Search
- Home
- Profiles
- Morgan, Johnny W.
- articles
- Lead-safe certification, mold remediation classes offered at LaHouse
Johnny Morgan | 2/12/2018 8:23:46 PM
(02/12/18) BATON ROUGE La. — The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Resource Center will hold a lead-safe certified renovator course on Feb. 20 and a mold control and remediation course on March 20 to 22.
LaHouse, an AgCenter program and high performance housing exhibit, offers these classes for contractors in support of its “healthy homes” educational program and goal.
“What contractors learn in these courses is always needed, but are even more crucial since Louisiana’s 2016 floods and hurricanes Harvey in Texas,” said Claudette Hanks Reichel, AgCenter housing specialist. “Improper deconstruction, clean-up and repair methods can cause serious health hazards and liability —from lead-paint dust and mold contamination.”
Very low levels of lead in children can cause irreversible damage to developing brains and other organs. It can lead to learning and behavior disorders, impaired hearing and other developmental health effects without any symptoms of poisoning. Lead exposure can also worsen high blood pressure in adults.
Contractors who work on pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities are required by the Environmental Protection Agency Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule to be certified and use lead-safe work practices.
LaHouse Resource Center is an approved trainer through EnviroEd, a nationwide EPA accredited Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting training provider.
Mold growth begins on materials that stay wet for two to three days and can multiply quickly. Rapid and safe cleaning and drying methods are needed to prevent a mold population explosion and the health hazards of high exposure. People with asthma, allergies or compromised immunity are at greatest risk.
In Louisiana, any mold remediation project with a value of $1 or more requires a Louisiana Mold Remediation Contractor license. The LaHouse mold control and remediation course meets the educational requirement for a Louisiana license, and provides both the technical methods of nationally recognized protocols of remediation as well as an understanding of moisture dynamics and mold characteristics to help ensure effective and safe solutions.
LaHouse is a research-based showcase of solutions for sustainable, high-performance housing for the Southern climate and conditions. The mission of LaHouse is to shape the future with homes that offer more comfort, durability, value, convenience, environmental quality, safety and better health with less energy, water, pollution, waste, damage and loss.