The Dangers of Mold & How To Eradicate It – JW Biava

(0:00) Welcome to the sleep experience podcast where we take a deep dive into the (0:06) latest sleep hacks, gadgets, and strategies to skyrocket your productivity to new heights. (0:13) Being a high performer is all about resting at 100% so you can execute at 100%. (0:25) Hey, this is Riley, host of the sleep experience podcast.

At the sleep experience podcast, (0:30) we interview health experts and teach our community how upgrading their sleep is the (0:33) one thing that they need to unlock their biological code and maximize their performance in an effortless (0:38) way by doing more with less. Do you want to become a productivity machine, have genius (0:42) ideas automatically pop into your mind, stop feeling so stressed, build better relationships, (0:46) and generate more income? Optimizing your deep sleep can do just that. Visit www.thesleepconsultant.com (0:52) to learn more.

My guest today is J.W. Biaba. J.W. is a laboratory director of Immunolytics, (0:59) a leading mycology lab used by doctors, pharmacists, and environmental specialists (1:03) to analyze mold samples and help evaluate patients’ homes, schools, and work environments, (1:09) a vital step towards healthier life. Their lab utilizes cutting-edge mold analysis, (1:14) focusing on mold identification and mold counts to determine if contamination is present (1:19) and what steps must be taken to eradicate if it is.

J.W., welcome to the show. (1:25) J.W. Biaba, MD Hey, glad to be here. Thank you.

(1:26) Yeah, it’s a pleasure to have you on. I have all types of guests on this podcast, (1:31) from genetics to hormones and everything else, but one of the hidden stressors of a lot of (1:35) people’s biology is mold, and they don’t realize how much that affects their sleep. (1:40) But first, before getting into all that, I’m very curious with your story, (1:43) what got you into mold in the first place? J.W. Biaba, MD (1:46) Well, it’s kind of a combination of a few things.

I mean, the story starts when I was 13 years old, (1:51) and I wanted to buy my uncle’s 1976 BMW 530i that was resting in the backyard. It was actually (1:57) my grandpa’s car before. And he said, come work for me at my laboratory.

And so I said, sure, (2:02) and I started working when I was 13. And about 1995, we really started getting into mold analysis, (2:08) just doing traditional spore trap type analyses to see if environments were contaminated with (2:14) amplified mold growth. And then early 2000s, I met a guy named Walter Hayhurst, who was really (2:19) a pioneer.

He and Dr. Donald Dennis out of Atlanta, who really understood the health effects (2:24) of mold and what it was doing to their patients. And so we started Immunolytics as a spinoff from (2:29) my dad and uncle’s laboratory to kind of help address those medical patients. So they’d have(2:35) an easy do-it-yourself test kit to help evaluate their environments and see if that could be causing (2:40) health symptoms.

So that’s kind of where it all started. Dr. Justin Marchegiani (2:43) Very interesting. Yeah, it’s always interesting hearing the origin story and to hear how that (2:48) was with you.

I find that fascinating. Switching gears here, top level down, what is mold and where (2:56) does it come from? And how prevalent do you see it in people’s homes today? (3:01) Dr. Donald Dennis Sure. Well, that’s a bunch of great questions.

Mold is extremely prevalent. It’s (3:06) ubiquitous in all environments. North Pole, South Pole have the lowest amount of mold, (3:11) but it’s essentially nature’s garbage disposal, right? It’s a biologic mechanism to break down (3:16) organic material.

So think leaves and compost, things like that. Mold’s very, very important. (3:21) The problem becomes when we build houses with these interstitial spaces, wall spaces, (3:27) ceiling spaces behind cabinetry, under cabinetry, these spaces like that, where essentially if (3:33) mold, or excuse me, if water gets in there and the substrate’s organic, it’s drywall backing, (3:38) it’s wood two by fours, well then the mold’s just going to start growing because the mold is (3:42) everywhere.

So if it grows unchecked, you get these amplified levels that essentially affect (3:48) health. So mold is extremely useful in the right environment. It’s extremely harmful (3:53) if you’re overly exposed.

(3:56) Dr. Justin Marchegiani I can imagine. And I mean, you hear the stories of people have (3:59) health issues for years upon years, then they find out they have mold one or two decades later,(4:04) remove it, and voila, all their health symptoms start to disappear. So when someone’s exposed to (4:10) moldy environment, they’re breathing in these toxic spores and other matter that go into their (4:18) body.

Do they actually get stored there? (4:20) Dr. Tim Jackson Yes. So a lot of the toxins are lipophilic,(4:24) they’re fat loving. And so they get stored in the fat and released over time.

And that’s part of (4:29) what really tied this into sleep, which I thought was brilliant that you recognize is the idea that, (4:33) you know, the detox, a lot of that occurs during sleep. So if these toxins just disrupt the sleep, (4:39) which which happens, you get this vicious cycle where you’re toxic, and you can’t detox (4:43) without proper sleep. So yes, they’re stored in the body, they’re moved around the body.

(4:48) You know, mold essentially affects people as an allergen, which a lot just dismiss because(4:52) allergies are allergies. It can be an infectious agent, it can act as like a super antigen where(4:57) you get autoimmune type reactions. And then of course, many molds produce the mycotoxins, (5:02) which you know, are poisons.

(5:04) Dr. Justin Marchegiani Yeah, it causes people to sort of feel (5:06) sometimes like that drunk brain fog feeling that people get. And it doesn’t have to be a disease (5:11) state or autoimmune, necessarily, it can just be if you want to have a peak 10 out of 10 performance, (5:16) you’re taking all these supplements, you’re following the right diet, it’s the mold can just, (5:20) you know, bring that love that 10 level you should be at down to a seven or down to a five, (5:25) even if you’re doing everything right. And I see so many people like that will do functional (5:29) diagnostic testing on them.

And then we’ll look at, you know, you know, Mike, their, (5:34) their mycotoxins and their body is just off the charts sometimes, especially if their body (5:39) genetically, they just can’t flush that out. And their glymphatic system, and their glutathione, (5:45) their body, their internal garbage truck cleaners to flush it out of their body while they’re (5:48) sleeping. It’s just compromised.

So now you have this environment, that’s just a breeding ground (5:53) of the mold getting stored there. And it just creates this cascade effect. And it’s no wonder (5:58) people are sick for so long.

Yeah, well, you absolutely nailed it there. So yeah, it’s (6:04) I’m sure you see all kinds of people with that. So once someone finds mold, what exactly can they (6:12) do to eradicate it from their home? Sure.

Well, you know, we look at it as is total mold load (6:18) in a house. And then look at it as mold hygiene, right? So there’s a lot of sources for mold. (6:23) The most destructive is wet building materials.

That’s where you focus a lot. But you know, (6:28) your sink drains are disgusting. If you ever swab one of those, you know, they’re loaded with mold.

(6:33) So it’s you can do simple things maintenance wise, like treating your drains or just covering your (6:38) drains. pets bring in a lot of mold from the outside to keep them properly washed.(6:44) You know, there’s little hygienes like that.

But the biggest problem is the wet building materials. (6:48) So what you want to do is eliminate moisture, there’s no moisture, there’s no mold, that’s (6:52) number one, you don’t want humidity above 60%. I mean, I suggest everybody buy a $15 hygrometer (6:58) on Amazon, monitor their humidity, make sure it’s below 60%.

So that you have any mold growth from (7:04) humidity, especially in bathrooms and laundry rooms, which are real prone to humidity, (7:09) keep those levels down. Easiest way is ventilation. If you’re in a real high (7:13) humid environment, it may require dehumidification.

But but that’s real simple. And then if you have (7:19) a water event, whether it’s a spill, flood, a broken pipe or roof leak, it needs those materials (7:27) need to be dry within 48 hours as a general rule of thumb to prevent exponential mold growth. So if (7:33) you can get things dry quick enough, that’s your best option.

Water is a far larger risk to a house (7:39) than even like fire or burglary. There’s just so many water events. I think EPA estimates one in (7:44) three homes will have a water event in a given year, and 50% are contaminated with some level (7:50) of mold.

So it’s very important that we address the water. Yeah, essentially what we do that’s (7:58) kind of unique to us is we do use the Petri dishes for a one hour exposure to see if the (8:02) levels in the air are amplified. We also use them for tap testing objects to see if those objects (8:08) are sources of mold.

And then we use swabs to identify potential mold growth as well as dust (8:14) that may have amplified mold in it. And that’s 50% of what we do. The other 50% is the consultation (8:20) that is free with the kits where we actually have an indoor environmental professional look at your(8:25) results and ask you probing questions to try to potentially find mold sources or biologic(8:31) sources that could affect your health that may have been missed by a test, maybe the wrong place (8:36) was sampled, maybe you sampled your home and not your car.

We kind of probe to try and help you (8:40) fine tune and figure out where the problem is. Well, absolutely true. And you asked earlier, (8:45) what do you do when you have mold? I guess I didn’t fully answer that.

And the correct solution (8:51) to that is you remove any source of mold and it has to be done in a proper condition so you don’t (8:56) contaminate everything. So, you know, maintenance or reducing the total load, the mold load in a (9:02) home is important, but if there is mold growth that has to be directly addressed by removal. (9:08) Boy, that’s a great question.

So remember, I’m an environmental guy and not a medical guy. Okay. (9:12) But I can speak from my experience of what I’ve done for myself and my family.

If I look at (9:17) detox strategies, my absolute favorite is a sauna detoxification, especially using the niacin. I (9:23) think that’s incredibly powerful, actually too powerful for me. You have to do it very, very (9:28) slowly or you get very, very sick.

As well as, you know, I do a lot of things from, I’ve done (9:33) some ionic foot baths. I’ve done some of the vibration type therapy where you just kind of (9:37) vibrate yourself. I like what we call the thumper, you know, just a little massage gun that helps (9:42) move things pretty good.

And then supplementation, you know, to remove them with various binders, (9:47) whether it’s the activated charcoal. Some people like the colostyramine. I’m not a big fan of it, (9:52) but it does work for those people.

There’s a lot of natural binders, whether it’s zeolites or (9:57) bentonite clay, chlorella. So, you know, that’s where you come in, right? That’s a little outside (10:03) of my area of expertise. Well, that’s a great question.

Those of us who have been exposed to (10:08) the mold, the kind of the moldies, as we call it, you get real good at identifying these things (10:12) because you have to go eat out. You have to go to grocery stores, libraries, you know, church, (10:16) school, whatever. So you have to get good at diagnosing the environment as soon as you walk in (10:21) to tell if it’s potentially going to affect your health.

Those of us, like myself, that are very (10:25) sensitive, we can perceive it. Some people, you know, smell is easy. To me, if it feels like a dark (10:31) cave, like if it’s closing in on me, the mold levels are high.

It’s just the way my body, like, (10:36) interprets it. You know, it’s not like I have some mystical power. So those are good ways.

I mean, (10:41) obviously, power of observation. So I look first at HVAC vents. If they’re really dark and (10:46) discolored black, that’s not a good sign.

If I see any signs of water damage, so you’re looking for (10:51) spots on the ceiling or walls, paint that’s pulling off, or what they call nail pop, and that’s when (10:58) the drywall expands because it got too moist. And then when it contracts, the nail still sticks out. (11:03) That’s an indication of excessive moisture.

Age of building, you know, certainly the older (11:08) a building is, the more likely it is to have a water leak. But new buildings do actually have (11:13) mold problems often, too. Sometimes due to construction defects.

Sometimes it’s contaminated (11:19) building materials. So you just kind of get good at observing, watching, looking, and then feeling (11:24) yourself to determine what’s going on. Well, you know, there is a lot of science, a lot of (11:31) research, a lot of doctors that make it extremely complex because they describe the biotoxin (11:37) pathways and how to remove it.

They get into the, you know, the genetics and all that. That’s great. (11:42) We try to keep it as simple as possible.

I mean, find it, remove it from both the environment and (11:47) yourself to get well. So as far as where it’s going to go, I think the most important part is (11:52) just awareness. So few people understand what a problem indoor mold exposure is.

And if we can get (11:58) the word out on that, we’re going to heal so many people or help them achieve optimal fitness or (12:04) whatever it may be, productivity, just by their awareness and improving their environment. (12:10) It’s just very interesting to me that everybody really seems to understand that you need clean (12:14) water, clean food to be well, but very few people focus on the clean air. We understand it from a (12:20) smog standpoint outdoors, but no one thinks about the indoor pollution and what they’re breathing.

(12:26) Sure, air filters are wonderful. I call them a polishing technique. And what I mean by that is(12:31) that you can’t have visible mold growth and have an air filter and be fine.

And my example here is, (12:37) you know, there’s a lot of great air filters. I like the Austin air personally, because it’s (12:42) very simple and it has the carbon and the zeolite filtration as well. The IQ air are great, air (12:47) doctor are great.

I mean, there’s a lot of them now, but if I put a cup of gasoline in that room (12:51) with you right now and the best air filter possible and put it on high, you’re still going to smell (12:57) the gasoline. So see, the point is that source removal is absolutely number one after that (13:02) polishing techniques, such as air filtration is huge and you can make a big difference just by(13:08) changing your HVAC filter to something that’s rated for allergens. You know, they say a Merv (13:12) rating of 11 or higher, but if they just say on there to remove allergens, that’s a big improvement (13:17) and mold travels just like dust.

So if you reduce the dust in your environment, you’re reducing the (13:23) mold. So keep your house clean, carpets clean, cabinets clean, whatever it may be, and you’re (13:29) going to reduce the mold levels. Boy, last words.

I think everybody should just be aware of this. (13:35) You know, this shouldn’t be something you’re scared of, but it should be something you (13:37) investigate. I think it’s very, very important to keep yourself and your family healthy and safe.

(13:44) And this is just one of those ways to do it. Immunolytics.com, we’ve got great resources if(13:49) people want to learn about mold. You know, we’re a do it yourself type company and we try and educate (13:53) you and empower you so that you don’t spend a fortune on mold.

So look at the website, learn. (13:59) If you want, call us, you know, anytime 505-217-0339. We’ll answer your questions.

(14:06) Thanks for listening to the Sleep Experience Podcast. We’ll see you next time on next week’s (14:11) episode. Be sure to subscribe and follow us to get future updates on everything sleep, (14:18) energy, focus, stress, and better performance.