INDOOR AIR QUALITY – IT’S PERSONAL
It is my belief that we tend to take for granted how much the indoor air quality of our homes directly relates to the health and well being of our family. I feel very strongly about this. There is a good reason for my strong feelings. Mold inspections and mold testing and mold removal is much more than an occupation to me. If I were wealthy and didn’t need an income to survive, I would honestly do mold testing and removal at no charge to others. Why? Here is my story…
Several years ago, my wife was pregnant with our second child. At that time, our first child, Farrah, was a healthy, beautiful, two-year-old girl. My wife, with each pregnancy, had taken every precaution possible, going above and beyond every recommendation of doctors in her lifestyle habits to insure she would have healthy children. Farrah was born in a different home, and she was perfectly healthy in every way. But we had recently moved into a bigger, older home, to make room for our growing family. We had no reason to think anything could be wrong with our home. But several months later, when Kinsey was born, it soon become evident that something somewhere had gone terribly wrong. When Kinsey was 3 months old, she became very ill for no apparent reason. She was in the hospital for weeks as doctors tried to find the source of her illness. They eventually found that her brain had not fully developed. We were devastated.
Kinsey survived the illness. Today, she is a beautiful, caring, and loving person. But, she is mentally handicapped. She will not be able to function higher than a 4-year-old, mentally. Even now, I am often moved to tears when I look at this wonderful daughter of mine. In this world, she will never be able to live independently on her own, or carry on a normal conversation with her family and friends. She has so many wonderful, unique qualities that can never reach their full potential because of her brain not fully developing in the womb. It all seems so unfair. Why? How could this happen?
To make a long story short, it was the IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) of our home. It took us a very long time to find this out. But it was asbestos contamination that evidently robbed Kinsey’s chance at having a normal life. We were a young couple at that time. I would have never imagined such a thing. How different her life could have been. She will always be loved and cherished by all that know her, but this didn’t have to happen. As a parent, I blame myself for not being more aware of such things.
Today, asbestos is not the problem it was because it is not put into homes anymore, and many of the older homes have had it removed. But mold is the single biggest problem of IAQ today. If the mold count is excessively high in homes, it often can affect the health of all family members, but most especially, the very young, the pregnant, and the very old.
So, for this reason, I am very concerned when people call me with their concerns about the health of their families. When they tell me they see mold, or are sickly, have allergy or respiratory problems at home, yet feel so much better when they are away from home, this gets my attention. It really isn’t just a job to me. I am emotionally involved, and I want every family to know beyond all doubt that the air quality of their home is safe. If it is not safe, I can help them find out how to correct it. So, for me, when it comes to mold testing, inspections, or removal, it’s personal.
