22: Q&A - Interpreting ERMI / Storing Contaminated Belongings / Contaminated Vacuums & Purifiers

Hello again, everyone, and welcome to today's show. If you're one of the 130 million people that are dealing with Sirs Lyme disease, autoimmune disease, or other conditions that are impacted by mold on a daily basis, and you need to learn how to eliminate that exposure, then you're in the right place. My name is Brian Carr, and you're listening to Mold Finders Radio.

Hey, guys. So we're going to answer some more questions from. Not yesterday, from last week. Today. So I posted a story last week, asked for some questions. We got some in. So I'm going to continue on some of those. The first question I have here is from Cdekovich, and it says, high levels of Cladosporium were on my ERMI test. Is it brought in from the outside? So, I mean, it's really not that easy, right? So let's kind of talk through what an ERMI is, how it's grouped out, and we can talk through it a little bit. So an ERMI test, first off, is a screening test, right? It's not telling us where mold is coming from. That is the first thing that I want us to understand when we're looking at results from an ERMI test. It's not telling you source. It's not telling you location. If you do multiple ERMI tests in your house and you're trying to, like, say, I'm going to do one in this room and one in this room and one in this room, it can maybe give you some direction on kind of where, you know, if one is higher than another one or something, you can maybe get some direction that way. But at the end of the day, this isn't going to tell you if something's coming from the inside or the outside or not. Now, the. The common.

Error when you're reading these reports, especially when you're trying to understand inside versus outside, and the reason that people, by the way, trying to understand that is they're trying to figure out if there is actually a mold problem in their house. So we're trying to rationalize this by saying, oh, it's an outdoor mold. So it's from the outside.

There is no such thing as only an outdoor mold or only an indoor mold. Okay? So that's the first thing. Mold is mold. Some of them are more common indoors, some of them are more common outdoors. But there isn't just one type of mold that will never, ever grow inside, and there isn't another type of mold that will never, ever grow outside. Right? So it's not Black and white like that. It's not saying that. Is this an indoor mold, or is it an outdoor mold? And is that where it's coming from? Now, in the ERMI report itself, it splits out all the results into two groups. So group one is titled water damage, and group two is titled common outdoor molds. So the easy mistake to make is to look at that grouping the way that they put it together and say, oh, so these molds on the right side, which are common outdoor molds, these only happen outdoors, and it's not totally true. Right? So that was one thing. I want to make sure that we get across right away. It just means that they're more commonly found outdoors than they were in the house. And keep in mind, this study was a study that was done on 1100 homes, like, 13 years ago when they did random samples from homes across the country. Okay? So it's just a random selection of about a thousand homes across 50 states. So it's not like the hugest. Is hugest a word. It's not the biggest, you know, most expansive sample set either. Right. Like, the whole point was just to get some sort of direction. So when we're looking at ermi, we have to understand what the purpose of the ERMI test is. And it's not even the ERMI score. Like, that's not the purpose. The purpose is to understand how many water damage molds are we finding, how many overall mold types are we finding on the entire panel? What do the levels of those molds look like? And that's how we interpret them. The score directional, really? And the reason is because the way the score is calculated, it's subtracting the group two moles from the group one molds. So I've gone through this before, but just to kind of rehash it real quickly, if. If you're subtracting group two from group one, then if you just flip numbers around, it can make. It can make the score look so much better or so much worse. Right? So let's just say your group one is A. Is a score of 10, and your group two is a score of 5. You subtract 5 from 10, your ERMI score would be a 5, and that would be the highest. You know, that would hit kind of the highest threshold, and it would say that it's high. Okay, on the flip side, let's say your group one is five, and your group two is ten. Then you would subtract ten from five. Your score would be negative five, and it would look like you have the cleanest house that's ever existed. Now, the reality is that there's still a mold load in the house. It just happens to be that there's a heavier load of the group two molds instead of the group one molds. So. So does that mean you're not being exposed to any mold in the house? No, just means you're being exposed to different types of molds in the house that are more often categorized as a group two mold. Okay. As an outdoor mold. So that's the thing I want to get across. The real way to understand this is that you have to do a combination of different sampling methods. So you need to understand. If you're trying to figure out, is this mold brought in from the outside, then what you really need to understand is, are there water damage areas in your house? How many of them are there? Are we testing them? What's coming back in those samples? Right. Are we finding multiple sources in the house? If you're finding multiple sources in your house, some of which have cladosporium in them, and then you're doing an ERMI test where you have some different Cladosporium species that are showing up.

You'Re seeing that there are sources in the house, and there's maybe an elevated mold load in the house, you have to fix the sources. Right. You have to get rid of the factories that are creating the problem. So I hope that that helps. I know that you're probably looking for more of a black and white answer. You're probably trying to say, if the cladosporium in the group two is on my ermi, then that means it's coming from the outside. Right. And so my quick answer is no, it doesn't necessarily mean that. Right. The purpose of a true mold assessment and really being a mold finder is to understand where it's coming from and. And the strengths and weaknesses of different testing methods. So a mold masterclass, I have an entire module dedicated to the strengths and weaknesses of all the different testing methods that we use, how to read all of their lab results and even how to interpret them. So if you had somebody come into your house and do different types of testing, you don't have to rely on that person to interpret the lab results for you. You could literally go into mole masterclass, go in that module, and I put up examples of lab reports, and I show you exactly what to look for. I show you what's important, what's not important. I go through all that stuff. So what I would say, just think about why you're Using the test. Right. And what I say is if your ERMI comes up and it's elevated, then it means that you probably need to be doing a more thorough assessment of the house to figure out if there are sources inside the house. And that's going to help answer your question of where it's coming from.

All right, our next question is from nycm.

And it says, I've moved out of my moldy apartment. Is it safe to keep contaminated items in a tripled up place plastic bag?

So a couple things here. So.

When remediation happens, let's just talk about that. First, they use 6 mil plastic sheeting in bags in order to kind of wrap stuff up right when you're bringing it through your house to avoid cross contamination. So if you have a thick plastic material like that, it's going to be helpful for avoiding that cross contamination. However, the exterior of that bag needs to be cleaned. So you don't just wrap it up. So think about it. You're in a containment, you wrap a bunch of stuff up in this plastic bag and then you walk out. Well, whatever is floating around is on the exterior of that plastic bag. So you actually do have to clean and wipe the exterior of the plastic bag. And even cleaning and wiping it is probably good enough. And again, if you're interested in what to do, what you use to do that wiping and cleaning, you can go to moldcleaningproduct.com and I provide the product that I like as well as products that I don't think that you should use and the benefits of that product. So I've talked about that a few times times on there. So you could go there to grab the information on that product that I like for this stuff. But aside from that. So that's the first thing. So technically, if you're wrapping stuff up and it's really sealed well and the bag is cleaned. Yeah, I mean, you may have a very little crossover just from moving stuff around, but ultimately it's going to help. The thing that I talk to clients more about is a lot of times people want to keep some of their things, right. Because maybe they're valuable in terms of monetary value or maybe they're sentimentally valuable.

Is that a phrase too? What am I saying? Today they have sentimental value. Excuse me, guys, just making things up.

So a lot of times people want to do that. However, maybe their body is not ready to be exposed to that stuff at all yet. Right. And I've talked about this before too, that you know, there are some items that just may not be able to be fully 100% cleaned. However, if you allow your body time to heal and your immune system time to process, and your immune funnel that we've talked about before, able to kind of even itself out a little bit, then maybe you would be able to be around some of these items later on, right? Once your body is kind of healed and the detox pathways have gotten a little better, and a small exposure wouldn't just give you a massive Herx reaction. So in cases like that, what's something that you can consider is actually taking some of these items that you want to keep and putting them in storage for a while, right? You can still wrap them up the same way you'll protect them from wherever they are in the storage place and keep them there. And then work on your body, work on your detox pathways, work on your healing, and then you could later on, and, you know, who knows how long that is. You have to work with your doctor and try to come up with a plan. But then maybe later on you can start introducing some of these other things back into your environment and maybe it won't. It won't give you a significant reaction, right? So, you know, the whole point of this entire journey that everyone is on is to try to feel better, right? That's the whole point. And there's different levels and different roads that you have to take in order to get there. Some people get there faster, some people take a little longer. And part of the process is being able to limit your exposure to mold in order to allow your body to start this healing process. So if you could keep these things somewhere else so you're not being exposed to it, but you still own them and you still have them, then maybe down the road, when your body is in a little better position to process this stuff, then you might be able to bring it back in. So hopefully that gives you something to think about and that that's helpful for you.

One thing I wanted to mention real quick before we continue on and do another question is this week I actually wrote out all the emails that I send to my subscribers throughout the course of the week. I wrote them out this morning. Just FYI, if you guys are not on the mold finder subscriber list, I'm going to tell you how to get there. But I send four to five emails out every week on different things that will help you, whether some of the topics that we kind of talk about here on the podcast and other things that I don't mention on the podcast, things I Don't mention on my Instagram feed things that I really just try to save sometimes for my subscribers because I appreciate you guys opening my emails and taking what I have to heart, what I have to say to heart. So this week I was talking yesterday with a client. I posted about this on Instagram today. I was talking with a client yesterday. She's renting a house. She's kind of telling me the whole thing that was going on. They had a big water issue in their basement and she said to me, I can't believe they rented us this house. The landlord is a State Farm executive. And that was kind of what she said. And I get it, right? You're like, oh man, you think that these people would be on top of it. As I said in my post today on Instagram, O Masterclass, insurance companies are not in the business of helping you solve your mold problem. They're in the business of minimizing it because they would then have to spend a lot of money to fix it. So what I did this week is that I created a when I was writing these out, I did a three part email series on insurance specific to mold. So coverage for mold issues for insurance. Some of the secrets that I share with my clients that I actually work with directly on how to package the information that they supply to the insurance company, how to supply it to the insurance company, when to supply it to the insurance company, all in an effort to increase.

The likelihood and the probability of getting coverage and reimbursement for remediation. So you know, keep in mind, it doesn't always work 100% of the time, but there are definitely things that I've learned in the years and years of doing this and all of my clients trying to work with insurance that I've seen that have helped their cause and increase their chances of getting a higher dollar amount for their coverage. So with all of that said, this is only going out to my email subscribers that are on the Mold Finders email list. So the way that you can get there. And I'll give you something else, I just mentioned it a moment ago. If you go to moldcleaningproduct.com and you give me your email address in there one, I'm going to send you information on the product that I love for cleaning your stuff and also for remediation. So you're going to get that for free anyway. But in addition, you'll get onto the Mold Finder email list and then you'll get my emails throughout the course of the week with all kinds of information. I actually, I take a lot of time to write these emails out. I spent like two hours this morning writing five emails for you guys that are going to go out this week. So I put a lot of time into these because I want there to be a lot of value for you and I actually really kind of like doing it. So if you go and you do that, you're going to be on the list. And then starting Wednesday, so Wednesday, Thursday, Friday is going to be the three part email series on getting insurance to help cover your mold remediation issues. So if you guys are interested in what I tell my actual direct clients that pay me thousands and thousands of dollars to work with them, I'm going to share that information with you guys for free. So the way to get that, go to moldcleaningproduct.com give me your email address again, I'm going to send you the information on the product that I really like for cleaning your stuff. And then more importantly, or maybe equally importantly, I guess I'm also going to share with you this three part mold remediation or, excuse me, mold insurance email series that I spent a lot of time on this morning. So if you're interested, go ahead and sign up for that.

Alright, the last question I'm going to do today is from Alex Kornbaum, also on Instagram. It says, can I bring my vacuum and air purifier from my moldy home to my new place or should I replace them? Good question. Something I get asked a lot. So I kind of have a general rule on this.

Vacuums I would replace personally.

Air purifiers and filters, they're meant for a moldy environment. But what I would do is replace the internal like replaceable filter. I would get a new filter for the inside of it and then bring that over. So as far as vacuums go, the thing is.

That we know that particle and dust and dirt is what carries a lot of this stuff right now. Vacuum cleaners aren't really meant to filter out the size of particle that we're talking about when we're trying to figure this out. And I've gone really into depth in this and a few of the other technology episodes on the podcast. So you can look back and listen to those to get some more specifics on the particle sizes and the different units and stuff. But the vacuum cleaners aren't really made for that. The best that you can get is a HEPA vacuum and that's just not effective enough to filter out these small particles. That you need to do. So with that in mind, again, you know, a vacuum is sucking in for the most part, right? Like, you know, you're going to get. It's not like it's pushing everything out, but at the same time, it's a dust reservoir that basically you're bringing into your new house. If you're trying to eliminate all possible, you know, potential cross contamination exposure things, you know, a vacuum cleaner, I feel like, is one of the things that you wouldn't bring. I mean, turn your vacuum cleaner head over and look at it at some point, you know, like where the bristles, like go over the carpet, there's a whole bunch of dirt and hair and all this stuff that gets wedged in there. So you're going to be bringing that into the new place, right. It's just very difficult to clean an H, or excuse me, a vacuum cleaner. That's not really kind of what they're meant to do. So I would look to replace that. But like I said, for the air filters, they are meant to filter this stuff out. The way that the air flows through the system is very systematic. It's done in a, in a particular way. There's a process. Different units even have ionization or disinfecting filter systems or whatever. So there's a lot more technology that goes into an air filtration unit because that's what it's meant to do. That said, what I would do, like I said before, I would just replace the internal filter. I would just get a replacement. So, like, for me, I have a couple different units. The filter replacements have been kind of harder to do over coronavirus time. But all you do is basically pull out a filter, you put a new one in. Depending on whatever your unit is, it might cost, you know, a couple hundred bucks to replace that filter. But at that point, you know, you're getting rid of a lot of the accumulation of the dirt and the dust that's in there because it would be on the filter. And then after that, just wipe the. Wipe the exterior of the entire unit down. Like we've talked about in some previous episodes with the. With a particular mold cleaning product. And then you just damp wipe it down. If you do that, I feel much more confident with air filters. I personally have moved my air filters from different moldy environments. Historically, I've lived in a couple places that had pretty significant water issues and that there was mold problems. And so while I was working to get out of my lease, I was using these filters to try to counteract what was Going on. Then I did this exact same thing. I swapped out the internal filters, I wiped them all down, I cleaned them, I took them to the next place. I had no concerns about it. So for me, that's what I did for myself. So that's something that you can consider for you as well. So thank you for that question too. And I think that's going to wrap up the day for us on this episode. So again, thank you everyone for submitting the questions. I do look at them. I do go back and answer questions from previous weeks when I ask for them as well. So if I don't answer your question the first time around, try not to get too discouraged. I just have so many that come in and so I try to pick the ones that I think will benefit the most people. So, hint, hint. If you're submitting a question, try to make it more of.

A type of question that isn't super, super specific to your situation. Okay. It could be around what you're thinking about, but if there's a way for me to try to make it apply to more people, it's going to be easier for me to use that question. So I could do it that way. So just keep that in mind and that is going to be it for today's show. Again, remember, if you want to get the three part mold insurance email series starting on Wednesday, you could go to moldcleaningproduct.com you could sign up there. You'll get my product recommendation for cleaning as well as you'll get on the mold finder email list and that will make sure that you get those emails moving forward. So I'm looking forward to hear what you guys think about that. And in the meantime, all the emails I send you guys, I really appreciate you opening them. I was looking at our stats today. Just a side note, before I wrap up the show, normal email open rates for advertisers and stuff is maybe like 20, 25%. I'm getting over 50% of you guys opening up my emails and reading them on almost a daily basis. So thank you so much for taking just a couple minutes out of your day and taking a look at what I have to say. It means a lot, means a lot to me because I put a lot of time into it and seeing just the rate that you guys are looking at the stuff and actually engaging with it is really cool too. It definitely makes me want to keep doing that for you. So thank you guys so much. Today's Monday. Hope you have a great week and we'll be talking to you a little later.

So that's it for today's show, everyone. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment, subscribe, and give a rating wherever you get your podcast. It'll help spread the word to those who really need it the most.