The Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001

With the burgeoning interest and concern over mold issues within indoor spaces, there have been updates to overall legislation apropos to the concerns. One of the pieces of legislation, which has been implemented relatively recently, is the Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001; this piece of legislation has been enacted in California and directs the California Department of Health Services. According to the Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001, and the impetus behind it, 

"The Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001 was enacted to address increasing concerns regarding health effects from exposure to indoor molds and to provide Californians with guidelines or standards for the safe and effective removal of molds from buildings" (CDPH, 2005). 

It is estimated that there are approximately 400 fungal species which are capable of causing detriment to human health. The compounds which are released by the fungal species (i.e. mold/mildew) are referred to mycotoxins and have been associated with a greater risk of cancer in some cases. This is where the Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001 arrives at its pertinence. The act provides the platform to ensure that the California Department of Health Services outline salient exposure limits to these particular types of mycotoxins and molds to protect human health. 

The Toxic Mold Protection Act is a declaration toward furthering mold related research and enforcing stricter, as well as more cognizant, building codes/laws to prevent mold growth and promulgation. Just as there are strict and scrupulous mold inspections on food related products, the Toxic Mold Protection Act looks to enable a similar vein of stringency in micro-environments; "for example, mold spoilage and the presence of fungal toxins in food are detected through mandated inspections. Items that fail to meet minimum requirements are banned from being sold as food for animals or humans" (CDPH ,2005).

The Toxic Mold Protection Act has somewhat stagnated since the introduction of it due to a lack of stakeholders and the fact that California has suffered a financially crisis since the introduction of the act, which has not permitted state support of a number of motives set by the act. 

References
CDPH (2005) IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TOXIC MOLD PROTECTION ACT OF 2001 (on-line) California Department of Public Health, California. ​https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/IAQ/Documents/SB732-LegReport-Final.pdf