCool(R) offers the Office Pro Series, while the Classic Plus Series is best suited for higher temperature applications.
“The MovinCool(R) fast-drying, dehumidifying and cooling setup speeds the drying process and spot cools at the same time,” said John Doran, manager, Heat Management Department. “It can mean the difference between preventing mold and mildew issues or incurring up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in reconstruction and ventilation costs.”
After Hurricane Katrina, relief officials used more than 300 MovinCool(R)s to aid in disaster relief efforts. Fortunately, most cases are of a much smaller magnitude, yet damage can still be significant for homeowners, building managers and school/hospital administrators. Experts attribute the increase in mold infestation to modern building design. Many modern building materials such as fake stucco traps moisture behind walls, leading to mold growth, allowing air-conditioning and heating systems to re-circulate contaminated air.
Because of the prevalence of mold contamination today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed Standards on Mold Prevention. MovinCool(R) portable air-conditioning units are a resource to help maintain many of the EPA standards listed including:
– Clean and dry wet or damp spots within 48 hours;
– Prevent moisture due to condensation by increasing surface temperature or reducing moisture level in air;
– Maintain low indoor humidity, ideally 30-50 percent relative humidity (RH), and
– Don’t let foundations stay wet, provide drainage and slope the ground away from the foundation.
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the Resources category)
Study Finds High Mold Levels In Post-Katrina New Orleans Air
June 16, 2006, 7:16 pmThis is a rather disturbing study from the National Research Defense Council. Talks about spores in the air, which is definitely scary. Check it out:
Returning Residents at Risk for Serious Respiratory Ailments
SAN FRANCISCO (June 15, 2006) — Airborne mold levels left in New Orleans pose a “significant respiratory hazard” to residents returning to the devastated city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to a paper published today on the website of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
The paper — the first scientific study of New Orleans air quality since Hurricane Katrina — was published by a team of researchers from the University of Colorado, Boulder; University of California, Berkeley; and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The researchers did the study in collaboration with New Orleans community groups. (The paper is available online here.)
“The mold levels we found across the city could easily trigger serious allergic or asthmatic reactions in sensitive people,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, M.D., the NRDC senior scientist who led the research team. “The indoor air quality in the flooded homes was particularly worrisome, but fortunately the homes that had been fully gutted and cleaned up did appear to have lower levels.”
Federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have not monitored mold levels in areas that flooded, and have not helped residents cope with the mold problem, Dr. Solomon said. “Although there are no U.S. regulatory standards for either indoor or outdoor levels of mold spores, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure the public is protected from the dangerous health risks.”
Mold growing on damp surfaces releases spores that can be inhaled. Some molds also produce chemicals known at mycotoxins that may be toxic to humans. Mold can cause congestion, sneezing, runny or itchy nose, and throat irritation. More serious symptoms include major allergic attacks, cough, asthma attacks, and hypersensitivity pneumonitis (a pneumonia-like illness that causes fevers and makes it hard to breathe). Some studies have shown that outdoor levels of mold spores are directly associated with childhood asthma attacks.
The scientists collected air samples for mold spore analysis at 23 outdoor and eight indoor locations across the New Orleans metropolitan area in October and November of 2005. They chose sites representing varying degrees of flooding, and some of the indoor sites had undergone remediation. Sampling times ranged from six to 24 hours.
The levels of airborne mold spores were extremely high both inside and outside of homes, especially in the areas that flooded. The mold concentrations outdoors ranged from 21,000 to 102,000 spores per cubic meter (m3). The average outdoor spore concentration in flooded areas was double the concentration in non-flooded areas. The researchers also reported the peak mold spore concentrations over a 30-minute period. The highest outdoor 30-minute concentration was 259,000 spores m3.
The National Allergy Bureau of the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology considers any outdoor mold spore level of greater than 50,000 spores m3 to be “very high.” The spore counts outdoors in 77 percent of the samples taken in flooded neighborhoods — including New Orleans East, Lakeview, Gentilly, the Lower 9th Ward, Chalmette, Uptown, Mid-City and the Garden District — exceeded 50,000 spores m-3. Background mold spore concentrations in Louisiana during that same time period ranged from about 16,000 to 24,000 spores m3.
The highest concentrations were inside homes, where levels ranged from 11,000 to 645,000 spores m3. The 30-minute peak concentration was more than 1 million spores m3. The researchers identified 45 different types of mold in the sampling. The most common molds were Cladosporium, and Aspergillus/Penicillium. They also detected Stachybotrys (often called “toxic mold”) in some indoor samples.
More information about the NRDC test results, health risks from mold and mold remediation is available here.
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the Resources category)
Monroe couple sues builder over construction problems
June 15, 2006, 10:40 amAnother tragic article about legal disputes from the Courier Post Online. Usual mistakes in building construction and the resulting mold and general mess. Here’s a quote:
If the D’Andreas prevail, the suit would cover thousands of K. Hovnanian homes purchased from 2000 to the present where the “HVAC system constructed and installed such that one or more stud wall cavity convey air from more than one floor level,” according to court documents. Tracy D’Andreas declined additional comment due to the pending litigation.
Other Chestnut Green residents say they will continue to try to work with the developer.
Bill McGrath said he needs to move out June 23 for a minimum of three weeks because of a mold problem.
McGrath said he told the developer about cracks in the home’s front facade last year, but the delay in fixing it caused moisture to enter the home’s frame. His home is on its fourth driveway due to cracks each time.
“I understand mishaps, but when you do half-a–ed corrections, that’s when people get angry,” McGrath said. “It’s one thing or another. It’s a shame. You don’t know what to do.”
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the legal, News category)