Calls for new “mould free” housing standards

Calls for new “mould free” housing standards

One Victorian family is fighting to make the risks of mould exposure more well known, after their own extensive journey with mould-related illnesses.

The family moved into a new build home in 2016 in Geelong and only weeks later was struck by a storm that flooded the house. The family explained that the property was remediated by insurers and handed back to them.

Five months later, the homeowner, his wife and children, had all experienced varying degrees of illness. He explained that “Three of my kids started to present with pneumonia-like symptoms, and my wife developed shingles … all at the same time.”

The owner was a director of an environmental and occupational hygiene company and was determined to find the cause of the illness.

When he began investigating, he uncovered “8,000 times the international standard of mould spores located within our ducted-heating vents.

“And underneath our sub-floor we had around 40,000 times greater than what the international standard for mould should be.

“I moved my family out of the house and we never returned.”

The homeowner, others like him, and experts are calling for Australia to implement a national standard for mould, providing safe standards for homes and ensuring that tenants and homeowners are protected from sub-standard living conditions.

Dr Tim Law, an environment lecturer at Victoria University, has recently completed a research project ‘Scoping study on the nature and extent of moisture damage in houses & apartments in Victoria’.

He says that mould is “more common than we would like to acknowledge “It actually became more common … when we put in energy-efficient standards in buildings…”

“It’s not that you can’t be energy efficient – it’s just that often the cheapest way to be energy efficient is not the healthiest way.”

Dr Law says illnesses from black mould, “really [are] the stuff of nightmares”.

“[Black mould biotoxin] has a higher toxicity than mustard gas. It can make a variety of illnesses.

“Under Victoria’s residency laws … homes need to be so-called ‘mould free’ … I don’t like the phrase ‘mould free. One of the best legislations is in Canada … they say the house should be ‘free from mould that is visible or concealed’.”

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