Wonder Makers Environmental has unveiled a comprehensive program to help cleaning and restoration contractors assist mold sensitized individuals, an approach that involves a full range of services to help prepare contractors to deal with the unique challenges faced by individuals who become reactive to mold exposure. The goal of the program is to meet the needs of both contractors who provide remediation and cleaning services, and individuals who have become sensitized to mold and are trying to deal effectively with fungal contamination.
"Over the past four years Wonder Makers has specialized in working with individuals who are truly suffering," says Susan Pinto, President, Wonder Makers. "The question that we get more than any other from these clients is, ‘Can you recommend someone to help me?’ But, what we have found is that even experienced mold remediation contractors have difficulties with such customers because their sensitivities are so profound that using normal remediation practices is not good enough.”
Through their work with people suffering from biotoxin illness, with medical practitioners who are developing specific treatment protocols, and with contractors who have been on the cutting edge of addressing such environments, Wonder Makers has developed a multifaceted program that involves training elements and a stepped process toward certification.
"Although the cleaning and remediation industries are awash with certifications, there is not anything currently available that helps people who are mold reactive identify which contractors understand their predicament and have the skills to assist them," says Michael Pinto, a Certified Safety Professional and Certified Mold Professional. "While other certifications are important for remediation contractors, this one is different because it is a gateway to a specific group of customers that need the services to preserve their health. The need for this certification is primarily driven by the fact that many mold reactive people are not able to move forward with proper medical treatment until the offending contaminants have been meticulously cleaned.
"Professionals in the lead control industry have known for a long time that you cannot start chelation therapy to reduce a person’s blood lead level until they are out of the lead-contaminated environment. We now see that it is the same with mold. The person who is ill has to leave the environment or have it thoroughly cleaned before medical treatment can start, or else they run the risk of having worse problems."
Along with anecdotal information, medical and scientific data also support the need for this training and certification. Advancements in genomics indicate that up to 25% of the population is susceptible to an illness known as Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), a serious condition that causes a wide variety of symptoms. This discovery helps explain the exploding interest in mold-related problems that has resulted in one website, which offers information about the syndrome, reporting over 1 million hits per month. From a business standpoint, if only one tenth of one percent of susceptible individuals have their immune systems triggered by mold exposure, cleaning and restoration contractors will be dealing with over 90,000 customers.
"There are so many different dimensions to this issue that we are working hard to provide credible information in a variety of formats,” Susan Pinto noted.
For more information on the program, visit www.moldsensitized.com.
