Mold Resources: Where to Learn About Toxic Mold

When you’re seeking your own education, it’s important to have trusted resources you can rely on for accurate and comprehensible information, especially if you’ve been diagnosed with biotoxin illness, or Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Since the mold industry isn’t regulated, formal research is limited and inaccessible to the average person due to the high level of scientific knowledge needed (here‘s an example), it’s not easy to get a grasp of what’s really going on around toxic mold. As a society, we’ve gone through this nebulousness of toxicity, in varying degrees, with tobacco, asbestos, and lead pipes all being downplayed, ignored, and not adequately addressed. Now, I think we’re navigating two major concerns currently that remain unregulated and largely unaddressed: sugar and mold. While I’m also pretty passionate about how detrimental sugar is, for this post, I’ll just stick to mold. Visit this post to get acclimated with some standard mold terminology, and then dive in to these reliable resources to get educated about toxic mold so you can feel empowered to get healthy:

Instagram

• Brian Karr of We Inspect: We Inspect is a nationwide mold inspection company that serves people who are sensitive to mold and diagnosed with CIRS, Lyme, PANS/PANDAS, and autoimmune conditions. These guys have the highest standards out there for mold inspecting that I’ve discovered. On IG, Brian shares information about toxic mold in homes in digestible bits, making the science of toxic mold accessible and busting common myths in the unregulated mold industry. He takes a deeper dive into the content in his podcast (see below). You can also text him directly and ask for recommendations and he actually responds. I’m definitely a fan of Brian; he’s an excellent resource.
• Michael Rubino of All American Restoration: All American Restoration is a mold remediation company that focuses on remediating spaces to the highest air quality standards for people with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, autoimmune conditions, Lyme disease, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. On IG, Michael frequently posts about common places mold can be found in the home and how to respond. Based on the quality of Michael’s work, as detailed on his website, in his blog, and in his book (see below), I appreciate how he balances dedication to his craft with a little bit of humor.
• PJ Harlow Wellness: PJ is a mold consultant who specializing in guiding people through the process of inspecting, remediating, cleaning, and moving. From working with her personally, my impression is that she’s got her stuff together and she doesn’t waste time. She has a lot of experience navigating moving (especially renting) and avoiding toxic mold. Her website is a wealth of information. She also offers ERMI interpretations, if that’s of interest, but I think it’s possible to process the results of an ERMI on your own in many circumstances for free.
• Moldy Boy: This guy brings so much humor to biotoxin illness while sharing his experience with healing. If you’re curious what biotoxin illness treatment looks like in real life, or you need a laugh about mold toxicity, visit his account. Here’s my favorite post he’s created:

Podcasts

• Exposing Mold: This podcast is my lifeline. Anytime I feel alone in biotoxin illness or doubtful about how serious this is, this podcast grounds me in reality with facts and the experiences of others. It also regularly reignites the spark inside of me to fight for changes in air quality standards. The hosts are Kealy Severson, Eric Johnson, and Alicia Swarmy, all three of whom are mold survivors. Erik Johnson is, in fact, the prototype for the first diagnosis of biotoxin illness in the United States, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in 1988 in Incline Village, Nevada.
• Moldfinders Radio: This is Brian Karr’s podcast where he answers questions he gets about toxic mold and the inspection process. Brian is an environmental consultant who inspects homes for mold to the highest standards of anyone in the country that I’m aware of at this time. He shares interviews with an experts, too, on topics like nontoxic living and biotoxin illness treatment. It’s easy to listen to and easy to understand.
• The Mold Medic: Michael Rubino, remediation extraordinaire, and president of All American Restoration remediation company, is the host of this podcast. Michael mostly interviews normal people impacted by mold and biotoxin illness. If you’re feeling alone, misunderstood, or like nobody gets it, listen to this podcast. There are so many people out there impacted by mold, and so many more who don’t even know that mold is what is at the root of their health concerns.

Websites

• Surviving Mold: This is Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker’s website. Dr. Shoemaker has dedicated his career to connecting symptoms with water-damaged buildings, and he developed his own protocol to treat CIRS. If you want answers, visit this website. Having a grasps of the science around mold is helpful to understand some parts of the website, but Google is also a great tutor.
• Cheryl Ciecko: Cheryl Ciecko is an architect who has some very helpful videos on the basics of toxic mold in homes, as well as courses for building a low mold home. If you’re working with a builder to construct a safe home, checking out her courses is a worthy investment of your time and money.
• Richmond Functional Medicine: I don’t live in Richmond or know these doctors. I do, however, like how they lay out the steps for treating CIRS on this website because it makes treatment feel more manageable, and it gives you some education about the science behind treatment without being overwhelming.

Books

• Toxic: Heal Your Body from Mold Toxicity, Lyme Disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, and Chronic Environmental Illness by Neil Nathan, MD: Dr. Neil Nathan has focused his career on treating environmental illnesses, and his book covers the science behind why and how we get sick, and how to get better. My favorite parts of this book are the stories from real people about their illnesses and recoveries. You can find it on Amazon.
• The Mold Medic by Michael Rubino: This book is such a helpful resource in understanding the process for remediation in your home and with your belongings. Michael takes the science of remediation and makes it easy to process. He also breaks remediation down so it feels less daunting (although in reality, there are honestly no simple, easy solutions with mold in practice).

Please let me know if you have any resources to add. I’ll be sure to update this regularly as I learn more.

If you’d like to learn more about how to check your home for toxic mold, visit this post. If you’ve already found mold and don’t know what to do next, start here. And if you’re working on getting out of mold but haven’t found the right solution yet, check out these things you can do while you’re still in mold to have a positive impact on your health in the meantime.

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