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TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface 1 SECTION ONE: MOLD & TOXINS The chapters in this section contain vital information regarding mold, mycotoxin, and other toxic exposures, such as sediment and sewage sludge, and the potential resultant health effects; a mold primer; mold testing methods and interpretation; and a legal primer for mold cases. 1. MOLD CAN’T HURT YOU—OR CAN IT? 6 Topics include fungal ignorance amongst medical professionals, medical misdiagnoses, oft-unknown fungal medical research, medical mistreatments, mycotoxins, mold as a biological warfare agent, mold terminology, methods of mold testing, and mycotoxin research. 2. BACK TO THE BASICS OF FUNGI 25 Topics include an introduction to mycology, the inherent nature of fungi, the complexities of indoor mold growth, types of mold and the respective health effects, and mycotoxins as antibiotics. 3. MOLD TESTING—WHAT’S IT ALL MEAN? 38 Topics include the waiving of certain federal rules, remediation health risks, bioaerosols (mold, mycotoxins, bacteria, endotoxins), and an inside view of the pros and cons of various mold testing methodologies using results from mold testing performed post- Katrina. 4. SEDIMENT AND SEWAGE SLUDGE SPIN 62 Topics include hurricane sediment, flooded sewage systems and superfund sites, biological and heavy metal contamination, risk assessment models, and an exposé on the integration of sewage sludge into U.S. farmlands and the subsequent health risks. 5. WHAT WE KNOW, SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING 88 Topics include undisputed scientific and medical facts, high-risk groups, medical relocation, sick building syndrome, inhalation of mold spores and mycotoxins, fungal infections, disease from soil molds, immunosuppression from mycotoxins, cytotoxicity, fine particulate matter, and mycotoxins in human tissue and body fluids. 6. MOLD CAN HURT YOU 104 Topics include undisputed and controversial illnesses from damp indoor spaces, outdated governmental studies, personal protective equipment, systemic conditions, reported physical and mental health effects from mold and mycotoxin exposures, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). 7. SCIENTIFIC CORRELATIONS OR ASSUMPTIONS? 133 Topics include exposure to mixed molds and the associated mycotoxins, the role of genetics, mycotoxicosis, lack of epidemiological and dose-response data, lack of state and federal mold exposure limits, insurance policy mold exclusions, and a legal primer in admissibility of evidence. SECTION TWO: HEALTH MATTERS The chapters in this section contain potentially life-saving information on mold, mycotoxin, and other toxic exposures regarding health issues; avenues of reexposure; risks of certain pharmaceutical treatments; effective and ineffective alternative treatments; mycotoxin contamination of food; and governmental regulation of mycotoxins in food and animal feed. 1. THE MEDICAL MINE FIELD OF MOLD 156 Topics include removal from exposure, re-exposure issues, medical misdiagnoses, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, medical mistreatments, treating the symptoms—not the causes, dangers of pharmaceuticals (antibiotics, steroids, and antidepressants), chemical exposures, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, stress, and cancer. 2. THE PROCESS OF TRIAL AND ERROR 179 Topics include multiple chemical sensitivities, naturopathic treatment options, intestinal flora, detoxification system, immune system, homeopathic medicine, ineffective alternative treatments, alkaline-based diet, dehydration, mold and mycotoxin contamination in food, allergic reactions, and liver cancer, aflatoxin B1, and hepatitis B and C. 3. FOOD, FUNGUS, AND MYCOTOXINS 203 Topics include discovery of aflatoxin, aflatoxicosis, mycotoxin research, mycotoxins on crops, mycotoxin contamination during storage, the unavoidability of mycotoxins in food and animal feeds, human consumption of mycotoxins, mycotoxins and cancer, acute and chronic toxicity, mycotoxin action and guidance levels, voluntary compliance, industry self-regulation, and the ineffectiveness of current mycotoxin screening levels. 4. STARVE THE FUNGI, NOT YOURSELF 226 Topics include top ten mycotoxin-containing foods, fungal proteins, fungal antigens, mycotoxin testing in food and feed, mycotoxin studies, mycotoxins in cereals and other food, ineffectiveness of the original food pyramid, multimycotoxin exposure from food and feed, U.S. mycotoxin limits, England’s lower mycotoxin limits, testing and certification of exported U.S. foods, and lack of U.S. mycotoxin research funding. 5. MORE TRIAL AND ERROR 240 Topics include sauna detoxification, fungal ignorance amongst medical professionals, dangers of antifungals, fine-print pharmaceutical warnings, undisclosed side effects, pharmacological reports, potential resistance to antifungals, effective alternative treatments, vitamins, minerals, essential oils, juicing alkaline vegetables, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and fungal endocrine disruptors. 6. HELP FROM THE KAHUNAS 269 Topics include the healing properties of the noni fruit, noni juice processing methods, Tahitian noni, history of nuclear testing in Tahiti, unpasteurized versus pasteurized organic noni juice, die-off headaches, cognitive improvements, hormonal fluctuations, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), noni soap, hives, scientific and medical noni studies, and a noni cancer study. 7. WHAT’S IN A BRAND NAME? 291 Topics include effective food supplements, vitamins, minerals, the immuneboosting trio, scientific and medical studies, fruits and vegetables concentrates, bioavailability of nutrients, omega-3 and -6 oils, probiotics, and multivitamins. 8. DETOXIFY WHILE REDUCING TOXIC EXPOSURES 315 Topics include detoxification, inflammation, effective food supplements, omega-3 and -6 oils, scientific and medical studies, cognitive improvement, health effects of formaldehyde, formaldehyde in RV trailers and mobile homes, and treating disease through nutrition. SECTION THREE: PROFESSIONALLY SPEAKING The chapters in this section contain original interviews with leading-edge experts in the fields of science, medicine, nutrition, law, and industrial hygiene. 1. Gina M. Solomon, MD, MPH, is a senior scientist in the Health and Environment Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in San Francisco, California, and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) where she is also the associate director of the UCSF Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit. 336 2. Jack D. Thrasher, PhD, is an immunotoxicologist who has assisted hundreds of individuals injured by toxic chemicals and molds. Since 1984, Dr. Thrasher has been a consultant and expert witness for cases involving environmental toxicology and immunotoxicology. 347 3. David C. Straus, PhD, is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Dr. Straus coauthored the first findings revealing the ability to detect trichothecene mycotoxins in sera from individuals exposed to Stachybotrys chartarum in indoor environments. 359 4. Andrew Puccetti, PhD, CIH (certified industrial hygienist), has been an independent consultant providing litigation support in the field of industrial hygiene for the past 25 years. 372 5. Jim Pearson, CMH (certified mechanical hygienist), is president and CEO of Americlean Corporation, a disaster restoration company that he helped start over 27 years ago. Mr. Pearson is coauthor of IICRC S520 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation. 382 6. Richard L. Lipsey, PhD, is a forensic toxicologist and president of Lipsey & Associates Inc. Dr. Lipsey has served as the liaison professor with and consulted for the USDA, the EPA, and the U.S. State Department, both nationally and internationally. 391 7. Cynthia Coulter Mulvihill, Attorney at Law, is a partner at Hyde Mulvihill APC. She specializes in mold-related legal cases and provides consultation services to contractors, insurance companies, experts, potential claimants, and litigation firms. 399 8. Melinda Ballard, MBA, is founder and president of Policyholders of America (POA), a nonprofit organization that helps policyholders receive all the benefits to which they are entitled. Ms. Ballard became a policyholder advocate after legally battling an insurance giant over a water-related loss in a lawsuit that drew media attention worldwide. 411 9. Jia-Sheng Wang, MD, PhD, is a professor in and head of the Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Public Health at the University of Georgia, and has authored/coauthored over 80 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Wang is one of several doctors who first identified the two major factors that cause liver cancer (hepatitis B and aflatoxin) while conducting research in Qidong and Guangxi in China nearly 30 years ago. 425 10. David L. Eaton, PhD, is a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, Toxicology Program at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle; associate vice provost of research, School of Public Health & Community Medicine at UW; and director of the Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health at UW. 437 11. Regina M. Santella, PhD, is a professor of environmental health sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, director of the Epidemiology Program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC), director of the Biomarkers Core Facility at HICCC, and director of the Columbia Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan. 451
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