Imagine that you are going to make a big pot of soup. You empty your freezer and refrigerator of all of your leftovers and wind up with 30 different ingredients, all simmering together in water. At the end, it will hopefully be a tasty and nutritious meal.
Now imagine that you are living or working in a Water Damaged Building (WDB). This toxic environment can contain 30 different organisms and toxins that can sicken those with a susceptible HLA genetic defect. While for many years we have focused on indoor toxic molds, and for good reason, we now understand that these are not the only culprits. In fact, recent studies using GENIE transcriptomics and NeuroQuant brain imaging show that some of the bacteria present may even be more significant to the negative health effects from these environments than the molds.
So what is in our toxic soup? We have previously identified the indoor toxic molds and can test for them using MSQPCR methods like ERMI or HERTSMI-2 dust sampling. Given appropriate considerations, there may be some value to air sampling multiple areas if they are positive. However, these methods do not identify the myriad of gram negative bacteria, Actinomycetes, Mycobacteria, MARCONS and other organisms that are almost always present. In addition, there are fragments of molds and other toxins produced such as Mycotoxins and Endotoxins. All told, there are at least 30 different toxins and inflammagens present. The mold components may only be 10% of the toxic soup!
What appears to be happening in a WDB is that there is war going on between the molds and bacteria. They are trying to destroy each other and take over the environment to use the moisture and food available. The indoor toxic molds produce Mycotoxins and the bacteria produce Endotoxins in an attempt to kill each other. Humans are caught in the middle, breathing in these toxins, which are really VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds). Given a susceptible HLA genetic defect, we will get sick with CIRS. There are other VOC’s present in this toxic soup that we can react to as well. They are produced by the wet construction materials, carpeting, wood products, and plastics.
So, what do we do? If you are ill from a WDB (CIRS), then you must remove yourself from the exposure immediately. You must see a physician with experience in treating these disorders so you can be appropriately tested and treated, following scientifically validated protocols. Then you need to work on your WDB and see if it can be salvaged. For this, you need an Indoor Environmental Professional (IEP) certified and experienced in dealing with contaminated environments and remediating them to the standards needed for a CIRS patient. The normal “mold remediation contractor” does not know what you now know and is not up to the task of this level of decontamination.
Now that you understand about the toxic soup of a WDB, you need to do appropriate testing for the bacteria and endotoxins. There is a screening test available from Envirobiomics that utilizes dust sampling. If you don’t check for both molds and bacteria, you risk missing the cause of your problems. Remember, the IEP or mold contractor may not be aware of this. If the molds are winning the war, they will show on the MSQPCR testing. If the bacteria are winning the war, the molds may not show to a significant degree and you will think the environment is fine. Wrong! There may be Endotoxins lurking that will make you sick.
We will discuss fine particle remediation in another blog. Remember about the toxic soup and identifying the ingredients. Don’t focus on killing the organisms, but removing them. If you don’t remove yourself from the contaminated environment, the detoxification and steps to heal your immune system and brain will be only partially successful.