Re: Air Purifiers for Mold Allergy and Smell

A Reader writes:

Hello Ed,

May God Bless you for all the effort in examining, rating & sharing your findings about air purifiers.

We went through severe mold remediation in our home @ 2 years ago....moved out, contents & home cleaned, retested....$165,000 later everything truly was clean.

Moved back in, no issues, other than remortgaged our home.

Unfortunately, we also reintroduced one item (that was not remediated) into our bedroom and kept it there for @ 18 months.

I was the primary victim of mold in our home...so I have often believed that I am imagining smells.

My sense of smell has also altered, minimized, awakens, etc...truly not normal.

I finally removed the piece of furniture with papers (that was not remediated) from my bedroom a few weeks ago because I truly SMELLED THE MOLD as I walked into my bedroom and followed my nose to the source.

Bottom line, there are definitely mold particles floating in my bedroom.

As an addition to the original home, the bedroom was poorly designed in that it has no air return, only one register receiving warm/cold air...

Thankfully, this means that the air does not circulate well and does not mix with the other rooms.

Bedroom size w/ walk-in closet is @ 300 sq. ft.

I NEED TO KILL THE MOLD SPORES THAT I SMELL IN MY ROOM.

I am trying to figure out which air filter is the best suited for this task.

RABBIT SPA - 700A 5 filers
Neo Air Air Cleaner Enviro Air Cleaner
IQ Air HealthPro Plus
Any Others?

I truly appreciate your time and guidance.

I need the best product at the most affordable price.

My health is at stake and those mold spores are continuing to colonize.

We cannot afford another remediation...nor would anyone but me see the need for one.

Can you help me?

Thank you and God Bless you.

Ed's Reply

Hey Reader;

Most people exhibit no overt symptoms while living with the ever-present fungus.

But millions of Americans suffer from mold allergies.

Molds reproduce by making millions of spores, which are small enough to go airborne and grow on any moist surface they touch.

There is also some suggestion that mold poisons - mycotoxins - may even volatilize and become airborne.

Mold creates continuous source emissions, as opposed to sporadic, one-shot pollutants. This is a very difficult situation for any air cleaner.

Humidity and Mold

The first consideration in reducing mold is humidity.

Mold needs moisture to grow. Victims of flooding always say that the smell of the water was indistinguishable from the odor of mold which followed.

Mold grows where relative humidity is 50% or higher, or in hidden damp spots.

Despite the very costly remediation efforts, mold will reappear when moisture and suitable substrate (food) is still present.

Airborne water vapor can result from water entering from outdoors, from cooking, improperly vented baths and kitchens, winter condensation on windows and walls, dishwasher venting, clothes dryer exhaust vented indoors, and leaky plumbing.

Mold in the Home

Without examining you and your home (I don't consult, the website is it), I can't really know the severity of your situation.

I am not enthusiastic about testing for mold.

But I'm pretty sure you got robbed by "mold remediation" experts.

Every home tests positive for mold somewhere, with over 270 species identified in living spaces.

Do-it-yourself mold test kits will test positive in most cases, and are useful mainly to identify the principal species.

Unscrupulous companies, usually construction contractors trying to escape the cyclical nature of their business, will rip out and replace whole sections of water-intrusion damaged buildings. Incompetent remediators, using chemicals, can make indoor air quality worse.

Molds will always return in 12 months unless arid and well ventilated conditions are maintained.

Molds can prosper on paper, wood, fabric, shower curtains, tile grout, soap residues on bath walls, feathers, hair, furniture, house plants, paper, clothing, food in the refrigerator, and even the latex liner of the refrigerator door.

Hopefully, your real estate nightmare is over, because, if you need to sell, mold is important to today’s careful home buyers.

A hint of mold in a residence can easily torpedo a deal or force seller concessions. Realtors get nervous about the ethical implications of incomplete disclosure.

Many US homes are built on flood-plain or high-water-table land.

My parents purchased a cute retirement home in the 1980's. My father loved to walk near the small river, just 100 yards away.

Their basement had a powerful sump pump ran continuously, even when it hadn't rained.

The smell of mold was horrible: a big dehumidifier was emptied daily, but couldn't match the water seepage.

Basement or crawl space water intrusion can go unseen. Slab construction can condense water under the carpet pad.

My Dad installed downspout extensions to carry rain water away from the house.

Air Purifiers for Mold

First, you should remove anything from your bedroom which might harbor mold or emit chemicals that could interact with the air purifiers I will recommend.

I'd be willing to bet that your pricey professional mold remediators have left nasty carpets throughout the house instead of sealed hardwood floors.

Any pressed-particleboard furniture, which emits formaldehyde, should go somewhere else, preferably a dumpster.

How about the big closet? Any old clothing in there with mold or dry cleaning/mothball residues?

The purifiers you mention are all fine models, but but they are passive systems, collecting only airborne spores/chemicals.

Your situation is better served by active oxidizers, which, to a degree, go out and get mold where it hides.

RabbitAir SPA-700A is elegant, but limited in reach, despite vendor claims of "2 air changes per hour in 700 sq. ft."

NeoAir Enviro is a budget model, way too small.

IQAir HealthPro Plus, which I always recommend for quality, will capture airborne mold spores effectively, but will not kill mold on damp surfaces or hidden away from air currents.

I think you should try the dry Sharp Plasmacluster.

Newer Sharps, the KC-C series, are combined humidifier/purifiers, unsuited for mold.

But the remaining previous generation Plasmacluster, FP-P40CX, will actively kill mold, not just in the air, but on surfaces.

The "dry" Plasmaclusters dehumidify the air, using up airborne water vapor as they create oxidizers. Users have reported getting a dry nose as the Plasmaclusters worked in their nasal cavity (not recommended).

For 300 sq. ft., you'll need two FP-P40CX units - the larger models have been discontinued. I recommend ordering one extra set of filters with each machine. While these filters last many years when used correctly, some carbon bag odor filters have developed problems where formaldehyde levels are high or ozone generators have been run.

Filter shortages are currently widespread in the contracting air cleaner industry.

Alternatively, one IQAir, whose HEPA will reduce airborne spores, and one Sharp could work, at a higher cost.

But for any active technology, which includes ozone generators, photocatalytic oxidizers, and plasma-ion radical machines like the Sharps, users must be careful about exposing themselves and their pets to the oxidizers.

While Sharp is justifiably proud of their clean personal-injury lawsuit record with the 20 million Plasmaclusters in the field, I recommend caution.

Operate the plasma-ion mode primarily when you are out of the room. Short term exposure is OK, but I wouldn't sleep with the blue light, indicating Clean Mode oxidation is on.

My FP-P40CX sits close by my side as I write this, but my space is clean enough to activate the plasma very rarely.

When you are sure all chemical sources are gone, I'd put the machines in your bedroom, turn on the Plasmacluster functions, and shut the door. Each day, move the air cleaners a bit to reach corners and damp areas like near window sills.

When you are in the room for any prolonged period, I'd turn the Plasmacluster to green light negative ion mode. The oxidizers will extinguish within seconds.

A hygrometer, available cheaply at hardware and electronics stores, monitors the relative humidity in the room.

Try to keep relative humidity below 45%. If there is condensation on windows, it's damp enough to support mold growth.

If the Sharps don't keep the air at 45%, a dehumidifier might be necessary.

Vacuuming often, using a quality HEPA vac, reduces mold spores, which settle into carpet and fabric.

You should try to lower the spores coming into the bedroom.

Your mold remediation crew probably only cleaned, and did not replace, the HVAC coils, pans, and ducting. This moisture prone system, especially where humid summers cause condensate to build up, can quickly rebuild a mold population.

Replace furnace filters with MERV-11 rated models, being sure to change frequently.

Mold spores range from 1 to 100 microns in size, most will go right through a standard fiberglass furnace filter.

The single register could have a filter installed behind the cover.

Any attached or nearby bathroom should have an exhaust fan venting to the outdoors.

Mold Odor Sensitivity

Mold, and its musty odor, is everywhere.

Our ancestors were immersed in it.

But about 12,000 years ago we changed our diet from hunter-gatherer to grain-based. The agricultural revolution and subsequent seed breeding have produced core food staples with inherent mold issues.

People who are not technically allergic can still be sickened by mycotoxins, which are common in food.

A variety of mold toxins are found in all grain foods, and many dairy products.

Just think of the grain elevators and barges loaded with corn and wheat - lunchtime for molds.

Underground crops, especially peanuts, are notorious for mycotoxin contamination.

Cooking and Pasteurization kill molds, but do not destroy mycotoxins.

The discovery of antibiotics, themselves mold toxins, has led to industrial-scale antibiotic abuse in agriculture and medicine. This, along with the grain-based, high sugar/carb diet has given the yeasts/molds the opportunity to infect our bodies as never before.

The sense of smell deeply connected to the unconscious.

I believe odor sensitivity is the body's message that detoxification mechanisms are depleted.

In my opinion, mold odor sensitivity is a signal that mycotoxins, ingested in the DIET and internally generated by yeast overgrowth, have polluted the liver. Depletion of Sulfur-based antioxidants can be remedied with glutathione and n-acetylcysteine supplements.

When I was sickest, about 20 years ago, I underwent 3 weeks of allergy skin-prick provocation testing. Mold/yeast extracts, in very dilute concentrations, raised large red welts around the injection site.

I have improved greatly, and lost 45 pounds, since I removed 100% of all sugar and grain based foods from my diet.

The Mold Help Diet provides a start.

The air purifiers and source removal will help, but many lifestyle changes, beyond better air quality, will be necessary to restore health.

Best hopes for your results,

Ed