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Lee County [Fla.] mold situation sticky
Study calls for better
prevention
Staff and wire reports
Published by
news-press.com on May 27, 2004
Increased efforts are needed to reduce moisture in buildings to prevent
possible mold-related health problems.
That is the message of a new study of particular interest to Lee County
[FLORIDA], where in the past several years mold has been suspected of
causing problems at public schools and one Gateway neighborhood.
More than a dozen Lee schools have been formally investigated for indoor
air quality issues over the past three to four years.
Teachers and parents have filed three separate lawsuits claiming they or
their children got sick after breathing bad air.
The district responded with a new indoor air quality department and
better preventive maintenance plans.
The Institute of Medicine report released Tuesday said there is not
enough evidence to blame mold for many health troubles people associate with
it.
Still, mold should be taken seriously as a health problem, the study
concluded.
“In short, excessive building dampness is not your friend. It’s
associated with a lot of things that could give rise to problems,” said
Noreen Clark, dean of the School of Public Health at University of Michigan.
“Excessive indoor dampness is a widespread problem that warrants action
at the local, state and national levels,” said Clark, who headed the
scientific panel.
The institute has found that while mold can be blamed for breathing
problems, there is insufficient evidence to link it to other, often major
illnesses. However, the report couldn’t rule out those dangers either.
An attorney for some Lee County residents who are suing a developer over
mold problems took issue with the study.
“The bottom line is that there are so many studies being conducted over
the last hundred years on the exposure of these molds to animals, all of
which establishes seizures, neurological symptoms, brain damage. It’s all
there,” said Miami-based attorney David Mishael, who represents the people
suing Pulte Homes in a civil suit filed over alleged mold problems in the
Bristol Parc neighborhood of Gateway.
The parties to the partly settled lawsuit do not discuss it because they
are bound by a confidentiality agreement.
But Mishael cited numerous articles that link mold infestations with
serious illnesses in horses and sheep. Human studies aren’t conducted
because they’re too dangerous.
Fred Kobie said his son has been sick since a mold outbreak at Gateway
Elementary School in summer 2002. Kobie’s son now attends Alva Middle
School.
Kobie, one of the parents suing the Lee County School District, said his
son continues to have headaches and also has had gastrointestinal problems.
Kobie, who is in the air conditioning business, said he sees mold-related
problems all the time.
“I’ve been in too many houses and seen too many people affected by this
to believe there’s no correlation,” Kobie said.
The institute, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, urged the mold
problem be corrected through a range of steps, including changes in how
buildings are designed, constructed and maintained.
“An exhaustive review of the scientific literature made it clear to us
that it can be very hard to tease apart the health effects of exposure to
mold from all the other factors that may be influencing health in the
typical indoor environment,” Clark said.
“That said, we were able to find sufficient evidence that certain
respiratory problems, including symptoms in asthmatics who are sensitive to
mold, are associated with exposure to mold and damp conditions,” she
concluded.
Excessive dampness influences whether mold — as well as bacteria, dust
mites and other such agents — thrive indoors, the study noted. In addition,
the wetness may cause chemicals and particles to be released from building
materials.
It did not find evidence that mold is associated with fatigue,
neuropsychiatric disorders or other health problems.
Molds that are capable of producing toxins do grow indoors, and toxic and
inflammatory effects also can be caused by bacteria that flourish in damp
conditions, the report noted.
The committee said information exists on how to control dampness but
architects, engineers, building contractors, facility managers and
maintenance staff do not always apply this knowledge.
The members called for development of guidelines for preventing indoor
dampness and said they should be promoted nationally. In addition, building
codes and regulations should be reviewed and modified as necessary to reduce
moisture problems, the committee said.
Changes in building codes in the 1970s to make homes more energy
efficient and airtight had the effect of allowing less ventilation through a
house that would dry out a wet wall or floor, which in turn may have led to
more mold damage claims, according to attorneys involved in some cases.
— The Associated Press and The News-Press staff writers Dick Hogan and
Jennifer Booth Reed contributed to this report.
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