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Rising sea levels caused by climate change and powerful storms have made flooding a common occurrence across the U.S., most recently impacting several parts of California. Businesses and private residences can easily be flooded with water when it has nowhere else to go. But flooding leads to the spread of harmful mold, dust, fungi, bacteria, viruses, and parasites, especially ininstances where sewers can overflow. Workers will need to wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) to avo …

For thousands of people affected by Hurricanes, cleaning up and making their homes and businesses habitable again is a big challenge. When the flood waters recede it is often replaced by mold in damp materials like wallboard, insulation, carpeting, wallpaper, and wood paneling. All of that material needs to be removed, and workers need to be protected from airborne mold spores that can get into cuts and scrapes, ears, nose, mouth, and even the mucous membrane of the eye. To remove these hazar …

Clean up from superstorm Sandy is going to take time. One of the ongoing problems the residents who saw flooding will face is getting rid of the mold. As they reclaim their houses and businesses, they are finding flooring, chairs, walls, and other porous materials that have been wet for more than a couple of days are accumulating mold colonies. The longer the mold is allowed to continue to grow, the more dangerous it becomes to people operating in the area, and the more difficult it bec …

Residents of the areas affected by Hurricane Isaac could see (or at least hear) greater numbers of mosquitoes and have increased exposure to the West Nile virus soon according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The recent Category 1 hurricane, while lacking the raging winds of faster-moving storm systems, brought wide-spread flooding and that flooding may create expanded breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Floodwaters initially washed away areas of standing water wher …