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For parents concerned with mold exposure-health effects- allergies-hypersensitivity pneumonitis-mycotoxins-hemosiderosis-water damage-remediation- prevention, this is an extremely valuable website.  Children are generally affected more by mold spores alive or dead than adults.  It benefits parents in Naples-Bonita Springs-Cape Coral-Estero and Fort Myers spend a few minutes reading the information about mold effects on children provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

 

Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/118/6/e1909?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=mycotoxins&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Spectrum of Noninfectious Health Effects From Molds

Lynnette J. Mazur, MD, MPH, Janice Kim, MD, PhD,

MPH the Committee on Environmental Health

 

 

The following policy statement has been revised:

Toxic Effects of Indoor Molds

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/101/4/712

Importance of protecting infants from molds

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/eletters/118/6/e1909#5700

 

PDF version

 

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/118/6/e1909?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=mycotoxins&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWC

This is a great site for product safety info.

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/list?tbl=TblBrands&alpha=A

 

Health and Safety Information on Household Products for consumers in Naples-Marco Island-Bonita Springs-Estero-Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Lehigh Acres and all of Southwest Florida.  This is a great site everyone should be aware of; so many products affect our health and that of our family, YOU need to know.  They have thousand of products listed in alphabetical order. 

 

Naples and Cape Coral homeowners and Realtors are realizing that mold testing alone is not the proper way to determine if a home or structure has a "mold problem".    It appears many homes are being labeled with a mold problem by home inspectors and when a professional such as a certified indoor environmentalist or industrial hygenist are called in, nothing can be found.  Few mold remediation companies would hire a home inspector for a mold inspection and the same is fast becoming true for consumers. 

A Florida Seller Fights Unregulated Mold Report Stigma ..........Realty Times article by Blanche Evans

Should Unlicensed Inspectors Be Allowed To Do Mold Inspections?
by Blanche Evans

http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20030924_inspectors.htm

 

Mold Is Becoming A Significant Real Estate Matter
by Stuart Lieberman

http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20020404_mold.htm

 

Detection and Remediation of Mold
by Jack C. Schoppa I.F.A.S.

http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20030109_mold.htm

 

 

A Certified Industrial Hygienist Points Out Mold Trends
by Blanche Evans

http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20030219_mold.htm

 

 

Stigma and Value Issues Relating to Mold
by Jack C. Schoppa I.F.A.S.

http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20030124_mold.htm

 

Whose Mold Is It Anyway?
by Stuart Lieberman

http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20011213_mold.htm

 

Inspections, Realtors Can Help Prevent Mold Suits
by Blanche Evans

http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20010605_mold2.htm

Interested in getting a mortgage?  Visit this site to get informative information about changing mortgage rates and facts about home loans here today!

Air-purifier rules to be expedited
Press-Enterprise - Riverside, CA
... California air pollution regulators expect to adopt within a year regulations ensuring the safety of portable air purifiers. ...

 

Sharper Image settles air purifier suit
BusinessWeek - USA
... Sharper Image's slide began when sales of its once-popular Ionic Breeze started to crumble after Consumer Reports derided the products as ineffective. ...

See also:

 

Mold lawsuit settled for $775K
Livingston Daily - Livingston, MI
A 2004 lawsuit filed by a Marion Township family forced from their newly constructed $374,000 home because of toxic mold against a Brighton building company ...

Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/health/orl-lmed0306dec03,0,910651.story?coll=orl-health-headlines

What are the causes of lung cancer?

Dr. Richard T. Bosshardt | Special to the Sentinel
Posted December 3, 2006

Question: If I don't smoke, what are my chances of getting lung cancer? After reading about Dana Reeve, the wife of Superman actor Christopher Reeve, I learned of several others who got lung cancer but never smoked. Is this rare?

Answer: It depends on your definition of rare. Every year, around 170,000 people in this country develop lung cancer. Although 90 percent have a smoking history, the remainder are nonsmokers -- about 17,000 people per year. Not common, but not rare either.


Of that 10 percent, studies show nonsmokers who live with smokers have a 25 percent higher chance of developing lung cancer compared to other nonsmokers. Breathing secondhand smoke over time results in 3,000 lung-cancer deaths each year.

After secondhand smoke, the second-highest risk factor in developing lung cancer for nonsmokers is exposure to radon gas.

Radon gas is a tasteless, colorless, odorless gas that results from the decay of radioactive uranium, which is found naturally in rocks, soil and water. Radon gas occurs naturally in the air and ground and can enter homes through cracks in the foundation, pipes and other openings.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as many as 1 in 15 American homes may contain dangerous levels of radon gas. You can test for the gas yourself by purchasing a kit available in most hardware stores, or you can have it done for you by contacting the local EPA office for information. You also may go to www.doh.state.fl.us/Environ ment/community/radon.

If your home has high levels, certain measures can reduce them by up to 99 percent. The most common one is installing effective ventilation systems to remove the gas to the outside. An estimated 15,000 to 22,000 lung-cancer deaths a year are the result of radon gas. Smokers exposed to radon have a much higher lung-cancer risk than nonsmokers.

Asbestos exposure is another risk factor in nonsmokers. Although it is no longer routinely used in construction and insulation, plenty of asbestos remains out there, especially in older buildings. Nonsmokers exposed to asbestos increase their lung-cancer risk fivefold. Smoking plus asbestos exposure increases the risk to a much greater degree than either smoking or asbestos exposure alone. In addition to the typical lung cancers, asbestos exposure puts one at risk for an unusual cancer of the lining of the lung, called a mesothelioma. Even a few months of asbestos exposure can greatly increase this cancer risk.

Air pollution from automobiles, industry and power plants also can increase risk. Some regard long exposure to highly polluted air as equivalent to secondhand-cigarette-smoke exposure. Air pollution causes an estimated 2,000 lung cancer deaths per year.

People with certain chronic lung diseases, such as emphysema, also are at greater risk of lung cancer.

Beyond exposure to environmental risk factors, some people have a unique and innate predisposition to develop lung cancer. It is probably inherited genetically. If you have family members with lung cancer, this may mean you might be at greater risk. Individual susceptibility to cancer-causing agents can vary widely. This is probably why some people who smoke one or more packs of cigarettes a day for years don't get cancer, while others do.


EPA Grant    /    FL DOH to study the causes of HIGH radon levels in Collier & Lee Counties

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/community/radon

 

"South Florida High Rise Radon Study - Register to Participate
The Florida Department of Health is conducting a study, funded by a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant, to investigate the causes of elevated radon levels in mid and high-rise multi-family residences in Lee and Collier Counties." ....
 

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/environmental.asp

Mold / CDC / New Orleans

8-22-2005  /   Local Paper:

"Q. I understand the American Lung Association lists radon gas as the No.2 cause of lung cancer deaths in the United States. How does second-hand smoke rank on the list?

 

A.  Second-hand smoke causes an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths a year, said Elizibeth Lancet of the American Lung Association.  This compares to about 124,000 lung cancer deaths a year from smoking and an estimated 15,000 to 22,000 lung cancer deaths each year from radon.

Specific numbers and ranking are an inexact science because, like most carcinogens, radon and second hand smoke are interactive, said Dr. Norman Edelman, the association's executive vice president and cheif medical officer."

 

 

RADON

 

Below are portions of an article taken from the Sun Sentinel (Nov 21, 2004) 

A picocurie is a measure of radioactivity equal to the disintegration of about two radioactive atoms per minute.

The EPA's radon danger line of 4 picocuries, 10 times the amount of radon generally found in outdoor air, is a nonenforceable public health guideline.
Exposure to that much radon is the same as soaking up 200 chest X-rays per year, and creates a cancer risk similar to that for a smoker who puffs on half a pack of cigarettes per day, the EPA says.

Forty-six percent of the multifamily homes checked during that time frame, .... had high radon levels, the state figures show.

With air pressure in the ground and around a home generally greater than the pressure inside it, an imbalance is created that draws radon indoors. The gas can then pool inside basements and crawl spaces, on ground floors and higher.

As radon decays, it releases atoms of heavy metals called alpha particles, or "radon daughters." Those daughters latch onto particles of smoke and dust that people inhale with the air. If the particles become mired in lung tissue, they can bombard it with cell-damaging radiation.

Often a basement or ground-floor threat, elevated radon also can appear much farther upstairs in Florida, in the upper floors of some high-rise condos and apartment buildings.

Harmful levels have appeared as high as the ninth floor of a building at 410 Flagship Drive in Naples, state records show. Naples radon tester Wall said he has measured excessive radon even higher up in buildings, inside 20th-floor penthouses.

That has fueled a belief that radon is emitted from the walls, ceilings and floors of high-rise homes formed from cubes of concrete. Concrete is forged from aggregate such as gravel or crushed stone, sand and cement -- stuff quarried out of the ground where radium is found.

Proponents of this radon-from-concrete explanation say that the escaping radon is being concentrated by steamy Florida's energy efficient building code, intended to keep cooled air from escaping from homes. The relatively airtight homes the code engenders likely trap the gas, they argue.

"It's a strong hypothesis," said Clark Eldredge, a radon specialist in the bureau's Radon and Indoor Air Toxics office.

Others argue that radon more likely is traveling from the ground upward through building chases -- conduits that carry plumbing and electrical lines -- or other vertical passageways such as elevator shafts and garbage chutes.

To view the entire article click on the link below.
 
 
Radon Mitigations & Mold Article:
 
04/20/2005
Radon: the plot thickens
By William Rogan, Ph.D GRI

Well, April 15 has come and gone, and we can now start thinking about the next possible disaster to hit home. No, I don't mean an IRS audit. Hurricane season, believe it or not, begins on June 1, just over a month away. And the damage from last season's bout with Mother Nature still hasn't been resolved entirely. If you are due to close on a house after June 1, be sure to have your homeowners policy in place before that date or you might have some difficulty.
More information on hurricanes can be found at www.floridadisaster.org. Dr. Bill Gray, the hurricane guru, predicts 13 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes for the 2005 hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin. Great news, isn't it? I'll have more to say about hurricanes as time goes on.

Speaking of storms, William Levy of Associated Radon Services in Stuart, Fla, wrote me with some corrections to the article I recently wrote about radon. No, Flash Gordon still does not have a radon gun, and we are in no danger of terrorists releasing radon at Disney or the next Super bowl. Put away the duct tape and take a deep breath. Or, perhaps not so deep a breath, if you do indeed have excessive radon levels in your home.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines radon as "a radioactive gas that has been found in homes all over the United States. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Radon can also enter your home through well water. Your home can trap radon inside."

According to Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Richard Carmona, "indoor radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and breathing it over prolonged periods can present a significant health risk to families all over the county." Not a laughing matter, is it?

Levy informed me that "according to data on file with Florida Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Community Environmental Health, Radon and Indoor Air Quality, there have been no complaints made to date concerning moisture or mold problems after installation of a radon mitigation system. This is from a database containing 1,000s of reported mitigations statewide." William Levy is a highly respected authority in the field of radon detection and mitigation and can be reached at his Web site, www.radonserv.com, by e-mail at wlevy@radon
serv.com, or by phone at 800-741-0629.

Levy referred me to Clark Eldredge, Senior Health Physicist at DOH, whose email is ClarkEldredge@doh.state.fl.us and telephone is 800-543-8279.

Doug Wall, of Wall Radon Testing, a member of Radon Professionals Group in Naples (www.radonmoldhelp.com) was also very helpful, and can be reached at 596-0774. He is certified in both radon and mold measurement and has completed more radon testing than anyone in Collier and Lee counties. Radon Professionals Group utilizes a sophisticated radon monitor measurement device that includes temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure and records the data hourly during the testing period.

Wall recommends making sure that mold inspectors also carry errors and omissions insurance, as this helps define their credibility. However, he also told me that if the air conditioning system is operating properly and the radon mitigation system is running as programmed, there should not be a mold problem. Incidentally, infrared cameras previously employed in commercial buildings to find the mold sources is now being used more frequently in residential structures.

Mold and radon are indeed serious issues, but this does not mean that they have to become a cause for hysteria. I'll let the radon and mold experts slug it out among themselves concerning who is or who isn't right about radon measurement and mitigation, but as far as mold prevention goes, I'll say this: remove the moisture and its source, and you remove the possibility of mold developing.

Years ago, I had a Bill Cosby comedy LP (yes, I admit to being that old) on which he did a funny routine about Hoof and Mouth disease, not necessarily a humorous topic. Two cows were conversing (really, they were). One cow evidently had the disease, apparent by the symptomatic foam around her mouth. The infected cow asks: "I hear they kill you if you have Hoof and Mouth. How do I avoid that?" The other cow, obviously with a much higher IQ, replies superciliously, "Hmm, wipe that foam from around your mouth." Oh well, it was funny at the time.

The real estate market

In March 2005, the average selling price of a home in Naples according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors was $636,192. Nine hundred and ninty-six units were sold, including single family residences and condominiums/cooperatives. There were 4,347 single family homes and 2,221 condo/coops listed as active. The majority of available homes were priced from $1,000,000 to 1,999,999.

William Rogan, Ph.D GRI, is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Previews International, 550 5th Ave. South, Naples, 34102. You can reach Dr. Rogan at 253-9620 or post your comments and questions below.


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The Facts About Anthrax Sterilization with UV-C

Click here for UV-C dosage chart

Because of the recent threat of Anthrax and the numerous related deaths stemming from suspicious letters, American Ultraviolet Company has received many inquiries about the nature and effectiveness of UV-C.

Anthrax can be reduced with the use of ultraviolet 254 lamps and fixtures. In fact, when used correctly, these UV-C fixtures will reduce up to 99% of airborne mold, bacteria and other microorganisms including Anthrax spores. 

However, to effectively minimize the danger using ultraviolet light, the Anthrax spores must not be mixed with any other substance. Additionally, the spores must come in direct contact with the UV light.

Ultraviolet fixtures housed within a building’s air ducts would prove quite effective in destroying up to 99% of the threat posed by airborne Anthrax. However, UV light cannot penetrate surfaces and would, therefore, not be an effective countermeasure against Anthrax contained in a package or letter.

American Ultraviolet specializes in products for UV curing, germicidal operations and water disinfecting. In this time of widespread panic we feel it is our duty to help educate the public on the realities of UV-C sterilization against the spread of Anthrax.

Founded in 1960, American Ultraviolet is one of the most experienced manufacturers of UV applications in the U.S. It is headquartered in Lebanon, Indiana and has offices in Murray Hill, New Jersey; Beaufort, South Carolina; Torrance, California; and Romeoville, Illinois
                

 
Walt Kline (FL DOH):
"companies performing radon testing are required to list what FL DOH certified Radon Measurement business they are using for radon measurement services" 
"on the home page"

 

For parents concerned with mold exposure-health effects- allergies-hypersensitivity pneumonitis-mycotoxins-hemosiderosis-water damage-remediation- prevention, in Bonita Springs-Naples-Estero-Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Marco Island and all of southwest Florida.

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