The wildfire in Colorado is all over the news—and Colorado’s citizens are in our thoughts—this week. The evacuees will have a lot to deal with when they get back home. We certainly hope that they have homes to come back to and if they do, those homes will have a very strong smoke smell that no one likes to live with.

Jon Nelson sent me a story of a recent project removing smoke odor from a home after a house fire and the treatment we used would also apply to smoke smells from a forest fire or wildfire that burned near your home.

The project was done by our Moorpark office and used ThermaPureHeat to eliminate the smoke odor.

A small kitchen fire in a Malibu home impacted the entire structure with smoke. We didn’t have to worry about the owner’s personal belongings—they had already been sent out to be cleaned elsewhere. Our client was averse to using chemicals, ozone or encapsulants to restore the home because of his wife’s high sensitivity. Their consultant recommended heat treatment for removal of the smoky smell and when we investigated the situation, we agreed that heat treatment would definitely take care of the problem. It was going to be a big job, but it would work and protect the health of the lady of the house.

We used a variety of equipment including our new electric heaters and hydronic drypro trailer and raised the interior temperature of the house to about 120 degrees and held it there for 15 straight days. This process utilized about 3000 cubic feet of air per minute. We also added moisture to the air to accelerate the process of odor removal.

Happily—and as expected—15 days of heat did the trick. When the client returned to the home, he could not detect an odor and declared the project completed successfully!

We would like to thank Don of our Moorpark office not only for thinking outside the box to use ThermaPureHeat for this necessary service and for taking on a challenging project and making it work!

ThermaPureHeat can be used to achieve success in many situations: bed bugs, termites and other pests; structural pasteurization; construction drying; mold remediation; and odor elimination. If you have any project which could benefit from high temperatures, please contact AirTek for a consultation!

And don’t take any chances with fireworks during your Independence Day celebrations!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for Alliance Environmental Group and AirTek Indoor Air Solutions. We welcome your comments! For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! For updates on indoor air challenges, Like us at AirTek on Facebook!

California Condors have made a remarkable recovery from near extinction, but that recovery is threatened by lead poisoning from ammunition.

Toxicologists at the University of California, Santa Cruz have found that California Condors are being poisoned by lead and that lead is from ammunition. This lead poisoning is affecting the species’ ability to recover from its near extinction, which animal protection activists have been working against for decades. Toxocologist Myra Finkelstein says,” California condors are tagged and monitored, trapped twice a year for blood tests, and when necessary treated for lead poisoning in veterinary hospitals, and they still die from lead poisoning on a regular basis.”

A bit of history of the California Condor:

As of 1982, there were only 22 California Condors.
Captive breeding since then has grown the population to over 400 birds by 2010.
Those California Condors have been released into the wild.

Since 1997, about half of all California Condors have needed treatment for lead poisoning, at a rate of about 20% of the Condor population per year. Condors are scavengers and ingest lead from ammunition when eating animals which have been brought down by hunters. Lead poisoning may very well have been one of the factors which brought Condors so near extinction in the 1980’s. Researchers have also found that there is lead present in the blood of birds which does not rise to the level of “poisoning” per se, but definitely affects the health and lifespan of these magnificent birds.

The California Condor population is stable at the moment, with the help of intensive preservation efforts. The State of California has banned the use of lead ammunition in the Condor habitat, but that ban has not reduced the numbers of cases of lead poisoning in the birds. Stricter regulation on lead ammunition would help, but is strenuously fought by gun advocacy organizations.

Perhaps we do too many lead poisoning stories on the Alliance blog, but with lead an ongoing source of health problems for both humans and wild animals, coming from homes, hunting, compost heaps and other sources, we feel that any reduction in the use of lead is a good one. If your pre-1978 home is part of the problem, you can be part of the solution. Contact Alliance Environmental Group for help with safe lead paint removal and know that lead from your home or other building will never be a problem for a child or a beautiful wild thing.

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for Alliance Environmental Group and AirTek Indoor Air Solutions. We welcome your comments! For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! For updates on indoor air challenges, Like us at AirTek on Facebook!

Did you think that asbestos was a problem of years ago and is no longer a threat?  It’s actually dangerous to think of it that way—it leads to accidental and preventable exposure!

Asbestos is a dangerous carcinogen and there is no safe level of exposure to this mineral made of tiny fibers.  However, it was deemed extremely useful for insulation and its fire retardant properties for many, many years.  And when no one knew the dangers, they even made decorative Christmas snow for the kids to play with out of asbestos!  Gross!

Today, asbestos has been banned for many uses and is no longer used in current building materials.  However, during renovations, asbestos containing materials can be discovered and disturbed, leading to the possibility of illness and even death years later.

Here’s a great infographic we received from one of our Twitter buddies, @BanAsbestos—Asbestos, Silent Killer:

Asbestos can cause cancer and other serious illnesses.  There is no way of knowing whether or when you or someone you love will get sick from asbestos so you can’t take any chances.  If you know or suspect that asbestos in your home has been exposed due to a natural disaster or damage or could be exposed by renovations, be sure to call a professional for safe asbestos removal.  Alliance Environmental Group can take care of any asbestos in your home or other building without any danger to you, your family or your employees or to our highly trained asbestos removal experts.

Asbestos fibers can stay in the air, breathable and disease-causing, for minutes when exposed and the dust from asbestos remains a threat as long as it is present.  Using a professional team to remove your asbestos means there will be no danger now or in the future from beautifying your home.  Let us take care of your asbestos safely!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for Alliance Environmental Group and AirTek Indoor Air Solutions.  We welcome your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on indoor air challenges, Like us at AirTek on Facebook!

A Canadian factory has been closed down due to mold contamination.

We talk a lot on the blog about mold in your home—in bathrooms, inside walls and other inaccessible places—mold that affects everyone’s daily life. But this week we came across a story of mold that could affect the already suffering—cancer patients.

The company is Sanofi Pasteur and their Toronto, Ontario manufacturing plant makes ImmuCyst, a leading drug for treatment of bladder cancer. The factory experienced a flood last month which led to damage and clearly was not entirely cleaned up afterwards. Health inspectors found evidence of mold and suspended production due to the danger of contamination of the medications made at the facility.

Mold is everywhere there is water and generally is not a huge problem, but where a sterile environment must be maintained, like in a healthcare facility or a chemical plant, the consequences of a mold incursion can be catastrophic. In this case, it may even be catastrophic to third parties who will not be able to receive the best treatment for their bladder cancer.

Cancer patients in the US and Canada are already facing a shortage of drugs. This factory suspending their production for mold will not make that any better.

When you have experienced a flood, whether it is in your home or your business, drying the flooded area should be a very high priority. Mold spores are everywhere and need very little opportunity—and moisture—to grow and thrive. It only takes 24 to 48 hours for mold to grow. The quickest and safest way to dry out after a flood or a leak is by using high heat. Alliance offers ThermaPureHeat to dry construction and flood scenes, as well as to kill mold and its spores if more time has passed. If you need your home or other building to be dry right now anywhere in California, contact Alliance for ThermaPureHeat! If Sanofi Pasteur had called us, they might still be open!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for Alliance Environmental Group and AirTek Indoor Air Solutions. She welcomes your comments! For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! For updates on indoor air challenges, Like us at AirTek on Facebook!

This short and informative video gives us the rundown on the top 5 cities for bed bug calls as well as confirmed infestations:

If you live in one of these cities and find that bedbugs have followed you home, don’t panic, call a professional! If you have bed bugs in the #8 city on the list, San Francisco, Alliance can help you get rid of those pesky pests quickly and safely with ThermaPureHeat. We raise interior temperatures over 130 degrees to kill bed bugs at all stages of development, leaving no eggs to hatch and reinfest later and no pesticide or chemical residue to affect you and your family’s health.

Los Angeles and San Diego didn’t make the list this year, but that doesn’t mean there are no bed bugs. You never know what might hitch a ride with you from an infested hotel on a business trip or in the luggage of a houseguest. Don’t worry, we can take care of it! Contact Alliance for help!

All of us wish all of you an incredible official first weekend of summer!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for Alliance Environmental Group and AirTek Indoor Air Solutions. We welcome your comments! For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! For updates on indoor air challenges, Like us at AirTek on Facebook!