WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that FHA-insured families experiencing problems associated with problem drywall may be eligible for assistance to help them rehabilitate their properties.  In addition, HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program may also be a resource to help local communities combat the problem.

Residents of a Midwood apartment building are shivering through a cold winter because their tax-dodging landlord rarely supplies them with heat and hot water.

Apartment dwellers have turned to electric heaters, thick blankets and extra layers of clothing to fight off the indoor chill for a second straight winter at 1317 East 14th St.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public hearing on the agency’s proposal to strengthen the nation’s sulfur dioxide (SO2) standards. Exposure to SO2 can aggravate asthma, cause respiratory difficulties, and result in emergency room visits and hospitalization. People with asthma, children, and the elderly are especially vulnerable to SO2’s effects.

Summary:

• Moulds are naturally occurring and widespread in the environment; therefore, it is not possible to eliminate exposure.
 
• Sufficient evidence exists to conclude that exposure to mould in indoor environments is associated with asthma and asthma-like symptoms (in asthmatic people), upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough and wheeze, and hypersensitivity pneumonitis in susceptible people.