is your house killing you? Press Kit Wednesdays at 7.30pm Starting October 17 (7 episodes) BED 3 BED 4 BATH KITCHEN PATIO WC BR LAUNDRY LINEN FAMILY DINING ROBE BED 2 BED 1 ENTRY WIR is your house killing you GARAGE MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM ? press kit ENS WC PORCH COURT YARD is your house BED 4 BED 3 PATIO killing you? KITCHEN BATH FAMILY BED 1 BR WC LINEN LAUNDRY DINING For further information please contact, SBS Senior Communications Specialist, WIR Bridget Stenhouse on (02) 9430 3792 or ROBE [email protected] ENTRY BED 2 Executive Producer: Chris Hilton WC Series Producer: Sonja Armstrong Co-Producer: Carl Kuddell ENS Production Company details: Essential Viewing Group MULTI-PURPOSEROOM Level 2, 6A Nelson Street PO Box 283 Annandale NSW 2038 Australia Phone: +61 2 8568 3118 Fax: +61 2 9519 2326 GARAGE © 2007 Essential Viewing, Tallstoreez Productionz and South Australian Film Corporation PORCH COURT YARD 1 is your house killing you? Is Your House Killing You? is an entertaining scientific During the development and production stages we makeover show about toxics in the home. It once and for interviewed dozens of potential participants –from over all separates the facts from the filth and provides valuable 500 applications– and it has been a journey of discovery tips and tricks for the viewer. for everyone; our experts, production team and families. In this era of cocooning, creating a retreat from the world Our expert team worked through a diverse range of has become an intense focus of our lives. We spend homes in a CSI-style investigation – some houses had most of our time indoors. But in creating this haven, little to be evacuated before we even were able to shoot! do we know that there is a parallel universe within that is This was one of the early signs that this show has a very more toxic than the one we’re trying to escape. important role to fulfil – and it might even save lives. No matter what house you live in, we discovered they all Government and media focus has shifted to indoor air harbour a parallel microscopic world of hidden dangers. pollution. And the main culprits are right under your nose – mould, pesticides, solvents, deodorizers, cleansers, The challenge for our creative team was to package the dusty carpets, paint, particleboards, adhesives, fumes vast amount of scientific research, test results, insightful from gas heating… documentary moments and at times heart-wrenching family revelations to deliver exciting TV with DIY appeal. A focus of the show is to bring the invisible dangers to light, and provide guidance for the viewers. Whether you live in an old home, are about to buy a new house, or are renovating, . Whether you are preparing We found recent studies confirm that the wider your nest, growing a veggie patch or working in your community is concerned about toxins but most people shed, Is Your House Killing You? is essential viewing. don’t understand the issues and desperately want information about the hidden health and environmental Life won’t be the same once you ask: ‘Is Your House risks indoors. Research is indicating that 21st Century Killing You?’ disease, Sick Building Syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivities and other chronic diseases such as asthma and eczema are on the rise. We believe the ongoing value of this show is that it is not only fun to watch our experts track down the culprits and find solutions, but it also interprets science for household use. is your house killing you? press kit cast Dr. Peter Dingle Cedric Cheong Presenter Presenter Dr. Peter Dingle is a Senior Lecturer and Associate Cedric Cheong B.Env.Sc, MSc (Env.Sc), is currently Professor at the School of Environmental Science at an Associate Lecturer at Murdoch University teaching Murdoch University in WA. His research has led him Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety. Cedric to believe that the way we lead our modern lives is is actively researching the area of mould remediation preventing us from reaching our full potential. Our health, and fungi in indoor air and occupational health and our work, our environments, our outlook. Dr Dingle has safety initiatives particularly in the areas of behavioural made public speaking an art. His presentations are modification. enthusiastic and inspirational, entwined with memorable Cedric’s master’s work saw him specialise in stories and spiced with a slice of magic. He interacts Environmental, OHS and Quality Management Systems and motivates. He takes complex scientific information and integration in small and large business. Cedric has and converts it so that it is dynamic, easy to understand also completed training in the area of microbial sampling and informative. He is a regular in state and national and HVAC investigations in Phoenix, Arizona and has print media and may be heard weekly on radio and visited various research centres in the Netherlands, TV, reporting on health and the environment. You can Finland, Singapore, Canada and the USA as part of his frequently catch him on ABC radio programs around the research on indoor fungi, mould remediation, cleaning country. and indoor air. Cedric is currently completing his PhD on mould, cleaning and indoor air. Cedric has presented his PhD research at various overseas and domestic conferences, recently at the Indoor Air Conference in Beijing, China. Cedric regularly presents seminars and talks on cleaning and indoor air for various communities as part of the AirWatch Program for the Department of Environment. 3 episode 1 the hatfield house The Hatfield’s look like the perfect Queensland family. Over the years Geoff and Marie have tried to find out Suntanned, outgoing and always up for a good time. what is wrong with their family and have visited countless But something is seriously wrong in the family home. doctors and experts. They estimate they spend around Underneath the veneer, all five Hatfields are suffering $10, 000 on medications each year. But nothing has from health conditions that could leave them with cured them. They have become so accustomed to anything from respiratory damage to permanant their illness, that visits to the emergency department for blindness: Could their house be killing them? Geoff’s asthma are seen as a normal part of family life. Most nights they watch TV wearing headphones to block The Hatfield Family out the noise from his nebulizer. The Hatfield’s look like the perfect Queensland family. Suntanned, outgoing and always up for a good time. Exhausted by constant illness in the home, and even But something is seriously wrong in the family home. mood swings caused by Geoff’s medication, the family is Underneath the veneer, all five Hatfields are suffering from at breaking point. health conditions that could leave them with anything Marie Hatfield blames their health problems on Geoff’s from respiratory damage to permanant blindness: Could spray painting, and the harsh chemical he uses. So, their house be killing them? burdened with guilt, Geoff has relocated his studio from The Hatfield house, an old Queenslander, sits on an acre under the house to an outside shed. block in the picturesque hills of the Gold Coast. Here, But still the health problems haven’t gone away… dad Geoff and mum Marie spent their lives trying to provide an idyllic home life for their three kids; Carly 21, In a half hour show, our team: Dr Peter Dingle and Cedric Josh 18 and Sharna 13. Cheong investigate what’s happening in the Hatfiled home how a secret hidden in the house itself could be But something is seriously wrong. The Hatfields are sick. responsible for putting the Hatfields health at dire risk. Geoff, a graphic & spraypaint artist, is virtually Along the way they uncovered poisonous mothballs, incapacitated by his chronic, life threatening asthma. spray paint fumes and residues and an unexpected Marie suffers from multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) problem; highly toxic mould. and the kid’s list of allergies reads like an anti-histamine The remediation plan includes: How to set up a safe commercial. The Hatfields joke about their ailments but working or hobby studio in the home, and how to their humour only thinly hides the scars from living with re-mediate for mould. Our experts help the family finally their own poor health and Geoff’s disability. get to the bottom of a mystery that has left their health and even their sanity on the edge. is your house killing you? press kit episode 2 the kempler house Ilana Kempler redesigned her stylish, two-story The Kemplers have a very busy social calendar and villa in Melbourne, but despite her efforts to keep it keep in touch with their extended family during Jewish immaculate she discovers the ducted air conditioning festivities. They love entertaining and their guests come re-circulates polluted air throughout the house from around the world. triggering her asthma and leaving the rest of the family Although everyone in the family is generally happy and with dry sore throats. healthy, within minutes of turning on the ducted air The Kempler Family conditioning system, they suffer from sore throats and Ilana Kempler redesigned her stylish, two-story villa in itchy eyes. Ilana believes that dust triggers her asthma Melbourne, but despite her efforts to keep it immaculate and is a self-confessed ‘clean freak’, but despite all her she discovers the ducted air conditioning re-circulates efforts the dust keeps coming back within days. polluted air throughout the house triggering her asthma She is convinced the dust keeps them from sleeping well and leaving the rest of the family with dry sore throats.