MOLD Boston Sunday Globe 9/29 Real Estate Section Front Page

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Mold It's drawing attention as a potential hazard, but some health experts remain skeptical about the risksBy Grillo, Globe Correspondent, 9/29/2002 MERRIMACK, N.H. - It was supposed to be their dream house. But within months of moving in, the O'Neil family suffered from headaches, nosebleeds, sore throats, and rashes that caused them to flee. The O'Neils were forced out, they say, by toxic mold. ''We've lost our life's savings,'' said Dawn O'Neil, a 31-year-old real estate agent. ''We had to throw away nearly everything we own that could contain mold: toys, clothes, and couches went into the dumpster.'' Today, the O'Neils rent a house three miles away, and they've filed lawsuits against the previous owners, the home inspector, and the appraiser, alleging that all of them should have known about the mold that turned their dream into a nightmare. and Dawn O'Neil purchased the gray Gambrel-style house with blue shutters on Riverside Drive in 1998 for $157,000. But eight months later, the couple and their two children began to experience a variety of health ailments that baffled their doctors. In 2001, mold was discovered in the attic when a contractor installed a vent to the roof for a bathroom fan. ''There was an odorless, black substance that looked like charred wood,'' O'Neil recalled in a recent interview. ''We had the air quality tested and the attic was overrun with mold.'' Several varieties of toxic black mold were found in the O'Neil home by an air quality specialist, including trichoderma, aspergillus, and penicillium. Some medical researchers believe these molds can cause respiratory failure, asthma, and bleeding in the nose and lungs. That summer, contractors removed the mold-infested second floor and replaced the living space. But after moving back into the house following construction, the O'Neils said the headaches returned, and traces of mold were found after a retesting. Their doctor advised them to move out, so the couple sold the house for $217,000 - less than the appraised value of $271,000 - after disclosing the mold problem to the buyer. (The new owners have not reported any ill effects, according to O'Neil.) On the heals of several high-profile cases that include former ny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon and environmental crusader Brockovich, mold is beginning to get the kind of attention once reserved for health hazards like lead paint and asbestos. ''The problem of mold is much more insidious than controlling lead paint,'' said Libert, president of the Rental Housing Association, a division of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, which represents owners and managers of more than 10,000 rental units. ''That's because the danger signs are oftern invisible. Lots of landlords are frightened about this.'' Attorneys nationwide report receiving an increasing number of inquiries about mold because most homeowners' policies do not cover mold damage. Consider these cases that have become public in the past two years: An Abington family razed its Cape-style home last week after becoming convinced that the house had become a haven for toxic mold that caused the couple and their daughter to become sick. Ed McMahon is seeking $20 million for alleged mishandling of toxic mold that resulted from a broken pipe in his Beverly Hills, Calif., home. The McMahons say they and their staff became seriously ill and that their dog died from mold-related illness. They have moved out of the 8,000-square-foot home. Brockovich, who inspired a movie about her $333 million lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for leaking toxic chromium-6 into the groundwater of a small California town, filed a suit against the former owner of her home and the builder, charging that each played a role in causing water damage that led to mold formation, which caused her family to suffer respiratory ailments. Last month, the O'Neils filed suit in Hillsborough County Superior Court against the previous owners of the home. The suit alleges that the sellers failed to disclose that the attic was saturated with mold. In an earlier lawsuit filed in January, the O'Neils charged that A-1 Home Inspections Inc. of Manchester, N.H., and S & S Appraisal Associates Inc. of Nashua, failed to detect the mold during inspections. The couple is seeking unspecified damaged. The case is expected to go to trial next year. Friedman, a Concord attorney who represents and Debbie Leggett of Peabody, the couple who sold the home to the O'Neils, denied her clients knew of the mold. She said the Leggetts never experienced any health problems while they lived in the home. Eugene Benoit, an engineer at the Environmental Protection Agency, said that while experts agree mold can trigger an attack in asthmatics and people with allergies, much is unknown. ''If someone has asthma or if they are young or elderly, they are susceptible to low concentrations of mold,'' said Benoit. ''But unlike radon [a cancer-causing, radioactive gas], we haven't figured out what [mold] levels are safe for the rest of the population.'' Harriet Burge, an associate professor of Environmental Microbiology at Harvard School of Public Health, says she doubts that the O'Neils' illnesses were mold-related. ''There are lots of unknown symptoms people suffer from and it's more comfortable to blame them on something,'' Burge said. ''I would be surprised if mold had anything to do with their ailments. Unless they were living in the attic where the mold was found, they were probably not exposed to high levels of mold.'' The Centers for Disease Control has asked Burge to chair a committee that will conduct an independent review of mold research. After the results are released next summer, the CDC plans to use the data to set the agency's guidelines on mold. ''We're trying to calm down this mold frenzy,'' said Burge. ''I've been in this business for 40 years and molds have always been there, and none of this hysteria was going on.'' Still, the issue has raised concern among homeowners and landlords. Libert, who is chairman of Forest Properties Management Inc. in Newton, has firsthand experience fighting mold. In August, a vandal wielding a baseball bat set off the sprinkler system at the Union Square Apartments, a 170-unit luxury building in the Fenway. By the time the water was shut off one hour later, 20 apartments had been damaged. ''An insurance adjuster noticed little black dots on the walls that turned out to be mold, and when the guys in white suits were done with the cleanup, the renovation costs doubled,'' Libert said. Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@.... This story ran on page H1 of the Boston Globe on 9/29/2002.

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