St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS - (KRT) - If a musty smell, annoying cough and headache greet you on those occasional visits to your damp basement, you could have a mold problem.

But that doesn't mean you must flee your house and gut the interior.

Somewhere between the stuff people may find on their shower curtain and the so-called "toxic" mold that has forced people from their homes are thousands of other kinds of fungi, some of which are present in most homes. Fungi can be found everywhere from windowsills to refrigerator seals and can grow anywhere there is moisture and a food source.

The furry fungus has been blamed for a host of ailments including ear infections, nausea and overwhelming fatigue. It's relatively new to the scourge list, and some have called it "the asbestos of the new millennium."

Celebrity announcer Ed McMahon got a $7 million settlement from several companies after he claimed his Los Angeles home was overrun by toxic mold that killed his dog. A woman from Dripping Springs, Texas, won a $32 million judgment against Farmers Insurance after she and her family had to leave their 22-room estate in 2001.

Such cases are more the exception than the rule, said Ray Narconis, who owns Global Environmental Laboratories and Consultants in St. Louis. He is a biologist and environmental scientist whose labs have analyzed 400,000 indoor air samples in the past 10 years.

"There is a real (mold) problem and there is the perceived problem," said Narconis, a regular spokesman for the American Lung Association. "Unfortunately, some newspaper articles have been over the top, leaving the impression that if you look at some mold, you're going to die."

A study done recently by the Institute of Medicine (part of the National Academy of Sciences) found a strong link between exposures to mold and respiratory problems such as asthma and coughing. But the same study did not find evidence of mold causing other health problems.

Steven Piantanida might not believe that. He and other family members endured nosebleeds, migraines, vomiting and chronic coughs from the time they moved into his house in unincorporated St. Louis County, Mo., until the time they moved out.

His experience led him to write a book about real estate disclosures.

After Piantanida learned he had a mold allergy, he began checking around his house. He was standing in his finished basement one day when someone upstairs flushed a toilet. Piantanida felt drops in his head. He cut open nearby drywall and found a patch of mold 4 inches thick, 36 inches by 16 inches in size.

"It was gross," he said. "The toilet had been leaking for years."

Tests confirmed the furry black patch contained three common forms of mold: stachybotrys, also called black or "toxic" mold; penicillium; and aspergillus, along with several other varieties that later were found elsewhere in his house.

The family rented an apartment for five months while the mold was removed. They wound up selling the house to pay their debts.

They bought a smaller house, which Piantanida figures will be paid off when he's 72.

"At least we have our health back," he said, hesitating, "we think."

Mold is everywhere, especially in the St. Louis area.

People who are allergic to mold don't need to hear the daily counts to know when they're high. In summers, the outside mold count generally exceeds the inside count because of the moisture and higher temperatures. But there are almost certainly molds in your home also.

It needs three things to grow: moisture, food and temperatures between 40 and 100 degrees. Mold loves wallboard, or more specifically, the paper on either side of the gypsum that makes up the middle of wallboard.

As the mold gobbles up the paper, the gypsum acts as a sponge that holds the moisture. If the paper dries out, the mold would go away.

Scientists agree that black mold can produce mycotoxins, but they don't agree about how dangerous the toxins are.
Still, people should not knowingly live with mold.

Roger Lewis, the director of the environmental health research laboratory at the St. Louis University School of Public Health, speaks cautiously when he discusses mold.

"We know that mold can cause respiratory problems and that in itself is reason to want to clean it up," he said. "Even if you don't have an allergy to it, if you're exposed to it you can become sensitized, which can make you respond to very low levels."

Even he acknowledges it's a confusing subject.

"Although we don't have data that says there's a serious health consequence ... I wouldn't be surprised that somewhere down the road we won't be proving there is a serious health consequence," he said.

People with compromised immune systems can face a potentially deadly situation if they are breathing air that is polluted with mold spores, he said.

High insurance claims cost insurers more than $1 billion in 2001, about five times the amount that was paid in 2000, according to insure.com, an online consumer insurance information service.

That's led some home insurers to raise their premiums, and most are excluding mold altogether. Nationwide, 46 states have approved mold-related exclusions in homeowner insurance policies, said Robert Hartwig, chief economist with the Insurance Information Institute in New York.

Mold claims typically cost 10 times the average homeowners' insurance claim, he said.

Many household mold problems can be cleaned at home using a mixture of Clorox and water. But sometimes, the problem needs professional help.

Barry Harris manages a company called Professional Abatement and Remediation Technologies. He said his company usually gets involved on request from an insurance company.

Once mold has spread over an area approaching 50 square feet of building materials, Harris said, experts should do the remediation. Areas under 10 square feet probably can be handled by the homeowner, he said.

The cost? He said it can vary from $20 to $30 a square foot.

Extreme cases that force people from their homes are relatively rare. Narconis estimated that hundreds of families are advised to leave their homes. Whether such a move is necessary is another matter, he said.

"Sometimes people are probably told to leave when it's not necessary and sometimes it very well may be necessary, and sometimes that information isn't available until a doctor evaluates the situation," he said.

The lack of any standards to judge a mold problem makes it difficult, Narconis said. What's toxic to one person won't necessarily be toxic to another.

"You need a holistic approach and to find out what, besides mold, could be contributing to the problem," he said.
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Likely to have high mold exposure:
·        Antique shops
·        Greenhouses
·        Saunas
·        Farms
·        Mills
·        Construction areas
·        Flower shops
·        Summer cottages
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Fighting mold:
·        Keep humidity in home below 50 percent.
·        Use an air conditioner or a dehumidifier during humid months.
·        Maintain adequate ventilation, including exhaust fans in kitchen and bathrooms.
·        Add mold inhibitors to paints before application.
·        Clean bathrooms with mold-killing products.
·        Avoid carpeting bathrooms and basements.
·        Remove or replace previously soaked carpets and upholstery.
·        Keep home's exterior painted.
·        Keep flowerbeds away from exterior walls so soil doesn't touch home's siding.
·        Prevent lawn sprinklers from soaking exterior walls.
·        Repair plumbing leaks immediately.
·        Avoid piling wood or other debris in crawl spaces or against the sides of the house.
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If you have a mold problem, take these steps to eliminate it:
·        Avoid doing your own cleanups if you have allergies or asthma.
·        Correct the underlying moisture problem.
·        Wear a mask and rubber gloves.
·        Clean small area of mold with a solution of household bleach and water (one part bleach to 10 parts water.)
·        Work in an area that's well ventilated.
·        Apply the bleach and water to the moldy surface with a sponge and let it sit for 15 minutes, then dry the surface thoroughly. Dispose of sponges or rags used for the cleaning.
·        Seek professional help for extensive contamination.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Environmental Health and insure.com
 
 

For additional information, contact:
Pure Air Control Services
800-422-7873, ext. 802