A Mold Article by Dan Howard

[Mike Lamb]

This is an "article" posted in Inspection News by Dan Howard who is ASHI National Public Relations Committee Chairman.

The reason this continues isn't because of the media, or the hack mold specialists, or the fear mongering mold testers like Dan Howard, it's because it is what the public wants and I sometimes feel very stupid for caring.

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_insp ... oward.html

Is your home making you sick?

[Jim Katen]

This is an "article" posted in Inspection News by Dan Howard who is ASHI National Public Relations Committee Chairman.

The reason this continues isn't because of the media, or the hack mold specialists, or the fear mongering mold testers like Dan Howard, it's because it is what the public wants and I sometimes feel very stupid for caring.

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_insp ... oward.html

Is your home making you sick?

As far as I can tell, it's just a post by a guy named Dan Howard. It's not an "article" and it's not presented as having anything to do with ASHI.

[hausdok]

This is an "article" posted in Inspection News by Dan Howard who is ASHI National Public Relations Committee Chairman.

The reason this continues isn't because of the media, or the hack mold specialists, or the fear mongering mold testers like Dan Howard, it's because it is what the public wants and I sometimes feel very stupid for caring.

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_insp ... oward.html

Is your home making you sick?

Really, the public wants it? How do you know that? Are there studies?

Why didn't they want it 15 years ago? The molds that they are calling toxic have been around for thousands of years. Why is it that we never heard about this before the mold-is-gold mongering? The answer - because it's the mold-is-gold mongers like Howard that convince the public they need it. If we as a profession did more to debunk the mold myth I bet the whole thing would quietly go away. Instead, everyone tucks his head between his shoulders, calls anything that could even remotely be construed as mold - soot, dirt, shoe polish scuffs, sweat stains - mold, and refers the client to a "mold specialist" who ultimately will inflate the thing and inevitably recommend full abatement.

I spend a lot of time explaining to folks why they shouldn't hire mold mongers and why, if they are concerned, why they should seek out real scientists and not inspectors when following up on a mold issue. I explain to them how the whole mold-is-gold myth has unfolded and I encourage them to spread the word to their friends to avoid the mold-is-gold mongers like the parasites they are. If we all did that, I'm certain that in just a few years this whole mess will quietly become no news again.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Nolan Kienitz]

I had two clients this past week that I spent a fair amount of time with explaining mold and 'mold is gold', etc..

They finally 'got it' ... albeit one couple's wife was still a tad hesitant, but the light bulb finally did go on for her after another conversation with a State of Texas licensed mold inspector. He is 'honest' about the whole thing.

I also received a cold call this past week from a company (I think in NC) asking if I was certified to do mold testing for my clients? Turns out this company was wanting to sell me some course that I could take (and spend $$$ on) and become a mold specialist and do those inspections and sell them for additional revenue from my clients.

I about lost it, but held my tongue and told him that he obviously doesn't know the rules in Texas that mold inspectors have to be licensed and certified by the State of Texas. Anyone else claiming they do mold inspections without that certification (from the State of Texas) is a sham and operating illegally.

The call ended rather abruptly.

Bottom line is that there are folks/schools out there still beating the drum for this.

[kurt]

My thoughts......

The article reinforced my notion of never going over to IN. The article was unreadable, not just due to the subject matter. It gave definition to the term "rambling screed". The emboldened portion did jump out at me, which made me laugh....

"This is not a new problem. The first written mention of mold in a home is in the Bible, Leviticus 14:33-45 Cleansing from Defiling Molds. Mold was an important health issue in Biblical times and it is an important health issue today."

[Marc]

Looks like an article he wrote for Trib Total Media in PA. A copy of it is on the authors mold inspection site and beneath the title is this media company's name. It published in the 18 August 2012 edition. I'm not sure if it was a newspaper or a magazine.

He's just another alarmist.

Marc

[Mike Lamb]

This is an "article" posted in Inspection News by Dan Howard who is ASHI National Public Relations Committee Chairman.

The reason this continues isn't because of the media, or the hack mold specialists, or the fear mongering mold testers like Dan Howard, it's because it is what the public wants and I sometimes feel very stupid for caring.

http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_insp ... oward.html

Is your home making you sick?

Really, the public wants it? How do you know that? Are there studies?

No. I was speaking out of frustration. But a great many want to blame their unexplained illnesses on something no one can prove. Mold is the convenient, fashionable explanation and the media always wants to give the public what they want.

If we as a profession did more to debunk the mold myth I bet the whole thing would quietly go away. Instead, everyone tucks his head between his shoulders...

Not everyone. I've done a little bit and so do others but it's not enough. I'm all for a watch dog group that sends emails and posts responses to the wholesale crap that Mr. Dan Howard and his ilk pushes.

I explain to them how the whole mold-is-gold myth has unfolded and I encourage them to spread the word to their friends to avoid the mold-is-gold mongers like the parasites they are. If we all did that, I'm certain that in just a few years this whole mess will quietly become no news again.

Mike

No. I don't think so. Not with respected ASHI members and the full ignorant support of the media pushing the science that mold is making healthy people sick.

Here is a Pittsburg TV news story: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/07/ ... -you-sick/

I think a concerted organized effort by some concerned HI's to send emails to the editors of the news media who erroneously mis-report the facts would help. It will also help to have someone besides Caoimh'n P. Connell attacking the mold "specialists" out there on these widely read HI forums who spout their self serving expertise and "articles" concerning the dangers of mold.

This is a real thread started by a real practicing HI over at IN News: "It looked liked the BLACK MOLD of death that everyone runs kicking and screaming from. Of course I know it has to be tested to be sure but does this look like it too you. I discontinued the inspection in the area due to not wanted to get this disturbed and airborne but what do you think? "

I will send a letter of protest to the Pittsburg CBS station above complaining they are pedaling unsubstantiated fear, and like my dealings with the Chicago Tribune, I will be treated like a gnat when compared to Dan Howard (ASHI National Public Relations Committee Chairman) or Jack McGraw (Director of the ASHI school).

To show you what a great guy Dan Howard is, his mold testing website has a page called, "Children's Health Initiative: Toxic Mold," so he obviously cares about children. It leads off with the nearly 20 year old discredited Cleveland medical case:

"Outbreaks of the fungi Stachybotrys chartarum (S. chartarum) are under investigation for an association with the deaths of infants in Cleveland, Ohio, and serious health problems in other areas of the U.S."

Dan Howard, has to be aware of the CDC findings on the Cleveland deaths. How sad is that?

And for anybody who does not know: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4909a3.htm

There has to be a syndicated real estate columnist who is willing to write an article that HI's recommending and performing mold testing is a sham.

[Stephen Lagueux]

without taking any sides here, I'd love to see a good debate between the reaserch, scientific microbial community and home inspectors to see what could be learned from each other.

[Marc]

without taking any sides here, I'd love to see a good debate between the research, scientific microbial community and home inspectors to see what could be learned from each other.

Yeah, that would be nice but I'll wager that such a debate would quickly evolve to a simple statement of the facts from the scientific community to HI's, which is what's really needed. Not that we haven't already had a measure of that from Caoimhín.

Marc