Caoimhín P. Connell

Good morning, Gents! Kurt – You are absolute right. And it’s not unresolved, but rather the illnesses due to fungi are very real, and well understood, and in some cases can be very disabling. I have been involved in many cases over the last two decades involving very real illnesses involving fungi including moulds. No legitimate researcher disputes the role of fungi in causing, or exacerbating, human illness (including many fungal infections that can cause death). What is disputed is how, without justification, the mere presence of common indoor moulds are defined by charlatans as “deadlyâ€

Hello Lancey: Actually, Bill’s comments echo the same thoughts that have been running in the back of my mind. I’ve looked at IndoorRestore’s site – and in my opinion, based on their information, IndoorRestore does not strike me as credible. Rather, their information on their site reflects the “Toxic Mould is Goldâ€

Hello Lancey: All I would like to add to your last comment is that if you find a mould remediation company that wants to take samples, that should be your first clue to RUN AWAY…. very fast. The ONLY reason a mould remediation company would collect samples is to demonstrate that they don’t know what they are doing, so they are going to collect useless, meaningless, uniterpretable samples to impress you. Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Thanks, Gents! I appreciate the input! I have incorporated each of your comments and suggestions. Thanks for the criticisms! If this economy doesn't pick up, I'm thinking I may have to use my knowledge of grows to supplement my income! Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Good morning, Gents! Whether it’s due to Mr. Holmes' recent flurry or due to increasing concern by the public, I’m not sure. However, I’m receiving more phone calls about marijuana grows in homes. I have put together an initial web discussion on the subject, but would like input from you guys, the Pros. What areas of discussion should I be addressing? What would you find informative? Please let me know how you would change the discussion, and any other criticism you may have. The discussion is at: http://www.forensic-applications.com/ma ... owops.html Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Hello Lancey – Jim’s response was funny, Hausdok’s was prudent, and Jeremy’s strikes a chord with me that was echoed by other responders. Your post contained two parts, both indicated a lack of foundation. So let’s look at your post: Can anyone tell me how to get rid of mold besides using the bleach/water solution? I've got a pretty bad infection of mold in my house. 1) For a start, one would NEVER get rid of mould in an house by using bleach (or any other “sanitizerâ€

Good morning, Gents: Generally, where I’ve observed isolated colonization like that, the carpet is over a concrete floor. I presume that the temperature is variable over the floor and various cold spots result in condensation occurring in different locations. Also, the growth conditions will be more favorable in different locations because of the food sources in the carpets (debris and accumulation of dust etc). I would just ID it for what it appears to be and even if it is mould, I would not recommend turning it into a science project, just recommend professionally cleaning the carpet. Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Hi Gents – I think Phillip, Dirks and gtblum are right on target. It’s a pity this Homes guy didn’t approach this from a different angle. I think he missed a great opportunity to provide some valuable information in a constructive manner. I have been involved in a lot of grows and clanlabs following a property transaction – whenever the new owner blames the HI, I have always come to their defense and stressed exactly what Mr. David Mahoney said – “It’s not their job.â€

Hello Gents! I saw the video, and in a nut shell, as an outside observer, I thought it was a hatchet job on Home Inspectors. The piece was really predicated on unconstructive hyperbole, that was unnecessary to raise the issue in a constructive manner. But, that speaks volumes on the standards of reporters, more than on the integrity of the Home Inspection Industry. As a cop, I personally have busted a LOT of grow operations; and the police footage was exactly what we see (I have hundreds of photos and videos of exactly what was shown there - the only thing missing was the smell.) So what was Mr. Holmes’s point? For a start, I take exception to his argument that there is a grow on every street. No there isn’t. It is a problem, to be sure, and we don’t know how big a problem it may be. Furthermore, south of the border, many states allow grow operations, adding to the problem. Do grow-ops pose a threat for toxic exposures? Yes, they certainly can. However, in the grand scheme of things, when an HI is performing their work, they are busy looking for other, more probable, issues (foundations, electrical, building code violations, etc). I know more about clanlabs and grow-ops than most of my fello Law Enforcement Brothers, but I will still hire an ASHI or NAHI or other non-NACHI Home Inspector to look at my house before I buy (or indeed before I sell). The obvious question is “Is it the HIs job to know about grow ops?â€

Tom: Man! Am I glad you see your definition! I had to look it up and my dictionary said: “That which brings death; discharge from life.â€

Good Evening, Gents! From an Industrial Hygienist’s perspective, I am familiar with ozone generators, and I have been involved in a couple of cases where the introduction of ozone permanently damaged the structures involved. First of all, let’s consider the following: Hydrogen cyanide (HCN), the stuff of gas chambers and chemical warfare. I think we can all agree that HCN is really nasty stuff. REALLY nasty. So nasty in fact that the National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health lists the IDLH level (immediately dangerous to life and health) as 50 parts of HCN per one million parts of air (50 ppm); and NIOSH has set the REL (recommended exposure limit) at 4.7 ppm. The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says that a US employee cannot be exposed to greater than 10 ppm HCN as an 8-hour time weighted average. So it’s really nasty stuff. But not nearly as nasty as ozone. Whereas the deadly gas, HCN, is immediately dangerous to life and health at 50 ppm, ozone is immediately dangerous to life and health at FIVE ppm (5.0). Whereas OSHA says, aw shucks, you can expose your employee to toxic gas chamber gas at no more than 10 ppm each day, OSHA also says that you can only expose your employee to one TENTH of one ppm (0.1 ppm) during the same time period (this is called the “Permissible Exposure Limit"); BTW, an employer can do jail time if they knowingly violate this Federal Standard. One of my professional organizations, the ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists) says that OSHA is WAY off base and that their limit is too high! And that an employee should not be exposed to any greater than 0.05 ppm for the same time frame (this is called the TLV – Threshold Limit Value). The Germans say that ACGIH is WAY off base and there is no acceptable concentration of ozone to which an employee should be exposed (called the M.A.K.) Compared to ozone, though, cyanide gas, the gas used in chemical warfare and used in the US to execute criminals in the gas chamber, is child’s play. Cyanide is just kinda nasty, but ozone? Ozone is REALLY nasty. And somebody wants to put it in your house? According to The American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality - ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2007 we see that in Section 6.2.1.2, ASHRAE standard requires REMOVING ozone from the indoor air when the concentration reaches 0.16 ppm. And the story just gets worse from there…. I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I have been involved in a couple of projects where structures were damaged because of the introduction of ozone into the structure. Here’s what happened – there is a nut-job in my area who is a complete kook (that’s not ad hominem, that’s actually fairly objective). I’ve opposed him on several cases (in the latest case, he told the homeowners that if their house contained so much as ONE mould spore, they needed to evacuate their home immediately). He now moderates an Indoor Air Quality board and is on the IIRC Committee. In any event, his solution to correcting problems was to intentionally fill people’s houses with high levels of ozone to cure all ills – ozone to fix mould problems and other issues. Problem is, not only does ozone attack and destroy peoples lungs and eyes and mucus membranes and the like, it also attacks their carpets, furniture, Rembrandts, furs, books, and … well pretty much everything else. Frequently breaking down the synthetic materials in these items and causing them to adopt fish-like odors, burnt odors, and other nasty smells that one can’t get rid of. In general, ozone generators in residential settings should be considered extremely dangerous. In the last several years, small personal use ozone generators were also frequently sold under a variety of false claims, such as air “purifiers,â€

Hello Gents! Although I understand the Moderator’s good intentions. I cannot participate in a forum where my posts are edited (it creates very serious problems for me in depositions and direct and cross examinations when opposing counsel brings up language from the web attributed to me but edited by someone else). Therefore, I have removed my previous posts, since I’m not sure which ones were edited and which were not. Although I respect the Moderator’s authority over his board, and suggest he remove any post of mine he doesn’t like, I would ask the Moderator not to edit my posts thus allowing me to continue to participate in this wonderful forum. Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Hello Gents! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Birthday and all the rest! Sorry about the cross posting of this post, and sorry I haven’t been participating on the boards lately – been slammed over the last several months. (Probably just as well for the Global Warming nutters, otherwise I would have had a lot of fun with the recent disclosure of widespread academic fraud in the Global Warming nutter’s camp– something that legitimate climatologists have been whining about for decades). In any event, the academic fraud issue should be a clarion bell to those who think that objective science is used by policy wonks. Wrong. I have just finished revising two web sites in another area where we see junk science predominating in the public view with the silly meaningless manipulations of confusing numbers – residential radon. The discussions won’t make some of you happy – but, what can I say? The truth is what it is, without regard for men’s desires (including my own). The pages include new and updated references, and reflect the current state of scientific thought on the radon issue. My spelling has not improved, and any criticisms along those lines would be appreciated. The discussions are: General Discussion on radon – occurrence and risk: http://www.forensic-applications.com/radon/radon.html And minor revisions to the famous literature review page: Radon Risk and Cancer http://www.forensic-applications.com/radon/reviews.html Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Hello Gents – I haven’t been able to visit the forum for a while. However, I know that you lot are multi-faceted in nature and I thought that the following might be of interest. The lecture occurred a couple of days ago, on October 14, 2009, at Bethel University in St. Paul and was given by Lord Christopher Monckton. On the surface, and in content, the lecture (which is one hour and 35 minutes) is on “Global Warming.â€

Good morning, Jeremy: As far as the concrete wall goes, I really can’t tell from the photo. However, assuming that it was mould (which is highly unlikely), then it would be inconsequential. Regarding your second photo – the photo is perfectly clear to demonstrate there is NO mould problem. As far as “testingâ€

Kurt: All of it or any part. Just use standard citations! Rob: Yeah, that would be appropriate - The quote you used is from Dr. Harriet Burge: Can Mold Be Safely Left Inside Walls? The Environmental Reporter, Vol. 3, No. 11, November 2005 Last week I found out that not only is Dr. Burge the Queen of Mycology, she also is an accomplished singer! Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Hello All: In light of the information contained in the recent release (July, 2009) of the World Health Organization document titled: WHO guidelines for indoor air quality: dampness and mould, I have revised our State of Knowledge web discussion on the epidemiological aspects of the “toxic mouldâ€

Show me yours and I'll show you mine. [:-shades] Caoimhín

That or the secret insurance conspiracies operated by the Bush administration and large pharmaceutical companies (of which I happen to be a secret member). Caoimhín

Good morning, all: For the record: Ms. Kramer was a no-show. The Johnson Conference was a success. Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Howdy! OK – if it’s in the basement, then the possibility for exposure is pretty high. So, for what it’s worth, I agree with you! Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Howdy! Yea, that looks pretty suspicious. I would bet a lunch that it’s ACM. As you point out, it appears in good shape, and it appears to be in a crawlspace. I think, depending on the totality of circumstances, it may be acceptable to leave in place. If so, it should certainly be identified and labeled with clear bright labels denoting ACM or PACM. Also, I would recommend labeling the entrance to the crawler, so that contractors are duly warned. I would also recommend labeling the furnace. Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

That's where they hide the Dove Bars. Just one of the perks of inspecting an unattended house, no doubt. Caoimhín

Dead rat... best kind. I like taking pictures at work as well! (Not sure why it didn't show up on the forum...?) http://forensic-applications.com/misc/U ... micals.jpg Y'all don't want to see the dead stuff I deal with (it usually has a first name, last name and a social security number). Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG

Good afternoon Jeff – In addition to histo, as mentioned by Scott, (which BTW, is endemic in the southeastern US) there are a number of other concerns. Other organisms such as Cryptococcus neoformans, are also of concern. Similarly, and perhaps even more important, is exposure to the endotoxins associated with the Gram Negative inhabitants of the excreta. The droppings can be safely cleaned up (even by an homeowner) using simple engineering controls to reduce exposures. The hazards of the exposures are very real and should be taken with appropriate concern. Now, having said that, as a boy growing up on a farm, we were exposed to more bird poop than I care to remember, and I also kept pigeons (French fantails), and we never had a single case of dropping related illnesses. Cheers! Caoimhín P. Connell Forensic Industrial Hygienist www.forensic-applications.com (The opinions expressed here are exclusively my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect my professional opinion, opinion of my employer, agency, peers, or professional affiliates. The above post is for information only and does not reflect professional advice and is not intended to supercede the professional advice of others.) AMDG