aarongray
Joined 13 years ago
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Member since
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Recent submissions
Comment · 8 months ago
This was a great read. Thanks for the writeup.
Comment · 2 years ago
Sealing works well if there is not visible mold growth on the item. So like think about sealing an art canvas in a home that had mold in it, but the art canvas was in the living room and the mold colony was in the bathroom under the shower. In that case, any sort of light sealant would trap any possible residual mycotoxins on the canvas so they will no longer float around the air in the home.
But if you have mold growing on unpainted wood joists, for example, because of a plumbing leak, you can't just paint over the mold colony on those joists with a sealant, because it may not penetrate deep enough into the wood, and you can't paint the backside of that joist where it touches the floor / ceiling, and so the mold often will just continue to grow and grow around your sealant. Many paints marketed as mold killers and sealers are totally ineffective at stopping the problem in scenarios like this.
Comment · 2 years ago
Killing the mold isn't the problem. That's the easy part. Denaturing or removing the mycotoxins is the problem. The mold doesn't make you sick, it's the mycotoxins that some molds excrete that make you sick.
Look at this study that used gamma irradiation, detergent / bleach wash, and steam cleaning to test as ways to remove mold mycotoxins on paper, cloth, wood, and carpet. Unfortunately none of these techniques worked to inactivate mycotoxins, with two exceptions. A detergent / bleach wash worked to inactivate the mycotoxins on paper and cloth, but not on carpet or untreated wood. So porous surfaces must by physically removed and trashed to get rid of the mycotoxins. If you cannot physically remove it (like untreated wood that is a part of your houses' foundation), you must physically sand the mold off while using a HEPA vacuum to clean it all up.
Comment · 2 years ago
HERTSMI-2 is the most accurate. Often houses will pass air spore tests but HERTSMI-2 will catch the problem. It isn't necessary to do an ERMI - that tests for ALL molds in your house. You only need to test for Mycotoxin producing molds, which the HERTSMI-2 does.
This is the kit I recommend for testing for mold: https://www.envirobiomics.com/product/hertsmi-2/
Only costs $130. Buy the Swiffer kit. Vacuum is not as accurate. Clean the whole house, then wait 2-4 weeks, then use the Swiffer kit to collect dust that has settled in the bedrooms and living room. Don't do kitchen or bathrooms.
Interpreting a HERTSMI-2:
0-8: Excellent
9-10: Good
11-15: Possibly dangerous. Deep clean the whole house, especially locations that are rarely cleaned and have settled dust like the tops of ceiling fans, door frames, blinds, etc. Wait 2-4 weeks and retest. If the score is still 11 or above, you have a significant mold problem that needs to be found and remediated by professionals.
16-50: Dangerous. You have a significant mold problem that needs to be found and remediated by professionals.
Comment · 2 years ago
If anyone is reading this and you think you have mold illness, lyme disease, or fibromyalgia, read Toxic, by Neil Nathan MD. This doctor has been treating patients for decades, and it is the gold standard for how to diagnose and treat the complex health issues that arise from mold exposure.
https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Toxicity-Multiple-Sensitivities...
Comment · 4 years ago
Comment · 4 years ago
Further reading here: https://molekule.science/air-quality-other-pollutants-beyond...
Comment · 4 years ago
That said though, the Molekule team themselves have said that their device is not optimized for filtering particulate matter, but rather for denaturing mold, viruses, and bacteria. See:
https://www.reddit.com/r/molekule/comments/6u7d5y/putting_mo...
This is reflected as well in the testing on Molekule's own website: https://molekule.cdn.prismic.io/molekule/4ec92005-d806-4991-...
And, I will say that they have numerous tests by independent labs. They did do some testing with their own lab and with a lab affiliated with them, but this is far from all the testing they have done. So to say that all their tests were tainted or affiliated with them is simply not true. See: https://molekule.com/papers
Comment · 4 years ago
1) You're correct.
2) It will not clean the room just as fast, it will take longer to clean the room.
4) COVID-19 particles do travel on water molecules, but they are also airborne. The CDC has admitted this and there is a growing body of research proving this to be true as well.
5) This has not been proven.
Comment · 4 years ago
Thanks for sharing some background on Molekule, I did not know about this.