Friday, December 6, 2024
A COMMUNITY SUBMISSION
I got the phone call no one wants to get in the middle of the night. The police dept was at my daughter’s apartment wanting to know if they should break in, because her car was at her place and she never showed up for work. I was frantic and deep down I think I knew she was gone but I had hope. I had hope as I drove in the middle of the night to find out if my 26 yr old daughter was OK.
When I got there they would not let me in and told me she was gone. My heart sank. That was the beginning of my journey that I have been on for the last 3 1/2 years, digging for answers.
Did you know 1 in 4 people are genetically sensitive to mold, and it can cause serious health problems according to Dr. Shoemaker and other mold experts?
Dr Shoemaker states CIRS-“chronic inflammatory response syndrome is a biotoxin illness triggered by exposure to mold. Around 25 percent of the US population has genes which put them at risk of developing CIRS if brought into contact with mold. However, you don’t necessarily have to have this genetic predisposition to develop CIRS.” Michael Rubino, an air quality expert says 85 percent of buildings have past water damage, and 43 percent have current water leaks or damage. Just because you don’t see or smell it doesn’t mean it’s not there. The EPA has stated that 25 percent of homes have some kind of toxic mold.
How did I know my daughter was affected by mold?
Her place smelled musty most of the time, she had multiple symptoms for mold exposure (which is common), like fatigue, depression, hair loss, headaches, anxiety, mood swings, hormones out of whack, insomnia, vision was getting worse, difficulty getting up in the morning and more.
The most common symptoms are fatigue and confusion. Many can develop asthma or respiratory problems but my daughter did not have that. Inhalation Alzheimer's , autoimmune disease and more can also be triggered by mold toxins. The mold makes whatever health problem you have worse. She passed because of arteriovenus abnormalities (brain hemorrhage) ,which is a mold symptom on Dr. Jill Crista’s mold symptom questionnaire you can get online for free. She took the VCS test-visual contrast sensitivity test, free online, and her practitioner told me it was the worst she had ever seen.
I had her blood tested for the mold gene which made her susceptible to CIRS, and did not allow her to detox the mold from her system. I had a reputable mold diagnostics company test her apartment after she passed, and we found a lot of water damage. With the infrared camera they found water behind a few walls. There was chaetomium under the sink, found by swabbing, and it is as dangerous as Stachybotrys, sometimes referred to in the media as “black mold.” An air sampling was not enough to find out what was going on, but it was also done. According to Michael Rubino this test picks up mold in the air up to a 3 foot radius, so if you are not near the source it may not show much of anything. Air testing is better used to find out where the source of the mold is.
Everyone is different and so you can live in the same house and one person could be really sick, and no one else is. Most Drs don’t know how to treat this, and are not familiar with all the health problems it can cause. One simple way to see if your home is possibly causing you harm, is if you feel bad when you are there, and when you leave, you notice feeling better. You might want to check for mold.
What am I doing about this?
I did call the DATCP-Department of Agriculture Trade and consumer Protection and they suggested I fill out a complaint about her moldy apartment ,but because my daughter was no longer there, they could not promise anything. I spoke to a few lawyers but they would not help me out, as most mold cases don’t get very far in court. The building inspectors I spoke with either said there was no mold ordinance in their city, or they could not do much because of the general language spoken in the ordinance. It needed to be more specific, like stating “mold and moisture.”
I have also spoken to my state legislator and senator, made many calls with questions to Health Departments and mold experts, and am now working with Change the Air Foundation’s Director of Public Policy as a volunteer to make an impact. Change the Air, the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and passionate mold advocate constituents in Illinois recently pushed for passage of SB 1087, a bill that put forth a campaign to educate the public about the dangers of mold and water damage, and to make it mandatory for mold remediators to become certified.
We are hoping Wisconsin will follow suit.
The City of Stevens Point recently added specific enforceable mold language to their municipal code (Chapter 21) and have been able to utilize these provisions on behalf of tenants to successfully remediate mold and the underlying causes. There is currently nothing in the State building or health codes specific to mold. Adoption of this language gave the City the ability to issue specific corrective orders and if necessary, issue citations for non-compliance. They are one of the few, if not the only municipality, to be proactive relative to mold as it affects their residents with the State of Wisconsin.
For testing mold, ERMI (210-570-2095 or envirobiomics.com) dust test is a good one ,but if you cannot afford this, Immunolytics (505-217-0339 or immunolytics.com) has 3 dollar mold plates. This plate normally does not pick up stachybotrys(many times found behind walls), but it is a decent baseline test for mold in general. Another company that is specific for finding Stachybotrys is Analytics Global (blackmoldlab.com) and they also have a dust test for other dangerous molds. Stachybotrys is not only black in color, but can be green, yellow, white or pink. If you want to know what mycotoxins are in your body, you can use Mosaics diagnostics(mosaicdx.com) or Vibrant labs (vibrant-americas.com) which test the urine. Dr. Jill Crista said the Vibrant test is the best to match the environment you are testing for. You will need a practitioner to get these mycotoxin urine tests.
To find some mold-literate doctors go on air inspector.com under resources, and scroll to mold literate doctors. There are also naturopaths that are familiar with treating mold toxicity. You will have to do your own research to find what is best for you. ISEAI.org is another place to look for doctors that can help with mold.
We need people in Wisconsin to share their mold stories to their legislators which are your state reps and/or senators. If you go on www.legis.wi.gov this will help you find that person when you plug in your address.
The 2 changes I would like to see locally are more education for the public and doctors. Also changing the mold ordinances so there can be some enforcement to hold the landlord responsible to fix the problem. If you do speak to a legislator, please mention the mold bill from Illinois that recently passed, as this is one bill we would like to see for Wisconsin for 2025.
Great resources if you want to learn more:
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