Archive for April 2007
Toxic mold found at Plantation elementary
April 24, 2007, 9:01 amAn environmental consulting firm has found toxic mold at Plantation elementary in Lafayette. School system officials conducted testing after a parent complained her son was constantly ill while at school. The Lafayette Parish School System has already removed the mold and they’re waiting for results of retesting. KATC’s David D’aquin is investigating this story.
School Board officials say the mold is confined to the band room only. A test determined mold was a problem and the school system took steps to remove it.
“They were actually retested on Sunday, so the students won’t be in that area until the retest results are received,” said Principal Kay Marix.
There are more than 600 students at Plantation and all of them use the band room for music classes. School Board officials say only one student became sick. School Principal Kay Marix says the school system has done extensive cleaning to remove mold from the band room.
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6378681
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the News category)
DNA Forensic Mold Detection
April 23, 2007, 9:03 amExtensive research conducted by the US EPA, using State-of-the-Art DNA forensics, has established the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index, otherwise known by the acronym ERMI. The ERMI study narrowed down the total number of critical mold species to 36 indoor-indicator mold species. Furthermore, the 36 species were subdivided into two very different groups of mold (fungal) species; these included the Group 1 and Group 2 molds. The Group 2 molds were found to be common in most homes and in low concentrations. Occupants living and working in indoor environments that contained predominantly Group 2 molds were healthy and suffered few respiratory related illnesses, nor did the building structures suffer leaks and water intrusion.
However, Group 1 molds were much less benign, and occupants of these homes and environments suffered significant respiratory and asthma related illnesses. Moreover, Group 1 molds were significantly correlated to water intrusion due to poor construction or leaking pipes. Furthermore, EPA scientist and other reputable scientific investigators have amassed a body of published scientific research that conveys a major paradigm shift in the way mold samples are both collected and analyzed.
Currently 99% of all mold samples are collected from the air. Inspectors pump air, often for as little as 5 minutes, onto a sticky device called a spore-trap (not unlike flypaper). They send the spore trap to a lab for analysis, and the lab spits back a report, based on the shape and size of the spores they see. It is important to keep in mind, that a mold cannot be identified as belonging to a particular species using a spore trap analysis, regardless of how much training or how many degrees a spore trap analyst has. Unfortunately, many of the group 1 and group 2 mold spores are small and round and all get lumped into a common small-round spore trap grouping called Asp/Pen. Hence, neither an ERMI score nor any substantial conclusion can be drawn from spore trap analysis.
The EPA solved this problem by using good science to make major breakthroughs in both mold sampling and analysis.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=68548
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(posted in the Resources, News category)
Gene That Governs Toxin Production In Deadly Mold Found
April 17, 2007, 9:02 amFor the growing number of people with diminished immune systems cancer patients, transplant recipients, those with HIV/AIDS infection by a ubiquitous mold known as Aspergillus fumigatus can be a death sentence.
The fungus, which is found in the soil, on plant debris and indoor air, is easily managed by the healthy immune system. But as medical advances contribute to a growing population of people whose immune systems are weakened by disease or treatment, the opportunistic fungus poses a serious risk.
Now, however, scientists may have found a master switch, an über gene, that seems to control the mold’s ability to make poison. The new finding was reported today (April 12) in the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens by a team led by Nancy P. Keller, a biologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“There is a growing problem with medical fungi in the United States,” says Keller, a UW-Madison professor of plant pathology and medical microbiology. “Aspergillus fumigatus is among the most important.”
Like many fungi, Aspergillus fumigatus makes a variety of poisons, presumably to give the microbe a competitive advantage in the environments it inhabits. In humans with suppressed immune systems, the mold can cause a number of diseases with mortality rates of 60 percent or more.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=67879
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the Resources, News category)
Possible Mold at Lafayette School Worries Parents
April 3, 2007, 1:40 pmMore tragic news about mold infestation in the schools. Here’s an excerpt from a news item on KLFY TV 10 in Lafayette Louisianna:
Worried parents are taking action against what they say could be toxic mold at a Lafayette elementary school.
The parents gathered to discuss symptoms their kids were experiencing while attending school at Plantation Elementary.
A toxicologist flew in to test Plantation Elementary for toxic mold and is awaiting results.
Jeannie Philliber says her son started having symptoms of toxic mold exposure in November of 2005, but when he was away from school, especially over the summer, he felt better.
The Philibers approached the school district with their concerns and say they didn’t even stir a reaction…
Parents of other children say they are experiencing symptoms such as headaches and stomach aches.
They say they are scared enough to consider placing their children in another school.
The Philliber’s son is homebound on doctor’s orders until the school is proven environmentally safe.
The Philliber family says they will share the results of Dr. Lipsey’s tests with the school board as soon as they are available.
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the News category)