Air Date: 3-10-2017|Episode 451
This week on IAQ Radio we welcome May Dooley, Principal of EnviroHealth Consulting, Inc. of Hummelstown, PA. May started her career as a secondary science teacher prior to going into home inspection and indoor environmental health consulting in the mid 80’s.
Full Description:
This week on IAQ Radio we welcome May Dooley, Principal of EnviroHealth Consulting, Inc. of Hummelstown, PA. May started her career as a secondary science teacher prior to going into home inspection and indoor environmental health consulting in the mid 80’s. She has now completed over 3,000 residential and commercial IEQ inspections in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US. May is one of those people that never stops learning and the list of seminars, conferences and meetings she has attended is impressive. She has dealt with both routine and unusual IEQ issues and we look forward to discussing her interest in what she refers to as electrical pressure and much more. May has an MS in Secondary Science Education from Hofstra University and an MA in English from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Z-Man’s Blog:
There isn’t too much emphasis on mold, rather not enough emphasis on everything else
May Dooley owner of EnviroHealth Consulting in Hummelstown, PA, was today’s guest on IAQradio. After a stint working as a middle school science teacher, she entered the pre-purchase inspection field as a franchisee for HouseMaster of America. Ten years later, her career evolved to environmental inspections with EnviroHealth Consulting, started in 1994, 6 years before mold was put on the map with the Ballard/Allison lawsuit and before training was available for residential mold inspecting.
May started looking for often invisible mold with an on-site microscope, matching what she saw on-site with pictures from the reference guide, Identifying Filamentous Fungi by Guy St-Germain and Richard Summerbell. From those early days, her inspections evolved to a focus on finding sources of mold growth and using extensive culture plate air testing (better than spore traps for diagnostics) to gauge the extent of cross-contamination. Instructions on using a microscope and where to test are available by emailing May (see below).
May also uses a method of genetic/DNA testing developed by Joe Spurgeon, PhD, a research-based method which avoids the often misleading scoring method of ERMI. Please contact her for instructions on working with Assured Bio lab, use of Joe’s charts, plus Joe’s research-based critique of ERMI. Or contact Joe (see below).
Most of May’s inspections are doctor-driven, and clients come with test results from ERMI, mycotoxin, and blood tests. She and her clients work together to solve the mystery of their exposure, as well as learn what else they can about the invisible world at their homes. May “deputizes” the clients in this joint project. They learn to use the equipment, take 20-30 culture plate air samples, and sit with her at the microscope and computer monitor to review the tapes that she has gathered at their home.
In addition, she incorporates concepts from her training with Bau Biologie to include a search for other contaminants that might impact on health, including exposure to lead paint, synthetic fragrances, water issues, ineffective vacuum cleaners (including the cleaning service’s vacuum cleaner), electromagnetic fields (EMFs), etc.
“Electromagnetic fields” and “radiation” are umbrella terms, incorporating the whole electromagnetic spectrum from low frequency to very high frequency to ionizing radiation. All are biologically active and can harm, since our bodies are electric (The Body Electric by Robert O’Becker). Here are the types of EMFs routinely measured, with recommendations made for reducing exposure:
Household current – AC magnetic fields, measured with a simple gaussmeter (GaussMaster for home use; FWBell triaxial gaussmeter or equivalent for inspector). Measure at power lines, motors, sleeping and sitting areas, more. Readings under 1 mG (milligauss) are recommended for prolonged exposure, but zero is the safe number. Contact May for a literature review of health effects, summarized in MicroWave News (see below), from international research findings.
Household current – AC electric fields (voltage), measured with a multimeter set on AC electric setting. Instructions are found at May’s website, www.createyourhealthyhome.com, EMF tab, Body Voltage tab. Measure at beds; sleep often improved with great reduction in voltage, also anecdotes about cessation of bedwetting. Readings under 20 mV are recommended at sleeping areas. Suggestions for reducing readings often 2000 mV or higher are found at the Body Voltage tab mentioned above. A reading of 32,000 mV at one bedroom was due to a miswired furnace; turning off the furnace breaker the repair was made enabled the client to sleep in his house.
Radio frequency – both analog (TV, radio, fluorescent lights, microwave ovens) and digital (Wi-Fi, cellular, tablets, smart meters), measured by meters such as the ElectroSmog TES-92, about $150. Options for reducing exposure are presented in May’s EMF report format, which she is happy to share (see below for email). Our bodies are used to analog signals, but digital (pulsed) signals are new. We are all in a gigantic experiment, but at least we can reduce the signals closest to us – from computers (such as switching to Ethernet cable), tablets (keeping on airplane mold when the Internet is not needed) and cell phones (using a corded land-line for routine use).
Magnetized innersprings – pull a compass across the springs & gauge the degree of magnetization – best to keep metal away from the sleeping area. Recommended: organic cotton mattress without innersprings and with a wooden bed frame.
Ionizing radiation – measured with a Geiger counter – granite counter tops and fireplaces, green antique glass, antique glow-in-the-dark watch faces, clients recently having radioactive testing/treatment done
Radon – self-help kits from radon.com, etc.
In closing, May shared a recent blessing from a client (reflecting her Jewish phraseology): “You should be able to do this holy work.” And indeed, it is holy work, for we are privileged to interface with folk who may be struggling with health and other pressures. We are invited into their homes to deal as truthfully, diplomatically, responsibly, and gently as we can … to help them to peace of mind that (with adjustments) their home will be a healing place for them and their family – helping them to be free of exposure to mold’s toxins and other allergens, to noxious gas leaks, to healthful reduction in EMF exposures, etc., and to give them a vision of living in a healthy home.
Resources :
May Dooley may at createyourhealthyhome dot net,
www.createyourhealthyhome.com; www.moldcontrolonabudget.com, 888-735-9649
Joe Spurgeon PhD, jospur46 at gmail dot com, www.expertonmold.com, 714-719-5020
MicrowaveNews.com reports on the health impacts of electromagnetic fields (EMFs), archive of back issues and sign-up bulletin notification of new international research findings.
Z-Man signing off