You should have seen the looks on our staff’s faces when they learned we were covering mold for this month’s cover story. They were less than thrilled, and most wondered how cleaning up mold could be in any way newsworthy.

Well, that was part of why we chose to cover the topic — we wondered why national and local media outlets were peppering the airways and newsstands with panic-inducing stories alleging that our homes, offices and schools were killing us with fuzzy mold.

Once we did some research what we found was: people who have experienced dangerous mold outbreaks could have stopped them if better educated, and more willing to invest in cleaning up seemingly small problems; contractors who are cleaning up such problems stumbled into this field and now are cleaning up at the bank; and most everyone in between doesn’t know the difference between the mold on their bread and the mold hiding behind their wall after a good plumbing leak.

This is another example of how little the general public knows about good indoor environmental quality and what can happen if it isn’t upheld. As with other waves of IEQ education, the public is ready for someone to calmly explain the potential risks — which can be severe in certain situations — and to get rid of it before they have to find out firsthand.

We are not facing the “next asbestos,” as the media has hyped it, but you can decide if this becomes the next asbestos scare. You have the opportunity to educate yourself , your staff and your customers, offering valid services to remove damaging mold, just like other foreign items BSCs already offer to remove. Or you can sound unnecessary alarms to make a fast buck.

As with any new trend, you have the power to raise the bar in the industry while you increase profits,or you can lower it and do more harm than good to your customers. We hope our coverage will help our readers take the high road.




POSTED ON: 7/1/2001