The coronavirus pandemic has provided a grim reminder of the danger of invisible germs and viruses.
We stay home as much as possible, we work without going anywhere, and we wear masks when we do venture out. The reason? Germs and viruses. The coronavirus, under the right set of circumstances, can be highly contagious, and anything that can be done to minimize that risk grows in value.
All of which makes Rusty Tweed’s San Marino company, Mold Zero Services, LLC, all the more important.
According to Tweed, the company has developed an effective sanitizing formula and treatment that not only kills germs and viruses but seeks out and destroys mold, an even more insidious enemy.
As Tweed told Pasadena Now recently, the treatment was originally developed for “clean rooms,” such as operating rooms in hospitals.
The development group then took the next step, Tweed said, and altered the formula to include treating mold, which can be harder than viruses to locate and eliminate.
“Viruses are actually very easy for us to treat and kill,” Tweed explained, “whereas mold is hard to do because mold grows and can hide behind particle board, carpets and behind walls.”
“It also loves the dark,” said Tweed, unlike viruses.
Tweed also said the company’s treatment formula kills coronavirus on surfaces, and has just been listed in what the Environmental Protection Agency calls List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
All products on “List N” meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, he said.
The “List N” designation has naturally raised the company’s profile, but a worldwide pandemic is essentially what the company is here for. According to Tweed, the company’s list of jobs has grown over a wider range in the last two months, and business has risen from 30 percent to 40 percent.
The company recently sanitized a reproduction center, including the lab and medical center.
“They just love our whole procedure because it’s nontoxic and includes a coating,” Tweed said.
As Tweed explains the process, the treatment consists of two steps. The first is a fog spray that will essentially kill all of the surface germs and viruses. The second step is a coating that follows the fog spray. The coating will continue to kill any mold virus or bacteria that lands on that surface for at least 90 days, he said. This is all approved by the EPA, he added.
The company also recently sanitized and disinfected a spinning class cycling studio and all of its stationary bicycle equipment. In a cycle spinning studio, Tweed explained, people return to use the equipment weekly, sometimes even daily.
“With the fact that there are a lot of people in and out (of the studio),” Tweed said, “our treatment is ideal for that situation.”
In fact, as Tweed noted, his team is specially trained to look for and treat the presence of mold in a building.
“They’ve been doing that for a long time and they’re really good at it,” he said.
Tweed also stressed that “handling the virus stuff is actually much easier than the mold.”
The company also recently completed sanitizing a historical home in Long Beach. The owners chose Tweed’s company particularly because the product is non-toxic.
“When you have a historical home like that, you can’t rip out everything. They wanted to keep everything intact. And so our treatment works really well in the sense that you don’t have to do a lot of demolition. You don’t have to rip out walls and floors and stuff to get at the mold.”
Killing germs and mold without ripping up walls and floors has naturally grown in importance. And one never seems to know from where, Tweed pointed out.
Tweed said periodically they get calls from companies that have had an outbreak and need help. Recently Mold Zero’s Florida office received one of these emergency calls to treat a large car dealership where six employees had tested positive for Covid-19.
The dealership shut down immediately and Tweed’s crew was brought in to do its work successfully, he said.
“We were there all night treating,” said Tweed, “because it was a big car dealership, and they were able to open the next day after our treatment. So, situations arise, and when they do, we are available for emergency situations like that.”
Mold Zero is available at (626) 671-8885 or visit www.moldzerollc.com.
