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CNN Live Saturday

Interview with Jeffrey May

Aired May 04, 2002 - 22:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: : For those of you who suffer from allergies, your troubles may be closer than you think. Our next guest is the author of "My House is Killing Me!" His book warns that mold, dust mites and other allergens may be hiding in the walls and other things in your home.

Thanks for being with us, Jeffrey May. You frightened me to death with this book.

JEFFREY MAY, AUTHOR, MY HOUSE IS KILLING ME: Thank you. I don't want to hear you say that, Catherine. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. I mean, I -- you know I hear you a lot you. You're, you know, you're dealing with wars all the time. And this is really, this is a war that people face, but it's in their homes. And it's an invisible war.

CALLAWAY: Hey, I'm the right person to do this interview, because I have terrible allergies. I'm always coughing on the air and annoying the audience out there with congestion.

MAY: I'm with you.

CALLAWAY: So dust and mold. And I do believe that most people do not realize that a lot of the problems are within their own homes, and not pollen and things from the outside. Some of the things that were frightening to me were where you can find dust mites, and where you can find mold. Could you just give the audience a little bit, some of the information that's in this book on some of the surprising areas that you can find some of these issues, like pillows and down comforters? Everybody loves a down comforter.

MAY: Yes, well, dust mites love down comforters, too. That's actually the problem. I've had clients who...

CALLAWAY: Ooh. What's that?

MAY: ...they've gotten rid of their down comforter, people with chronic coughs. And they've been better the next day.

CALLAWAY: Now we're -- are these dust mites we're just looking at there? No, those are frightening.

MAY: I don't see them, but they don't scare me.

CALLAWAY: You said they are in pillows and comforters, then?

MAY: Oh, yes, they thrive on the moisture from our bodies. If you, you know, you rub your arm like this, and you get all the skin scales in the air. And when we're in bed, they get into the bed. And then we sweat in bed. So people who sweat more in bed actually they can have a bigger problem. And what's important is to put the covers on the mattress and the covers on the pillow, the algae controlled covers. And that solves the problem immediately.

CALLAWAY: When you say allergy controlled pillow covers, are they made of plastic? What could possibly block it from getting into the pillows?

MAY: Well, they -- the -- most of them do have a sort of little bit of flocking. It doesn't feel too comfortable to really have solid plastic, but the betters ones have a covering on. And there's really no problems sleeping on that at all. You can put the cover on the mattress, and then put a mattress cover over that.

CALLAWAY: Mm-hmm. And do you need to wash your pillows and your blankets and your comforter covers every week? What are the...

MAY: No, in fact if you do that, you can get mold. Actually, I've heard about people who even put their pillows in the freezer every morning. And you really, you know, it's crazy. All you need to do is, you know, get rid of an old pillow, and maybe throw it away every couple years, and then keep a cover, one of these allergen controlled covers on it.

If you get pillows wet, some people go to bed with wet pillows. You can actually get mold growing in the pillow.

CALLAWAY: Now let's talk a little bit more about mold. Where is the best place to look for mold that you might not know that it -- where it exists in your home?

MAY: Well, a lot of folks are very surprised by this. They, you know, there is -- mold's been in the news a lot. And sometimes you can really see it, but very often, it'll be under a piece of antique furniture. I've been in many, many homes where there was mold growing under the dressers and bedrooms, mold in the backs of dresses. And it's particularly true of pieces of furniture that have been around for a while.

If you buy something that's been in somebody's garage or in somebody's basement, it's very easy to see. You take a mirror and a bright flashlight, and just hold the flashlight and point in the mirror and look underneath. And you can see it.

CALLAWAY: Oh, gosh. What about unfinished basements? A lot of us have unfinished basements. Is that a bad thing?

MAY: Well, unfinished basements tend to be a lot easier to clean, but they can get moldy. One of the things that I've found is that the fiber glass ceiling insulation, which is some place where no one would ever think to be a problem. I've been in homes where there was nothing in the basement. And just fiber glass ceiling insulation. And it had gotten dusty and damp. They humidity was too high. And they can get very, very moldy and actually inhabited by a lot of different species of mites. So that can be a problem.

CALLAWAY: Oh, my goodness. So much to remember, Jeffrey. You know a lot of us want to have somebody come into our home and help us with what we're doing wrong in making our environment at home a little bit safer. But how do you find someone? And is there a type of certification that we should look for when we're flipping through the yellow pages on trying to find someone? What do you do?

MAY: Well, it's difficult. I think -- I have actually a website. It's myhouseiskillingme.com. I have some people there that can do it. A lot of home inspectors, members of the American Society of Home Inspectors, that's ASHI, they can really help with a lot of problems. Home inspectors are people who can detect moisture problems. And really, it's moisture that leads to a lot of these mold and mite problems. Very important to keep the relative humidity in basements below 50 percent. That would solve a lot of basement problems.

CALLAWAY: You know, I've discovered the dehumidifiers. And I noticed you mention that as well. Tell everyone about -- those are great for helping you get rid of some of that humidity.

MAY: Yes, the -- it's really essential. I think a lot of people make a big mistake. And I know I've talked to husbands and wives. They're arguing over whether they should have the window open in the basement, you know, when the dehumidifier's running. And if you're running your dehumidifier with the window open, you are -- you're basically dehumidifying the whole neighborhood. So keep the windows closed, folks. Now somebody's going to be saying, OK, I was right. I know.

CALLAWAY: What about the humidifiers that you can buy, the portable ones? A lot of us like to use those in the winter, when it's dry. Are those a good thing?

MAY: Well, there's no problem, really, running a humidifier, but it's important, again, depending on the climate you're in. You want to keep the relative humidity and the heating climates below 35 percent. One of the really big problems with humidifiers is people not really maintaining them. I've actually found a lot of these humidifier pads. They're the kind that -- it looks like a filter pad.

CALLAWAY: Right.

MAY: And the water soaks in. And you can actually get stacci bactrus (ph) mold growing on there. That's that toxic black mold.

CALLAWAY: We're running out of time, but do you recommend everyone get their house checked out?

MAY: I think it's not a bad idea. I think, really, you know, you can buy the book is a really -- you know, it goes room by room. CALLAWAY: Oh, nice plug.

MAY: Well, room by room. Well, it's -- I mean, we wrote the book really to help people. I mean...

CALLAWAY: Right.

MAY: ...it goes room by room. And then, if you can't solve the problems, then I think it is important to have a professional. There are so many hidden things out there. People don't see what's in the air. They breathe it. And it makes them sick.

CALLAWAY: Yes. Indeed. "My House is Killing Me" is the book. Also, myhouseiskillingme.com. Also a good place to go if you still have some questions, because obviously in a just few minutes we can't answer all of them. And there's some disgusting pictures of death mites and mold in there as well.

MAY: Please don't call them disgusting.

CALLAWAY: Well, I don't like them. Jeffrey May, thank you for being with us.

MAY: Thank you, Catherine.

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