Toxic Mold Solutions
Toxic Mold Solutions
Toxic Mold Solutionsis a 2003 television series designed to shed knowledge and accurate scientific information on the subject of indoor mold. It was created by American filmmaker Richard Arsenault who was inspired by his own family's ordeal, injuries and property loss caused by mold exposure in a rental home.The film successfully dispelled decades of misinformation and confusion about one of the most important environmental exposure issues facing the world today: indoor mold exposure and mold-related building damage.
Background
Toxic Moldwas a misunderstood and misrepresented environmental problem which grew out of the energy conservation efforts of the 70's. During the fuel shortage, buildings and houses were sealed to prevent air leakage without adequate regard for the consequences to the occupants. Although virtually every building prior to that had some level of mold, it was not a problem of significant proportions because air flow allowed structures to remain balanced and fresh air exchanged with indoor air regularly. Furthermore, buildings were built using products that did not generally facilitate mold growth. The energy efficiency movement of the 70's and 80's combined with new building materials like sheet rock, combined with the proliferation of refrigerated indoor air created a perfect storm of engineering and biological conditions that led to the growth of excessive indoor mold.
By the 1990's mold claims began to overwhelm property insurance and could have readily bankrupted the insurance industry. As such, property insurance companies simultaneously worked to exclude mold coverage from their policies and deny the existence of a medical basis for damages. Presently, most insurance policies exclude mold coverage, and many landlords now demand release forms to be signed by occupants following a flood of toxic mold lawsuits in the late 1990's and early 2000's. But the medical community now broadly accepts the potential dangers of excessive mold exposure.
As scientific knowledge and research uncovers the impact of fungi exposure on humans, exposure limits may be possible to prevent injury. The battle is an uphill struggle scientifically, because the amount of mycotoxins needed to cause injury may require measurements down into the fentagram level, combined with the ethical problems of human studies of inhaled mycotoxin exposure and the extreme range of variables encountered in human test studies.
Impacts of dermal or ingested mycotoxins have been well known for decades and are regulated by the FDA and other agencies.
Personal Tragedy Leads to Education
Richard Arsenault is an educational filmmaker who moved into a house in Burbank, California in 1999 with his family. They became ill immediately but it took three years to discover that the cause was concealed mold growing on all of the indoor walls of the property. Immediately following the exposure, Arsenault began educational research on the state of science regarding mold and discovered that the scientific community lacked consensus on the issue.
Biohazard Educational Productions
Arsenault teamed up with Aerotech Laboratories in 2003 and interviewed 44 of the world's top experts on indoor mold, building science, and medical research. He produced a DVD and television series titled Toxic Mold Solutions under a new company named Biohazard Educational Productionsin Arizona.
Controversy
The strain of producing a television series on mold and at the same time attempting to collect damages for his family's exposure proved untenable. Arsenault settled the lawsuit for lawyer's fees and chose to pursue the educational goals of the subject rather than personal justice. His $1.3 million lawsuit included compensation for over $100,000 in medical expenses and over $250,000 in property loss. Ultimately he had to discard over two tons of impossible to clean personal belongings that were so contaminated it was unsafe for anyone to be exposed to them.
Arsenault sold the product line to a Washington-based mold remediation company in 2009.
Lasting Benefits
Toxic Mold Solutions has never been legitimately challenged on a scientific basis. The video has become the accepted basis of truth of indoor mold contamination, medical potentials from mold exposure, and the basics of remediation. Because the video series is produced on a neutral and verifiable level, it has served to unify the previously scattered opinions on the issue. The video series has been used to train thousands of employees and protect the health of many thousands of families since its creation. The fair and conservative views presented by the wide variety of internationally respected experts created a base of knowledge that the mold remediation industry has been built upon.
Experts
Mycologists
Barbara Sue Bolin -- Aerotech Laboratories
Janice Jones -- Aerotech Laboratories
Industrial hygienists
Daniel Bridge PhD CIH -- Rimkus Consulting, TX
Geoffrey Clark -- PE Service, TX
Stuart Salot PhD CIH -- CTL Environmental Services, CA
Richard Krentz CIH -- Sterling & Associates, CA
Kyle Dotson CIH, CSP, PE -- Dotson Group, TX
Remediation experts
Bob Krell -- IAQ Technologies, NY
John Lausevic -- PGCC, CA,
Tom Sandoval -- Marcor Environmental, CA
Toxicologists
Dr. Eckert Johanning -- NY
Researchers
Vince Torres -- University of Texas, TX
Bruce Ferguson -- EnviroLogix, ME
Kathy Lauckner -- University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
Vincent Miller PhD -- Aerotech Laboratories
David C. Straus, Ph.D. -- Texas Tech University
Non-profit Organizations
Indoor Environmental Standards Organization- David Fetveit
Tom Allen -- Aerotech Laboratories
Conchita Miller PhD -- Aerotech Laboratories
Chemists
Wendy Aber -- Aerotech Laboratories
Darren Huff -- Aerotech Laboratories (Precision Analytical Division)
Inspectors
Charlie Wiles -- American Indoor Air Quality Council
Russell Nassof -- Environomics, AZ
Franco Seif -- Clark Seif Clark, CA
Richard Scarborough -- Environmental Inspections & Solutions, CA
Steve Showalter -- Building Specs, MD
Professors
Richard Shaughnessy PhD -- University of Tulsa, OK
Politicians
Senator Ortiz, CA
Senator Fraser, TX
Senator Jackson, TX
Attorneys
Steve Henning -- Wood, Smith Henning & Berman, CA
Ed Cross -- Law Office of Edward H Cross & Associates, CA
Toxic Mold Solutionsis a 2003 television series designed to shed knowledge and accurate scientific information on the subject of indoor mold. It was created by American filmmaker Richard Arsenault who was inspired by his own family's ordeal, injuries and property loss caused by mold exposure in a rental home.The film successfully dispelled decades of misinformation and confusion about one of the most important environmental exposure issues facing the world today: indoor mold exposure and mold-related building damage.
Background
Toxic Moldwas a misunderstood and misrepresented environmental problem which grew out of the energy conservation efforts of the 70's. During the fuel shortage, buildings and houses were sealed to prevent air leakage without adequate regard for the consequences to the occupants. Although virtually every building prior to that had some level of mold, it was not a problem of significant proportions because air flow allowed structures to remain balanced and fresh air exchanged with indoor air regularly. Furthermore, buildings were built using products that did not generally facilitate mold growth. The energy efficiency movement of the 70's and 80's combined with new building materials like sheet rock, combined with the proliferation of refrigerated indoor air created a perfect storm of engineering and biological conditions that led to the growth of excessive indoor mold.
By the 1990's mold claims began to overwhelm property insurance and could have readily bankrupted the insurance industry. As such, property insurance companies simultaneously worked to exclude mold coverage from their policies and deny the existence of a medical basis for damages. Presently, most insurance policies exclude mold coverage, and many landlords now demand release forms to be signed by occupants following a flood of toxic mold lawsuits in the late 1990's and early 2000's. But the medical community now broadly accepts the potential dangers of excessive mold exposure.
As scientific knowledge and research uncovers the impact of fungi exposure on humans, exposure limits may be possible to prevent injury. The battle is an uphill struggle scientifically, because the amount of mycotoxins needed to cause injury may require measurements down into the fentagram level, combined with the ethical problems of human studies of inhaled mycotoxin exposure and the extreme range of variables encountered in human test studies.
Impacts of dermal or ingested mycotoxins have been well known for decades and are regulated by the FDA and other agencies.
Personal Tragedy Leads to Education
Richard Arsenault is an educational filmmaker who moved into a house in Burbank, California in 1999 with his family. They became ill immediately but it took three years to discover that the cause was concealed mold growing on all of the indoor walls of the property. Immediately following the exposure, Arsenault began educational research on the state of science regarding mold and discovered that the scientific community lacked consensus on the issue.
Biohazard Educational Productions
Arsenault teamed up with Aerotech Laboratories in 2003 and interviewed 44 of the world's top experts on indoor mold, building science, and medical research. He produced a DVD and television series titled Toxic Mold Solutions under a new company named Biohazard Educational Productionsin Arizona.
Controversy
The strain of producing a television series on mold and at the same time attempting to collect damages for his family's exposure proved untenable. Arsenault settled the lawsuit for lawyer's fees and chose to pursue the educational goals of the subject rather than personal justice. His $1.3 million lawsuit included compensation for over $100,000 in medical expenses and over $250,000 in property loss. Ultimately he had to discard over two tons of impossible to clean personal belongings that were so contaminated it was unsafe for anyone to be exposed to them.
Arsenault sold the product line to a Washington-based mold remediation company in 2009.
Lasting Benefits
Toxic Mold Solutions has never been legitimately challenged on a scientific basis. The video has become the accepted basis of truth of indoor mold contamination, medical potentials from mold exposure, and the basics of remediation. Because the video series is produced on a neutral and verifiable level, it has served to unify the previously scattered opinions on the issue. The video series has been used to train thousands of employees and protect the health of many thousands of families since its creation. The fair and conservative views presented by the wide variety of internationally respected experts created a base of knowledge that the mold remediation industry has been built upon.
Experts
Mycologists
Barbara Sue Bolin -- Aerotech Laboratories
Janice Jones -- Aerotech Laboratories
Industrial hygienists
Daniel Bridge PhD CIH -- Rimkus Consulting, TX
Geoffrey Clark -- PE Service, TX
Stuart Salot PhD CIH -- CTL Environmental Services, CA
Richard Krentz CIH -- Sterling & Associates, CA
Kyle Dotson CIH, CSP, PE -- Dotson Group, TX
Remediation experts
Bob Krell -- IAQ Technologies, NY
John Lausevic -- PGCC, CA,
Tom Sandoval -- Marcor Environmental, CA
Toxicologists
Dr. Eckert Johanning -- NY
Researchers
Vince Torres -- University of Texas, TX
Bruce Ferguson -- EnviroLogix, ME
Kathy Lauckner -- University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
Vincent Miller PhD -- Aerotech Laboratories
David C. Straus, Ph.D. -- Texas Tech University
Non-profit Organizations
Indoor Environmental Standards Organization- David Fetveit
Tom Allen -- Aerotech Laboratories
Conchita Miller PhD -- Aerotech Laboratories
Chemists
Wendy Aber -- Aerotech Laboratories
Darren Huff -- Aerotech Laboratories (Precision Analytical Division)
Inspectors
Charlie Wiles -- American Indoor Air Quality Council
Russell Nassof -- Environomics, AZ
Franco Seif -- Clark Seif Clark, CA
Richard Scarborough -- Environmental Inspections & Solutions, CA
Steve Showalter -- Building Specs, MD
Professors
Richard Shaughnessy PhD -- University of Tulsa, OK
Politicians
Senator Ortiz, CA
Senator Fraser, TX
Senator Jackson, TX
Attorneys
Steve Henning -- Wood, Smith Henning & Berman, CA
Ed Cross -- Law Office of Edward H Cross & Associates, CA
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