Toxic Shadows: Exposing the Hidden Flaws in Mold Remediation

Interview with Jennifer L. Pelton

In this Interview with Jennifer L. Pelton, she unveils the insidious complexities of mold and indoor air quality, a subject too often shrouded in misconception and systemic neglect. Jennifer, a seasoned attorney whose personal ordeal with undisclosed mold in her Pennsylvania home catalyzed a fervent advocacy, exposes the troubling underbelly of the mold remediation industry. Her narrative, marked by a transition from defending medical malpractice to championing environmental justice, reveals a landscape riddled with predatory practices and regulatory gaps. Pelton’s insights, drawn from her ongoing education in indoor air quality and conversations with experts like Kealy Severson of the Exposing Mold Podcast, underscore a “mold monopoly” that exploits vulnerable consumers. She critiques legislative efforts, such as the Ohio Indoor Safe Air Act, for their definitional flaws and failure to protect renters and buyers, while questioning the motives behind media-driven “scaredemics” that amplify mold’s threat without fostering meaningful solutions. This interview, a first foray into a critical yet underexplored topic, sets the stage for a deeper examination of an industry where profit often overshadows public health, urging readers to approach mold remediation with informed skepticism. Follow Pelton’s ongoing investigations via her Linktree (https://linktr.ee/jenniferpelton).

With thanks to Jennifer L. Pelton.

Mold & Corruption | Jennifer L. Pelton, Esq. | Substack

1. Jennifer, can you please share a bit about your background and what led you to focus on issues related to mold and indoor air quality?

In 2023 I relocated from New York to Pennsylvania. The COVID-era had made New York not a very tolerable place to live anymore. By this time I had several years of defending medical malpractice and personal injury matters and it was my real passion to instead help individuals and I could do that and at the time I had the funds to take cases on contingency. However, unbeknownst to me, the home we purchased had many material defects that were not disclosed to us, including mold, that made my family and I sick. Although we brought a lawsuit against the involved parties concerning this, I decided it was insufficient and I needed to educate others, advocate for changes in the law, and work with other professionals to inform people of indoor air quality issues.

2. How did your professional experience as an attorney shape your approach to investigating and writing about mold remediation?

I am familiar with professional liability issues having previously defended healthcare providers for a number of years but other than that I would say my legal background hasn’t really affected my approach to investigating mold remediation. It’s funny, I went to Pace Law School – one of the top in the country for environmental law – but after an introduction to environmental law, I was very bored by all the science and technical aspects of it and abandoned the idea of doing anything in environmental law. I really wanted to do something in the area of civil liberties and/or helping children and families but it just so happens due to the legal job market after I graduated in 2011 that I fell into doing trusts and estates law for a few years before I got into personal injury and medical malpractice and being a medicine geek, I particularly loved medical malpractice law. It just so happens that due to my own experiences and desire to help others to prevent them from experiencing what I have that I have made it my goal to learn more about environmental law and I have been taking courses in indoor air quality issues and I am working towards certifications as I believe to be a good advocate I should further my knowledge.

3. What was the moment or experience that made you realize there might be systemic problems in the mold remediation industry?

I recently began speaking with Kealy Severson, one of the hosts of the Exposing Mold Podcast and she’s really opened my eyes to a lot of the scams in the industry. She’s been advocating about these issues longer than I can say I even knew what stachybotrys is – let alone how to say it!

4. How do you see your role—journalist, advocate, investigator—when writing about companies like HomeCleanse?

I think any good journalist or advocate also has to be a good investigator and it happens to be that I love researching things. I’m obviously writing about my own experience but I know that others have suffered similarly and it is my goal to help them and educate people so they do not suffer the same. I’m also hoping that my articles will gain more publicity, especially by the government and lawyers who can make a difference for victims and help others not become vitctims.

5. In your Substack articles, you mention the "mold monopoly." What do you mean by this term, and how does it affect consumers?

Can’t talk about that now but stay tuned!

6. Can you walk us through how you first became aware of HomeCleanse and Michael Rubino?

I can’t recall (memory loss is actually a side effect of mold) but it’s funny because at one point I was on friendly terms with Michael Rubino. And despite being well into June – over two months since the remediation of my home was to be completed and the fact I still can’t tolerate being in my home, if Mike could just do right by others and me, I can forgive and I do welcome a friendship again in the future. He is one of the co-founders of Change the Air Foundation, which I used to work with in efforts to advocate for changes in the law and educate people.

7. You’ve written about the connections between HomeCleanse and the Change the Air Foundation. What concerns do you have about these relationships?

So the lawyers for Change the Air Foundation also sent me a “cease and desist” letter when I voiced those concerns to them, which is upsetting to me since I was a volunteer, since my partner and I did donate, since I am a lawyer and have an understanding of some law concerning non-profit organizations to them, so beyond my article, I can’t say anything else – I’ll let people draw their own conclusions. It’s unfortunate because my skillset would help them draft better laws than the Ohio Indoor Safe Air Act, which they have advocated and I recently wrote about it being problematic because it includes bacteria in the definition of mold and will do nothing to help renters/prospective renters and home buyers/prospective home buyers in my interpretation of the proposed law.

8. How do you respond to the assertion that some of your public statements about HomeCleanse are defamatory or misleading?

With the exception of confusing a relationship between family members (I believe I stated someone appeared to be someone’s father and really the two people are siblings), I can’t recall anyone informing me what statements I have given that are defamatory or misleading. I’ve asked, but I’ve received no answer. What I hope people take away from this are 1) facts are not defamation and 2) opinion is not defamation unless the opinion implies it is not based on the truth according to our laws.

9. What evidence or documentation most influenced your perspective on the mold remediation industry?

That’s what I have all my footnotes for! I can’t say what has been most influential – I have been reading a lot, speaking to a lot of people in the industry, consulting with professionals…

10. You mention “The Next Scaredemic” in one of your articles. What do you mean by that, and why do you think mold is being framed in this way?

The media and government are portraying this type of mold as the potential for the next “pandemic” and it’s not the first time. I call these tactics a “scaredemic” because it is not a true pandemic and I’m also referring to COVID as the last “scaredemic” as it did not meet the definition of a “pandemic” in my view. Despite the lack of a legal definition of such, at least within the United States, I see a pandemic as something that causes high rates of illness and death. I do say “mold is the real pandemic” as it affects half of buildings and a large number of the population lack the genes to detoxify well and I can show you papers that just about any health problem you can think of can be attributed to mold, or at least an attack on one’s immune system, leading a person vulnerable to disease. It’s nothing new but I think our government and the media attempt to scare people into submission. And oddly enough, while our Congress has not provided a definition for a “pandemic”, it has given the government a lot of power, and the states have given their governments a lot of power to essentially usurp our Constitutional rights in the event of a “pandemic”. We know our government is power hungry and I don’t think that’s a good thing. Despite becoming ill from mold myself, I do not see it as huge of a threat as the media and government portray it, and I think it’s odd for them to portray it as highly potential cause of a pandemic and at the same time not do more to have doctors educated on mold and other toxicants in medical school, have more educational campaigns about mold, have more laws requiring inspections of public buildings, and the like.

11. Have you encountered pushback or legal threats as a result of your reporting, and how have you handled it?

HomeCleanse’s CEO and their lawyer have threatened to sue me and report me to the state bars in attempts to have me disbarred but I have this Taylor Swift “Shake It Off” response to these ridiculous threats. I think anytime someone in this world does something could and stands up to corruption, they are going to face people who try to take them down. A colleague of mine was rightfully suing Walmart over false advertising, and they have tried to have him disbarred. I’m no saint, but look at what happened to Jesus, MLK. Look at what happened to Dr. Sebi, who supposedly found cures for cancer and other issues. He died “under mysterious circumstances”. Recently, rapper Nipsey Hussle was working on a film about Dr. Sebi, and he too died “under mysterious circumstances”. I feel that what I am doing is right. I feel that it’s like a badge of honor to be accused of what I have – others see that I am influential and they are afraid of me. And rightfully so, because I will “Fight the good fight” as 1 Timothy 6:12 says. I take my oath to uphold the Constitution and the right to due process seriously and I believe in God’s law over man’s law and it is important for people to act morally in society and when they don’t, when companies don’t, we need to act to hold them accountable for their misconduct.

And here’s the video for “Shake It Off”!

12. What do you think are the most common misconceptions about mold and indoor air quality among the general public?

I think the public still doesn’t understand how harmful mold and other toxicants (toxins are naturally occurring hazards while toxic chemicals are man-made hazards – together they are termed toxicants) can pose to health. I used to actually be a germaphobe, but now I joke I am a toxicantphobe as I believe toxicants are the cause of all disease or at least largely a contributing cause. Given the wildfires we have had in recent years, which I have even smelled despite being in Pennsylvania, many have presumed it is safer to be indoors, but for some people, that may not be so due to mold and other toxicants that can be indoors. Sunlight is also essential for good health.

Given the lack of laws and regulations, misconceptions are rampant about mold inspections and remediations. People don’t understand that using dogs to find mold isn’t a good idea because it’s harmful to them and they do not make for good experts in court and can’t identify different types of mold. People don’t understand that bleach isn’t a good idea to use for getting rid of mold – but when the CDC has stated it is appropriate, and the EPA has said it is not – which I have called them out on – what can we expect the public to think?

There are also a lot of misconceptions about air purification systems. There are some people who think an air purifier can replace mold remediation and it cannot. Trust me. I probably had about 10 at one point in my home. Speaking of such, stay tuned for my upcoming article which will expose what air purifiers I have found to be unsafe and ineffective!

13. What do you believe are the biggest challenges for consumers trying to navigate the mold remediation process?

When people realize they have mold in their home and it’s causing their health problems, it’s understandable to feel frightened and overwhelmed. I myself even felt desperate. It’s important to not let companies take advantage of your vulnerability. Before you do any mold remediation you of course need a proper mold inspection. Call different companies and find out how they conduct inspections and their costs. Anyone who has predatory practices like charging you an unreasonable fee such as $2 per every square foot of your home is probably not a good inspector.

Same goes for remediation. I think in very few circumstances should a remediation cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I cannot recommend Mold Money and Dust Money enough by Daniel Stih, BSE, CMC, CIEC as well as his other books and Mold Controlled by Certified Industrial Hygienist John C. Banta.

I spoke to a remediator in Connecticut, Russ Harlow, and I liked his approach of giving samples of the product his company intends to use for any remediation for the customer’s approval. I wish I had this opportunity – although some products like Benefect may be natural and non-toxic, they can have a really noxious odor.

I would also say just because a healthcare provider endorses someone for mold inspection and/or remediation does not mean that person is good for the job. In speaking with people in the indoor air quality industry, I found that some were uniformly very critical of others, and to me that is a problem – if no one in your industry can say anything good about you and the only people who do say good things about you are people outside of the industry, then you probably do not belong in that industry. That’s why I think it’s critical when mold laws are considered or in place (as I recently wrote about in my article about the Ohio Safe Indoor Air Act) they don’t limit the input of the law to healthcare providers whose role is to treat the body for mold, not treat the home.

14. What advice would you give to someone who is concerned about mold in their home and is considering remediation services?

Anyone who does have mold in their home should have remediation or relocate. But first you need a proper inspection and by someone who does not do the remediation also and based on my experience, it should not be someone who has a conflict of interest that is not disclosed to you, say someone related to the mold remediation company. In fact, some states have laws providing that the mold inspector cannot also do the remediation. This is because the jobs are very distinct and require different skills and if you have the same person/entity doing both jobs, it’s more likely a person will be taken advantage of.

You may ask when should you have a mold inspection. Well I think anytime you are purchasing a property you should have someone qualified to inspect. I think some kind of inspection isn’t necessarily a bad idea even if you are renting a residence. If you have been somewhere awhile and you have any kind of chronic health problem, I would say it’s a good idea to first do some kind of testing of yourself for toxicants. I would defer to your healthcare provider for what is best for you, but in general, I do like Vibrant Wellness thorough toxicant test. These kinds of tests can also be helpful if you are trying to build a case for negligent exposure to mold. If your tests come back high for mycotoxins (the metabolites produced by certain kinds of mold), I would say definitely test your home and be on the lookout for mold in any building where you spend a fair amount of time to determine the place of exposure.

15. How can people stay in touch with your work and follow your ongoing investigations?

My linktree has links to my substacks, grassroots advocacy groups I started, social media and e-mail - https://linktr.ee/jenniferpelton.

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