Florence Unified School District is continuing to remove mold that appeared in a couple of classrooms at Walker Butte K-8 School. Most of the mold found was in spots behind the baseboard. After clean up, its prevention is related to changing from the old water intensive mopping procedure. “Miscellaneous” plumbing issues are the rest of the problem. The school plans to find and stop all water leakage.

EPA, HHS, and HUD officials reported that 75 percent of their mold research activities address at least one of five particular data gaps-three of which relate to asthma, and two of which relate to sampling and measurement methods. These five data gaps are as follows:

• Identify environmental factors that either lead to the development of asthma or precipitate symptoms in subjects who already have asthma using good measures of fungal exposure.
• Determine the association of dampness problems with asthma development and symptoms by researching the causative agents (e.g., molds, dust mite allergens) and documenting the relationship between dampness and allergen exposure.
• Advance the understanding of specific bioaerosols (small airborne particles) in relation to asthma by studying the epidemiology of building-related asthma in problem buildings where there are excess chest complaints among occupants in comparison to buildings where there are not complaints; or provide exposure-response studies of many building environments and populations.
• Improve sampling and exposure assessment methods for mold and its components (for example, by conducting research that will lead to standardization of protocols for sample collection, transport, and analysis or developing or improving methods of personal airborne exposure measurement, DNA-based technology, or assays for bioaerosols, etc.).
• Develop standardized metrics and protocols to assess the nature, severity, and extent of dampness and effectiveness of specific measures for dampness reduction.
  Overall, agency officials reported that 38 of the ongoing projects-or nearly 60 percent-address asthma. In this respect, the federal mold research portfolio for EPA, HHS, and HUD, ongoing as of October 1, 2007, appears to be weighted toward addressing research gaps identified in the Institute of Medicine’s 2000 report,
  Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures

• The research activities federal officials reported as addressing one or more of the asthma-related research gaps include studies using animals. For example, one focuses on gestational exposure in mice to mold extracts and the effect this exposure has on the development of allergy or asthma in adult life; one assesses in mice the relative allergenic potency of molds statistically more common in water-damaged homes; and another is developing animal models (using mice and rats) to evaluate the pulmonary inflammatory response to mold products collected from indoor dust samples from buildings where people have reported respiratory symptoms and from buildings with no reported health complaints.

Other asthma-related research activities are aimed, for example, at better understanding the relationship between respiratory symptoms and exposure to water-damaged homes in posthurricane New Orleans and at evaluating the respiratory health of staff and students attending schools that expose them to varying degrees of dampness.

Indoor Mold: Better Coordination of Research on Health Effects and More Consistent Guidance Would Improve Federal Efforts
United States Government Accountability Office

Contributing to limitations in the understanding of the relationship between mold and a number of adverse health effects is the variety of potential disease-causing agents-including many species of mold and other biological agents, such as bacteria or dust mites-that are likely to be present in damp indoor environments.

The number of such agents makes it difficult to know which ones are specifically responsible for the adverse health effects attributed to these environments.

For example, of the approximately 1 million species of mold, there are about 200 species of mold to which humans are routinely exposed, although not all of these are commonly identified in indoor environments, and not all types pose the same hazards to human health.

The mold genus Alternaria, for instance, which has been found in moldy building materials, has been linked to severe asthma. Furthermore, several different components or products of mold, such as mycotoxins, may function as disease-causing agents in indoor environments. The release of these mold components or products varies with environmental and other factors, and the individual roles they may play in adverse health effects are not fully understood.

People are also exposed to mold in outdoor environments, where the concentrations, while they vary considerably, are usually higher than those found indoors. While the specific species of mold that grow indoors may differ from those found outdoors, the potential for outdoor exposure further complicates efforts to determine the relationship between adverse health effects and indoor exposure to mold.

In addition to mold, damp indoor areas can support other biological agents that may result in adverse health effects, including bacteria, dust mites, cockroaches, and rodents. Dust mites, for example, are known to cause the development of asthma. Damp conditions may also lead to potentially harmful chemical emissions from building materials and furnishings. For example, excessive indoor humidity may increase the release of formaldehyde, a probable human carcinogen, from building materials such as particle board. Exposure to formaldehyde has been linked to some of the same health effects that have been attributed to indoor mold, such as wheezing, coughing, and exacerbation of asthma symptoms, as well as more severe effects.

Indoor Mold: Better Coordination of Research on Health Effects and More Consistent Guidance Would Improve Federal Efforts
United States Government Accountability Office

The 2004 Institute of Medicine report, Damp Indoor Spaces and Health, found sufficient evidence of an association between exposure to indoor mold and certain adverse health effects-that is, an association between the agent and the outcome has been observed in studies in which chance, bias, and confounding factors can be ruled out with reasonable confidence. These health effects include
• upper respiratory tract symptoms, including nasal congestion, sneezing, runny or itchy nose, and throat irritation;
• exacerbation of pre-existing asthma;
• wheeze;
• cough;
• hypersensitivity pneumonitis in susceptible persons; and
• fungal colonization or opportunistic infections in immune-compromised persons.

Of these health effects, the upper respiratory tract symptoms associated with allergic rhinitis are the most common, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.12 In addition, the association between indoor mold and exacerbation of asthma symptoms is a particularly significant public health concern because asthma is the most common chronic illness among children in the United States and one of the most common chronic illnesses overall, according to the Institute of Medicine’s 2000 report, Clearing the Air: Asthma and Indoor Air Exposures. Importantly, mold can affect certain populations disproportionately. For example, the 2004 Institute of Medicine report found sufficient evidence of an association between exposure to the mold genus Aspergillus and serious respiratory infections in people with severely compromised immune systems (such as chemotherapy patients and organ transplant recipients). This report also found sufficient evidence of an association between exposure to indoor mold and hypersensitivity pneumonitis-a relatively rare but potentially serious allergic reaction-in susceptible persons. In addition to these more established health effects, this report also found limited or suggestive evidence of an association between indoor mold and lower respiratory illness (for example, bronchitis and pneumonia) in otherwise healthy children.
Most of the 20 reviews of the scientific literature published from 2005 to 2007 that we examined generally agreed with the conclusions of the 2004
Institute of Medicine report.

Indoor Mold: Better Coordination of Research on Health Effects and More Consistent Guidance Would Improve Federal Efforts
United States Government Accountability Office

Several components and products of mold may cause disease. Mold grows as a mass of microscopic filaments, fragments of which may cause adverse health effects. In addition, the spores that mold releases to reproduce, along with certain components of mold’s cell walls, may also cause adverse health effects. Mold products-for example, allergens, volatile Several components and products of mold may cause disease. Mold grows as a mass of microscopic filaments, fragments of which may cause adverse health effects. In addition, the spores that mold releases to reproduce, along with certain components of mold’s cell walls, may also cause adverse health effects. Mold products-for example, allergens, volatile gases that often create a musty odor, and toxins released by certain types of mold under certain conditions-can also cause disease. An example of a toxin-producing mold is
Stachybotrys chartarum, which produces multiple toxins that may suppress the functioning of immune cells.

Indoor Mold: Better Coordination of Research on Health Effects and More Consistent Guidance Would Improve Federal Efforts
United States Government Accountability Office

Telluride,CO–Mountain Village loses 18 units of housing to mold.  Even the 12 remaining units in the complex will be lost if the complex is not brought up to code in the next 180 days.  Problems include mold,  faulty plumbing, smoke alarms that don’t work.  Management paid $5,572 for a a permit to cover $300,000 in repairs. However earlier this year, inspectors found permit-less workers using fungicide on mold in walls, on walls, carpet, and in the insulation.

Though Cook County has not been declared a disaster area, home owners are struggling with flood cleanup. From toxic mold growing in basements, to first floor offices and parking lots, residents and businesses alike in the affected areas of Chicago are engaged in the struggle to clean up the toxic mold and other problems left by the flood. Millions of dollars worth of damages have been recorded. Apparently insurance payments are inadequate to cover the repairs.