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0 Water Damage and the Dangers of Mold, Hiring Water Damage Restoration Services

You probably guessed that this would make the top list! “Honey, it’s probably a small leak. I’m sure it’s fine!” contributes to the growth of mold and mildew in your home. As you may know, mold can cause breathing problems & more health issues for you and your family. Mold especially affects people who have allergies, asthma, and other respiratory diseases. Something that seems insignificant, such as a small leak, only needs 48 hours to grow mold. This issue can be solved easily. Call us for our commercial and residential water damage services. We will dry out and clean up the water damage, all while keeping a vision out for mold.

Severe water damage can weaken your home’s structural stability. Your roof, walls, floors, & even your home’s foundation can be affected by the damages left behind by water. Avoid long-term damage in your home by hiring Scene Clean to:

Locate the source of water damages.
Determine the total areas affected.
Remove water quickly & efficiently.
Dry all affected areas.

After the water mitigation is complete, we can also provide our specialty services: build-back & restoration.

If the integrity of your home’s structure has been compromised, we will work with a building inspector who can determine what repairs must be made to make sure that your home is safe to enter. Water can simply damage the wiring throughout your home. This can lead to blown fuses, damaged electrical appliances, or -in worst-case-scenarios- fires or electrocution. Scene Clean is staffed with professional electricians. Be assured that after we have performed water damage clean up, our licensed electrician will arrive to inspect & -if needed- replace your home’s wiring.

The flood is over, and the remaining task for the homeowner is damage restoration. It is essential to begin water cleanup, drying, mitigation, and repair immediately to prevent fungal growth due to water in business or home. Water damage companies have expertise in emergency disaster management and can be helpful in such situations. When flood damage occurs, therefore, it is important to call the experts for repair and mitigation of further damages. In fact, most of the professional companies have an emergency results hotline that enables them to efficiently deliver their services; thus, saving the victims from the nerve-racking event. The following are the key benefits of hiring a professional flood damage restoration company.

Quick Restoration

In the event of water damage, quick results are crucial for the mitigation of the water in business or home. The flood damage professionals respond to calls immediately and can finish the water cleanup, drying, and repair process within a shorter time compared to the home or business owner. The company also employs many contractors who can do the work efficiently; hence, clearing and drying the water in the home before a severe damage occurs. Additionally, they have special equipment to accomplish the task well. With the quick response, the home or business owner can resume their normal life as soon as possible.

Professional Advice

It can be challenging for the water damaged property owner to determine whether their drywall, wet carpet, furniture, or home appliances are destroyed or can be reused. A water damage and mold professional, however, can inspect the house and supply the house or business proprietor with a specialist advice regarding the water cleanup concern.

Safe Mold Remediation

One of the biggest challenges after drinking water running a business or home is the development of mildew. It could develop in open up areas like ceilings or concealed places such as floor joists and between your walls. Most types of mildew are poisonous; hence, the repair process is too dangerous for a sufferer of drinking water in home or business to do it independently. Mold can also make it dangerous to reside in the home. By using a professional water damage and mold Repair Company, the sufferer of water running a business or home is guaranteed to getting the mildew removed securely and the house shielded from future fungal development. A well-timed action taken up to restore the harm can save unneeded losses and expenditures. Thus, by employing a professional harm restoration company, the house or business proprietor can eliminate those costs and deficits.

Article Source: http://www.perrywoodhomes.com/water-damage-and-the-dangers-of-mold-hiring-water-damage-restoration-services/

0 Legionella bacteria found in water supply at Bronx hospital, officials report

Legionella bacteria was found in the water supply at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, officials say.

NYC Health + Hospitals released a statement saying the bacteria was found during required testing of their potable water supply.

The statement said,

“As part of our aggressive water monitoring program, our routine, required testing of our potable water supply found very low levels of Legionella bacteria at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi. Per guidance from the New York State Department of Health, which regulates hospitals, we have taken steps to prevent any impact on our patients, staff, or visitors. Safety is always our highest priority.”

There are no reports of patients being affected with Legionnaires’ Disease at the hospital. Eyewitness News is told the risk to patients, staff and visitors is very low, and there is not risk to the surrounding community.
EMBED MORE NEWS VIDEOS
CeFaan Kim has more on the Legionella bacteria found at Jacobi Medical Center.

RELATED: What is Legionnaires’ Disease?

In coordination with the New York State Health Department, aggressive, enhanced water treatment and ongoing monitoring are already underway. This includes steps to observe water restrictions, including using only bottled water, making packaged bath wipes available for daily hygiene, and installing new water filters on showers.

Administrators say safety is their highest priority, but some people visiting the hospital still had their concerns.

“We’ve been hearing about this for the past year and a half, two years and the fact that they’re still not taking precautions in getting these things checked out,” said one visitor.

Administrators say the risk to patients and the surrounding community is very low.
Article Source: https://abc7ny.com/health/officials-legionella-bacteria-found-in-water-supply-at-bronx-hospital/3840735/

0 Students at risk from lead, asbestos and mold in School District buildings

New reports indicate that Philadelphia school children are regularly exposed to far higher levels of environmental contaminants than is considered healthy. Lead paint, well-known as a potential cause of brain damage in children, was found in many schools, according to a recent investigation by the Philadelphia Inquirer, along with other hazards like asbestos and mold.

“With these kinds of exposures, to lead, mold, asbestos, the effects are insidious, they are cumulative, and they often don’t show up for a while, and they can be subtle,” said Jerry Roseman, director of environmental science at the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. “A child with lead poisoning might look like he has ADD and some other kind of thing, and you might never know. The asbestos hazard would take many years to show up, not until after the kid would be out of school.”

“That student was completely unknown to us until a teacher saw the child eating paint chips, got in touch with school counselors, a nurse, parents and he was tested,” Roseman said. “You could have many, many children in that situation and you wouldn’t know.”

Superintendent Dr. William Hite authored an op-ed in the Inquirer responding to the article, saying that the District has $4.5 billion worth of needed repairs, citing their efforts to clean up and remove water systems with lead pipes, and calling for “an all-hands-on-deck effort from every neighborhood in this city” to repair aging schools.

But that rang hollow to PennEnvironment Executive Director David Masur, who worked with Roseman to bring more attention to school environmental hazards.

“We’ve argued that they’re not prioritizing where they spend money correctly,” Masur said. “Lead is unsafe at any level, the American Academy of Pediatricians, the EPA say that — it’s very clear. So you start there.”

Despite Hite’s promises, Masur and Roseman said the public and parents need to call on leaders to ensure schools are cleaned up. There is no law currently banning lead paint in schools.

Article Source: https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/philadelphia/students-risk-lead-asbestos-and-mold-school-district-buildings

0 Costly mold invades Fort Meade’s municipal buildings after Irma

Hurricane Irma is long gone, but her effects are still being felt, at least in Fort Meade. Mold is growing in three of the city’s most important buildings: City Hall, the fire department, and the old police station, now being rented by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Mold can cause you to get nauseated, your eyes to water, and even lead to asthma.

City officials first got a hint something was up when they saw something black growing on a large picture that hangs in the city commission chambers. It turned out to be mold.

“We had it tested, and it did test positive,” city finance director Breyeanna Smith told FOX 13.

Commissioners now meet in the recreation center of a mobile home park nearby.

“I don’t want any of my firefighters to be sick,” Chief Harrison Eiland said. So they are meeting in the bays where they garage the trucks.  There is a sign on the station door to keep out.

Just down the street, the receptionist at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office substation no longer sits at her desk. That’s because mold was found there and in a sergeant’s office.

To get rid of the mold and fix other damage caused by Irma, the city is looking at $700,000 or more. City officials are hoping that insurance and FEMA picks up the brunt of that.

However, they suspect that they may still get stuck with a bill for several hundred thousand dollars which could take more than a decade to pay off.

0 More than 95% of world’s population breathe dangerous air, major study finds

More than 95% of the world’s population breathe unsafe air and the burden is falling hardest on the poorest communities, with the gap between the most polluted and least polluted countries rising rapidly, a comprehensive study of global air pollution has found.

Cities are home to an increasing majority of the world’s people, exposing billions to unsafe air, particularly in developing countries, but in rural areas the risk of indoor air pollution is often caused by burning solid fuels. One in three people worldwide faces the double whammy of unsafe air both indoors and out.

The report by the Health Effects Institute used new findings such as satellite data and better monitoring to estimate the numbers of people exposed to air polluted above the levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation. This exposure has made air pollution the fourth highest cause of death globally, after high blood pressure, diet and smoking, and the greatest environmental health risk.

Experts estimate that exposure to air pollution contributed to more than 6m deaths worldwide last year, playing a role in increasing the risk of stroke, heart attack, lung cancer and chronic lung disease. China and India accounted for more than half of the death toll.

Burning solid fuel such as coal or biomass in their homes for cooking or heating exposed 2.6 billion people to indoor air pollution in 2016, the report found. Indoor air pollution can also affect air quality in the surrounding area, with this effect contributing to one in four pollution deaths in India and nearly one in five in China.

Bob O’Keefe, vice-president of the institute, said the gap between the most polluted air on the planet and the least polluted was striking. While developed countries have made moves to clean up, many developing countries have fallen further behind while seeking economic growth.

He said there was now an 11-fold gap between the most polluted and least polluted areas, compared with a six-fold gap in 1990. “Air pollution control systems still lag behind economic development [in poorer nations],” he said.

But he added: “There are reasons for optimism, though there is a long way to go. China seems to be now moving pretty aggressively, for instance in cutting coal and on stronger controls. India has really begun to step up on indoor air pollution, for instance through the provision of LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] as a cooking fuel, and through electrification.”

The number of people exposed to indoor air pollution from burning solid fuels has fallen from an estimated 3.6 billion around the world in 1990 to about 2.4 billion today, despite a rising population.

Emissions from transport are a growing concern, however, as road traffic increases. Diesel fuel is a leading cause of air pollution in some rich countries, including the UK, but in poorer countries the often decrepit state of many vehicles means petrol-driven engines can be just as bad in their outputs, especially of the fine particulate matter blamed for millions of deaths a year.

O’Keefe said governments were under increasing pressure to deal with the problems through regulation and controls, and hailed internet access as having a significant impact.

“Social media has been very important, as a growing number of people have access to it and to data and discussions [on air pollution]. People now have the ability to worry about not just the food they eat and a roof over the head, but they have the means to discuss [issues] in public,” he said.

Tuesday’s report reinforces an increasing volume of data in recent years that has shown how air pollution is increasing and causing deaths. More data has become available in the past decade from satellites and on-the-ground monitoring, while large-scale studies have revealed more of the health risks arising from breathing dirty air, which rarely kills people directly but is now known to contribute to other causes of death.

Article Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/17/more-than-95-of-worlds-population-breathe-dangerous-air-major-study-finds

0 The Dangers of Mold in Your Home and How It Affects Your Health

It first starts with a smell. You decide to get rid of most smelly things in the house, you let the windows open. The next day that same smell is still there. You ignore it for a period and start getting wheezy, your eyes are watery for no reason. What is happening, you ask? That is just the beginning of the dangers of mold.

Ignoring mold that forms in and around the house premises can have hard repercussions. Experts say there is over a thousand type of mold, most of which are dangerous for your health. You can find mold anywhere there is humidity, light, and warmth. This makes a house with poor ventilation and wet spots a death trap for its inhabitants.

 

Our experts from Fun Guy Inspections told us about the dangers of mold in your home and your health. Here is what happens if you keep infected spots around your home:

When it comes to your home, the dangers of mold are not obvious at first. You might see some dark spots on the wall or something similar. If you ignore those spots, they will continue to grow on the walls, pipes or ceiling, and completely infest your house.

The thing with mold is that it might not seem that big of a deal at first. It can look at a simple dirt spot that you will come to clean eventually, but you don’t. When mold sticks to a surface, it means it has the necessary conditions to grow. Because of it, mold will grow and spread fast, leaving you with a grand problem that needs fixing.

The Fun Guy Inspections team can take care of the mold in your house, no matter how bad it is. However, what our team cannot do is cure the diseases that come with a mold infestation in your home.

The beginning of the simple mold allergy is, again, not that alarming and is. Because of this, people tend to ignore itchy eyes or a runny nose, blaming it on the common cold sometimes. Ignorance can come at a great price since complications from mold allergies are also common.

Mold spores also float in the air, and they are invisible to the naked eye. In a mold-infested house, many types of harmful mold spores float around. Spores that you, without a doubt, inhale. Spores that can enter your lungs and make you short of breath, most commonly known as asthma.

Moreover, mold spores are also the cause of fungal infections. Your digestive tract or the skin, together with the lungs that we talked about in the previous paragraph, will be affected in short time and with hard consequences.

You see how the dangers of mold can rush you to the hospital with great complications. All this for a moment where you ignored a small black spot on the wall. If you feel any symptoms mentioned in this article, call the Fun Guy Inspections team and we will come to eliminate the greatest health threat a house can have lying around.