House Hunt

We are in the middle of a house hunt. The search feels rocky and unsettling. Our current lease ends August 31, and we feel it's time to move forward. We're in a position to purchase a home after a long financial recovery. (Thankfully we avoided foreclosure on our Colorado home. Read more here.)

Our present search brings back the pain of the past. One thing I know for sure: I will listen to my instincts. I learned this lesson the hard way, as I recount in a previous post titled Haunted House Hunt, excerpted below.

I remember getting off the interstate 50 minutes after arriving in Denver. We were meeting our realtor to do a walk-through. For some reason I felt apprehensive. We drove up to the house, in a new development with lots of homes under construction. I noticed boys riding their bikes on the mounds of dirt.

We walked through the front door and I felt "it" immediately. Disarray and clutter. The house felt "dirty." I felt uncomfortable. Assuming I was just reacting to the overbearing, gaudy decorating style, I continued the tour. We walked into each of the six bedrooms, the game room, the in-law suite. With each room I became increasingly uneasy. Instead of feeling just messy and dark, the house felt deeply oppressive.

As we drove away I looked at Chris and said, "I don't like it. I don't ever want to go back. I know I can't live there."

We spent two more days looking for the right home and didn't find it. We returned to Illinois unsure of our next step.

Our realtor emailed us, suggesting we reconsider the 5500-square-foot "oppressive" home. He sent pictures of each room. Chris encouraged me to imagine the home without the gaudy decorating and the clutter.

"The house is a shell. Imagine it without their furniture. Look at the floor plan. Think of the potential."

I hesitated. Then I saw the wisdom of it. It made a lot of sense. I agreed, the house did have potential. We made a deposit and moved eight weeks later.

We arrived the day before the closing with all of our things in a huge truck driven by a friend. At the walk-through, the home showed no signs of a move. It was as cluttered as I remembered. I left the walk-through and sobbed. Something felt "off."

We learned that the home was in bankruptcy. The family hadn't paid their mortgage. The builder's brother was in jail for murder. The builder wasn't regarded well in the community. Something was seriously wrong.

Indeed the signs were literally on the walls of this home. In light of our past trauma, here are the questions I'll be asking this summer during our search.

• Do I want to live here?
• Does it feel like home?
• Do I sense anything "off"?

There are other questions I'll be asking, as outlined in the momsAWARE article Guidelines for Buying a Home.

It's possible we will stay another year in our current rental. We would rather wait than compromise. But I'm ready to move forward. Ready for the next stop on this uninvited journey. Ready to create a place of comfort, rest, and refuge.

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Environmental Health Awareness Video

This six-minute video, published by the Global Indoor Health Network, reveals staggering statistics about the impact of indoor air quality on health. This is a "must-see" for anyone interested in the well-being of our children, co-workers, friends, and family members.

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Are You One of the Few?

If you're reading this and you have a concern about indoor air quality, you are in the minority. According to the June 2012 issue of Consumer Reports a staggering 70 percent of Americans are not concerned about the health of their home. In fact, only 9 percent consider indoor air quality a threat to their health.

Here is the most interesting statistic, however: 65 percent of surveyed households have someone with a health condition affected by indoor air quality! More than half (and probably many more than this) would benefit from improving their home's indoor environment and are unaware of the connection.

The article, titled Is Your Home Making You Sick?, lists six hidden home hazards and offers suggestions for ways to protect yourself.

1. Household cleaners. The article cites the Environmental Working Group's 2009 study identifying 457 air contaminants in 21 household cleaners. "One fragrance can contain 50-200 compounds, including dozens of volatile organic compounds." The best cleaner for glass? "Mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice with 1 quart of water."
2. Old lead-based paint. "If you have young children and an older home, have it tested for lead by an EPA- or state-certified pro using an XRF machine, or have paint-chip analysis by an EPA-certified lab."
3. Carbon monoxide and radon. "Run a long-term (90-day or longer) radon test. They cost $20-$40 and are sold online." In addition, the article suggests installing a CO alarm on each level, including the basement.
4. Combustion of particles or gases. "Even vented gas ranges, cooktops, furnaces, and fireplaces can release harmful gases, soot, and particles into the air if they're not properly installed and maintained." Suggestions include running the exhaust hood when using your gas range or cleaning your oven, as well as opening a window. (I recently cleaned my oven using sea salt, washing soda, and baking soda, and it's sparkling! See this previous entry for the recipe and before and after pictures.)
5. Interior mold. "The ideal indoor relative humidity is between 30-50 percent. Less than that and nasal passages can become dry. At higher levels mold can grow." Suggestions include making sure gutter pipes extend at least five feet from the house and ensuring that the soil around the foundation slopes away from the house. (Note: The article also suggests treating small areas of mold with a mixture of chlorine bleach and water, which will not be 100% effective. See question #12 in this interview with leading toxicologist Dr. Jack Thrasher.)
6. Air fresheners, candles, and incense. "Behind the soothing fragrances of air fresheners, candles, and incense are volatile organic compounds. Air fresheners can also contain phthalates, which are linked to cancer and reproductive problems." The article quotes Dr. Stanley Fineman, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, who says, "Most patients who stop using scented products have noticed an improvement in their symptoms."

Improving the air quality in your home is one of the most practical ways you can improve your health. It may even save your life or the life of someone you love.

To read an online version of the full article, see Is poor indoor air quality making you sick? at the Consumer Reports website.

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9/11's Toxic Dust and Health

The emotional ceremonies marking the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 offered a poignant portrayal of the countless ways this tragedy continues to impact lives. The following article addresses the health issues many children are facing who inhaled toxic dust from the aftermath of the attacks on New York City. One of the mothers featured in this story relied solely on her intuition to connect her children's health to the plume.

Mariama James was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time. "My children were completely covered in dust, they couldn't escape it," she says of her son and daughter, then 9 and 6 years old. "I swept, I vacuumed, but you couldn't get rid of it, it was everywhere. It's like if you took pounds and pounds of chalk and chopped it up and rolled around in it for four days. ... You know that feeling when you hit two erasers together and breathe it in? This was like sticking the entire eraser down your throat."

Two years after the attacks her eldest daughter Armani, now 15, started experiencing chronic sinus infections, ear infections, throat infections, and a persistent cough. Soon after that all three of her children, including her newborn daughter, had a host of health conditions including asthma, chronic bronchitis, and acid reflux. They were seeing a pediatric pulmonologist once a month without fail and were missing school more than any child probably should. At one point, each child was on at least seven different medications.

"I initially came to the conclusion that my kids were sick from 9/11 on my own, but my pediatrician just didn't buy it at all," says James, adding that both of her older children were more or less healthy prior to the attacks. "I still love my pediatrician, but I only go to him for regular annual visits."

All of James' children are now being treated in the pediatric program at the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center, which operates out of Bellevue Hospital in New York City. A study based on the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene's WTC Health Registry cites that 25,000 children were either living or attending school in Lower Manhattan the day of the attacks, and projects that tens of thousands more "were in the path of the plume of building debris and smoke, close enough to inhale particulates and toxic substances."

Dr. Elizabeth Fiorino, a pediatric pulmonologist who joined the WTCEHC's pediatric program in 2009, says that the most common ailments she encounters in patients are upper and lower respiratory conditions, mostly asthma and allergic rhinitis. "We also see acid reflux disease and a variety of behavioral, learning and mental health issues," she says.

Kimberly Flynn, executive and co-founder of 9/11 Environmental Action, an activist organization that fought for proper cleanup of affected communities following the attacks, says that denial comes easily when it comes to health issues and 9/11. According to Flynn, "People don't want to admit they are sick, or admit that their children are sick. They have a hard time tolerating the idea that 9/11 is still with them."

When terrorists fly planes into buildings, we see the cause and effect. People die instantly or are caught in the collapse. It's more difficult to see the slow, gradual sickness that comes in the aftermath. Perhaps the tragic events that now mark a decade will help us awaken to the connection between environmental toxicity and health.

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Environmental Awareness in Canada

It took three years to diagnose her mysterious symptoms, and ten years to reduce her toxic load, but Rohini Peris used her experience to form the Environmental Health Association of Quebec. According to this recent article in the Montreal Gazette:

When inflammation, bruises and pain began appearing in her body in 1993, Rohini Peris had no idea what might have been the cause.

She saw several doctors and they too were stumped, Peris recalled.

Three years later, the Dollard des Ormeaux resident finally got a diagnosis: Tests at a U.S. laboratory revealed high levels of the chemical Lindane (a chlorinated pesticide used to exterminate spiders) and pesticides DDT and DDE in her blood.

Her husband, son and daughter exhibited similar symptoms, and what followed were 10 years of intense detoxification to eliminate these chemicals from their bodies.

They suffered from what is known as environmental/multiple chemical sensitivities, a chronic condition with multi-organ symptoms recognized in Ontario and Nova Scotia and by the World Health Organization – but not yet in Quebec.

According to the Environmental Health Association of Quebec, which seeks to promote awareness of this condition, it can develop in response to relatively low levels of exposure to multiple and unrelated chemicals.

Peris, who is the association president, says it took her 10 years of “intense detoxification” and elimination of many products from her household – from cleaning products to perfumes – to get her toxification down by 40 percent.

The Environmental Health Association website offers information on EMF sensitivities, an article by MCS researcher Dr. Martin Pall, and an excellent press release stating the specific needs of people suffering from environmental sensitivities.

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Toxic Dust and Heavy Metals

The previous post referred to research which suggests that toxic dust found in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait may be contributing to adverse health effects for many U.S. military personnel. The following article appearing in the Army Times lists some of the researchers' specific findings pertaining to heavy metals.

Microbiologists Dale Griffin of the U.S. Geologic Survey and Capt. Mark Lyles of the Naval War College analyzed dust samples taken in Iraq and Kuwait in 2004 and found a wide range of heavy metals at rates in excess of World Health Organization maximum safe exposure guidelines. Some don’t even have maximum exposure guidelines because they are not expected to be present in airborne dust. The elements of “greatest concern” and the proportions found in dust samples:

• Arsenic at 10 parts per million: poisonous and can cause long-term health effects or death.

• Chromium at 52 parts per million: linked to lung cancer and respiratory ailments.

• Lead at 138 parts per million: can lead to headaches, nausea, muscle weakness and fatigue.

• Nickel at 562 parts per million: can lead to lung cancer, respiratory issues, birth defects and heart disorders.

• Cobalt at 10 parts per million: can lead to asthma and pneumonia.

• Strontium at 2,700 parts per million: linked to cancer.

• Tin at 8 parts per million: can cause depression, liver damage, immune system and chromosomal disorders, a shortage of red blood cells, and brain damage that can lead to anger, sleeping disorders, forgetfulness and headaches.

• Vanadium at 49 parts per million: can cause lung and eye irritation, damage to the nervous system, behavioral changes and nervousness.

• Zinc at 206 parts per million: can cause anemia and nervous system disorders.

• Manganese at 352 parts per million: linked to metabolic issues, Parkinson’s disease and bronchitis.

• Barium at 463 parts per million: can cause breathing problems, heart palpitations, muscle weakness and heart and liver damage.

• Aluminum at 7,521 parts per million. Aluminum was of particular concern to Lyles and Griffin because the metal has recently been linked to “multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases.”

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Toxic Dust and the Military

Research suggests that U.S. combat troops, typically a healthy group of individuals, are suffering ill health effects from toxic dust. According to this article appearing last week in USA TODAY:

U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait have inhaled microscopic dust particles laden with toxic metals, bacteria and fungi — a toxic stew that may explain everything from the undiagnosed Gulf War Syndrome symptoms lingering from the 1991 war against Iraq to high rates of respiratory, neurological and heart ailments encountered in the current wars.

"From my research and that of others, I really think this may be the smoking gun," says Navy Capt. Mark Lyles, chair of medical sciences and biotechnology at the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. "It fits everything — symptoms, timing, everything."

Lyles and other researchers found that dust particles — up to 1,000 of which can sit on the head of a pin — gathered in Iraq and Kuwait contain 37 metals, including aluminum, lead, manganese, strontium and tin. The metals have been linked to neurological disorders, cancer, respiratory ailments, depression and heart disease, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers believe the metals occur both naturally and as a byproduct of pollution.

. . .

The dust contains 147 different kinds of bacteria, as well as fungi that could spread disease, Lyles found. Since the wars began in Iraq in 2003 and in Afghanistan in 2001, the military has seen a 251% increase in the rate of neurological disorders per 10,000 active-duty servicemembers, a 47% rise in the rate of respiratory issues and a 34% increase in the rate of cardiovascular disease, according to a USA TODAY analysis of military morbidity records from 2001 to 2010. Those increases have researchers seeking possible causes.

How does the Defense Department respond to this research?

Despite the research by Lyles and others, and the documented spikes in respiratory illnesses, Defense Department officials contend there are no health issues associated with the dust.

. . .

Capt. J.A. "Cappy" Surrette, spokesman for the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, said Navy researchers investigated to see whether the dust in Iraq and Afghanistan is toxic. The Navy has no record of troops complaining of cognitive difficulties unrelated to traumatic brain injuries, he says.

However, he says the Naval Health Research laboratory found that trace metals in the dust showed levels of toxicity.

"There is no definitive basis to say the sand is harmful to people or animals," he says.

However, one Navy study is examining the toxicity of sand from Afghanistan to see how it affects cell death, he says. A second is looking at whether Afghanistan dust contributes to brain trauma pathology in animals.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Rob Erckenbrack, 40, of West Fargo, N.D., deployed at Taqaddum, Iraq, in 2006, and guarded the perimeter at Taji, Iraq, in 2008. He began losing weight, and having respiratory problems and migraines. He also dealt with short-term memory loss but says he was not in an incident that would have caused a traumatic brain injury. In June 2010, he had a stroke.

"My doctors were surprised because I'm a healthy, active, adult," he says. "Then another guy from my unit went through the same thing."

The parallels with exposure to toxic mold are evident. Especially in light of the fact that 20 million 5-micron mold spores fit on a single postage stamp.

Despite the controversy, it's clear that the air we breathe matters. Both at home and at war.

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An Expanding Iceberg

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine's call for papers for an upcoming conference presents an outstanding exposé on the prevalence of environmental illness. The following article, subtitled "Special Focus on Molds, Chronic Infections, Endocrine Disruptors, and Foods," appears on the homepage of AAEM, along with a search option for those looking for an environmentally minded physician.

The widespread adverse health effects from 9/11/01 and Hurricane Katrina have greatly increased the public's awareness that serious health consequences can result from exposures to molds, toxic chemicals, and other environmental substances. However, the health consequences from these two events are merely the tip of a rapidly expanding iceberg.

A large, growing, and persuasive body of scientific evidence has documented that, in a growing segment of our population, a rapidly increasing and complex toxic body burden is contributing to an increasing variety of multi-system, chronic, and debilitating conditions and diseases. The resultant adverse and expensive impacts on the quality of life in these patients are reaching alarming proportions. It is therefore imperative that these insights be widely disseminated throughout the health care system and that focused attention be given to improving the accurate diagnosis and effective treatments for these types of illnesses.

Diagnostic tools must effectively address the diversity of conditions that can result from these contributors. They must also assess the status of affected organ functions, individual body burdens and susceptibilities to specific exposures, and must allow monitoring of the success of treatment. Treatment must address the actual causes: effective removal of toxicant burdens, optimizing the individual's organ system functions, detoxication pathways and state of nutrition, and accommodating individually specific detoxication genes of biotransformation where applicable. Prevention must focus on the early recognition of the causes of various conditions, cleaning up the environment and diet, and optimizing nutritional status.

This cause-oriented and preventive strategy is the approach of Environmental Medicine. It offers the most effective and cost effective approach to restoring and maintaining the long-term health of those patients whose chronic illnesses are contributed to by molds, chronic infections, endocrine disruptors, foods, and other environmental factors, including chemicals.

Goals
1. To address the day to day management of the complex patients with common illnesses contributed to by molds, chronic infections, endocrine disruptors, foods, and other environmental factors

2. To focus on clinical insights, diagnostic and treatment modalities, and clinical algorithms and protocols to help the health care professional provide the most effective health outcomes for these patients

Objectives
At the end of this educational activity, the attendee should be able to:

· Discuss the range of many common illnesses contributed to by molds, chronic infections, endocrine disruptors, foods, and other environmental factors such as chemicals, cared for by many different health care specialties.

· Understand the nature of the complex biologic mechanisms and principles that govern the manifestations and course of these illnesses.

· Utilize practical diagnosis and treatment options and guidelines that physicians and other healthcare professionals can implement to improve the long-term outcomes for these patients.

· Appreciate how the techniques and concepts of Environmental Medicine can improve the effectiveness of health care and simultaneously lower its long-term cost.

The entire article can be viewed here.

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