News Room

North Fulton Living Sept/Oct 2006 Business Spotlight
Is Mold Dampening Your Spirits?

Enivro-Clean uses UV sunlight technology to clean the house of mold.
WRITER: Christy Smith

Your house could be making you sick. Do you experience skin rash, a runny or congested nose, eye irritation, heavy snoring or coughing? Those symptoms could be caused by allergies to mold spores growing in your home.

Mold is everywhere. Researchers have identified more than 100,000 varieties. Molds are members of the fungi kingdom, cousins to mushrooms, yeast and mildews. Helpful molds give us cheese and penicillin. In nature, mold helps decompose plant matter, leaves and wood. Problems start when mold begins digesting the organic materials in our homes, like drywall and wooden beams.

Most common molds usually don’t affect healthy people. However, others produce toxins, called mycotoxins, to defend themselves against other molds and bacteria. When enough mycotoxins build up, they can aggravate asthma and allergies, cause tiredness, snoring, short-term memory loss, and, in severe cases, kindle recurring illnesses like bronchitis and pneumonia. A doctor can treat the condition, but unless the mold is found and eliminated, people may continue to suffer.

"Mold loves dark, wet areas," says Anna Daily, owner of Enviro-Clean of Atlanta. “Air conditioning units draw moisture from the air, so the units are dark and full of water. They are a fine source of air pollutants and a breeding ground for mold.” Once it gets a foothold, mold is known to multiply rapidly.

Some products use ozone to kill mold, which pollutes the air and causes other dangerous health problems. A clean, safe way to kill mold is with refreshing sunlight. But how do you get sunlight into the home’s darkest corners?

"The patented Air Probe Sanitizer uses UVC light, a low-level form of sunlight, to kill mold,” Daily says. “We install it at the air conditioner’s cooling coil, so it treats every square inch of the air inside the house.”

Leeann Mohundro of Woodstock was doubtful, but desperate to lessen her children’s asthma and allergy sufferings. “I’m a skeptic like anybody else,” Mohundro says. “I thought, ‘Okay, so a blue light in the air conditioner will fix everything.’ A year later, the kids are off their allergy meds and their asthma is only seasonal.”

Three years ago, Robin Oxford was plagued with a snoring husband and her son also endured asthma. “I had never thought of having the ductwork cleaned,” Oxford says. “We saw a difference immediately. The Air Probe Sanitizer has lived up to its promise. It was worth the price to quiet my husband’s snoring.”

If you think mold might be making your family sick, call a professional who can test your home, gathering evidence by using swabs, tape-lifts and air samples to identify the root of your sickness.

Treatment depends on the severity of the infestation, says Daily. Sometimes a good cleaning with an anti-microbial product is all it takes to remove the mold. In extreme cases, carpet and walls may have to be removed. After an anti-microbial cleaning of the ducts and the home’s interior, the Air Probe Sanitizer can be installed as a final measure to keep mold spores from forming.

For more information about the air quality in your home, visit www.envirocleanatl.com or call Anna and Sean Daily or any of the air quality specialists at Enviro-Clean of Atlanta at 770-432-1511 for a home air test and estimate.

Christy Smith is a local freelance writer.