Improving our Health by Improving Indoor Air Quality by CEO Mike Adams

It's interesting to me to try to figure out mold in homes, and how it gets into our bodies to make us sick. I am not a doctor, however; I have studied this quite extensively. After years of study, discussions with homeowners, and experts in the medical world and the indoor air quality world, I have determined that it may be a little bit simpler than we think. I believe people suffering from mold illness often have a tendency to overthink the problem. It's understandable. I also believe that too much attention and money is paid to test the home or workplace for the types of mold, the species of mold, the genus of mold, the mycotoxins, even the type of mycotoxins, etc etc. None of this really matters if we can't lower the mold load of the home or workplace. The most important thought process i.e. job number one is this- How do we reduce the mold load of the home and maintain the reduced levels? It's what we are really all about. Everyone will agree that mold is ubiquitous and part of life. Nobody believes that a home can be completely mold free. It's the relative mold load that needs to be reduced.

I recognize that in recent years, mycotoxins have consumed a good portion of the narrative. And rightly so, but I do not believe that mycotoxins hang around a home for very long after the mold has been eliminated. I've said this before, will someone please show me a home that is mold free, but has mycotoxins galore. I do not believe that home exists. I have asked a few doctors this very question. “Doctor, are the mycotoxins that are discovered in the urine testing from the indoor mold in the home or.. are the mycotoxins discovered in the urine from the mold in the body, once the body has an inordinate amount of colonization taking place. Is the mold in the body is colonizing and releasing mycotoxins?” Does it matter? The home or workplace needs to have the mold load reduced to a healthy level in order for the body to be able to reduce the toxins that it is dealing with.

So, how does mold get into our bodies? The following are the “routes” that the mold that can travel from the indoor environment into our bodies.

1- The sinuses. We, as humans, breathe in and exhale an incredible amount of air. To the tune of 2500 gallons or more of air each and every day. This equates to 9,500 liters of air a day. With each breath comes mold spores. In a healthy home, there may be one or two spores per liter. That still equates to 15,000 spores a day that we are inhaling. In a healthy home. In spite of this, a healthy person has defense mechanisms to handle mold in the nose, and sinuses. It's when a home ends up with a very elevated mold load, (think 10 to 100 times that amount) it becomes too much to handle. The mold colonizes in the sinuses. Once the colonization occurs, mold now has a stronghold in the body. Growing mold, i.e. colonizing mold releases toxins.

Many customers that I have talked to in the past 15 plus years, have undergone multiple sinus surgeries in an attempt to remove the fungus from their sinuses. Again, I am certainly no doctor, but if you dry yourself off after you shower, then get right back into the shower, the original towel didn't do much good. If you have surgery to remove the fungus, then go home to an elevated mold load, you will suffer the same result.

2. The mouth and eventually the digestive system. I believe that a good portion of the mold in our “gut”, still comes from the air we breathe. As disgusting as it is, often drainage from the sinuses will end up in the stomach. We all have fungus in our digestive system, however, there needs to be a healthy balance of low levels of fungus, and high levels of “good” bacteria. When this becomes out of balance, and the mold again, gets a stronghold, we get sick. The imbalance of fungus in the digestive tract can be attributed to diet, a compromised immune system, and yes, an elevated mold load in the home. Food with mold on it is often blamed. This may or may not be the issue, however, I tend to believe that the larger problem is the elevated mold load of the indoor environment. Again, the mold colonizes in the gut, and releases toxins.

Regardless of the “route”, the body can hit a tipping point in which we can become very sick. As I mentioned, when mold begins to colonize, it begins to release mycotoxins within the body. The immune system then goes into overdrive with inflammatory defenses becoming completely out of control. This causes all kinds of health issues. Autoimmune conditions arise, the mold is unrelenting, and eventually the body breaks down. Dr. Jeff Wright speaks often of this exact scenario.

A couple of points to keep in mind

1- We cannot say that our customers will get well after treatment. We simply don't know. There are just too many variables to mold illness, if indeed, it really is mold illness. We can say, we will absolutely lower the mold load in the home. Although we know that our treatment is a big step in recovery for people who suffer from mold toxicity, be cautious in making health claims as there may be other illnesses in play or other factors that are contributing. Customers may expect to be healed immediately, and although many have said they notice a difference right away, this is not always the case. We can confidently claim that we have reduced the mold load in a home or building to levels that are consistent with healthy air and we can provide documented results from an accredited mold lab to show such.

2- We can do an amazing job of treating the home, and lowering the mold load, and the customer still may not feel better. Again, please understand that there are a number of variables which will vary from client to client. Thank goodness for experts like Dr. Wright who can assist in this wellness journey after we treat a home. Often it's just a matter of help from Dr. Wright and time.