MOLD: Is School Making Your Child Sick?

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MOLD: Is School Making Your Child Sick?

The American Lung Association Of Oklahoma Can Help

TULSA, Okla., March 8 /PRNewswire

Is your child suffering from asthma, chronic fatigue, loss of

balance, irritability, nosebleeds, chronic sinus or respiratory

infections? If so, and symptoms seem to be worse when school is in

session, the American Lung Association of Oklahoma suggests it may be

caused by exposure to mold in school.

Many parents are realizing the connection between air quality and

health. The current scare with several schools in northeast Oklahoma

has many parents as well as school administrators asking if they have

a mold problem.

Indoor Air Quality-Tools for Schools, developed in partnership with

the Environmental Protection Agency, is a program offered by the

American Lung Association of Oklahoma to help schools identify

sources of air quality problems and cost-effective measures to

correct those problems.

Districts that have taken a pro-active approach and are hosting a

training before a problem occurs are Bartlesville and Lawton.

Bartlesville is scheduled for March 20, 2001, and Lawton, May 4,

2001. By pre-registering through the Lung Association office, school

facility managers and administrators may attend. For further

information or to register for the upcoming trainings, call the ALAO

at 800-LUNGUSA.

" The presence of mold in the indoor environment is enough to raise

concern, yet the focus seems to be on what type of mold it is and at

what level, rather than the source of the mold, how it can be

corrected, and then how to eradicate or clean up the mold while

protecting the health of occupants, " according to American Lung

Association employee Darla Akin. " If you know your building has mold,

it's more important to get rid of it than to simply find out what

kind of mold it is. "

Mold is a microscopic organism containing enzymes that aid in

digestion and decomposition. It is a necessary part of our

environment. Without mold and its reproducing spores, our earth would

be overrun with dead plants and animals. But breathing mold is not

healthy particularly in the indoor environment.

Stachybotrys is an uncommon mold that grows indoors and is the most

toxic. Cladosporiu, Penecillium, and Alternaria are more common,

milder molds yet they can still cause health problems.

Testing for mold takes time and money, precious resources to most

school districts. Because even the milder molds can cause health

problems, schools need to correct the source of the mold problem and

then clean up existing mold when occupants are not in the building.

Testing may tell you at what level your mold is and what type it is

but there is no benchmark that says whether or not this is a

hazardous level. People react differently, so what may be hazardous

to one individual may have no outward impact on another individual in

the same environment. And, just because an individual is not getting

sick does not mean that it is healthy to breathe mold, particularly

on an ongoing long-term basis in an indoor environment.

The American Lung Association of Oklahoma recommends schools become

proactive in addressing indoor air quality and not wait for occupants

to become ill before thinking about taking steps to improve air

quality.

" Spring is the perfect time for schools to go through the training

and begin addressing indoor air quality. Schools can take the summer

to implement many of the cost-effective measures to improve indoor

air quality. While some mold problems are due to roof leaks, some are

caused simply by poor air circulation. Books piled on air vents

obstructing airflow can cause air circulation problems. Part of a

good plan is taking these small, no cost yet significant steps to

improve indoor air quality, " says Akin.

When you can't breathe, nothing else matters!

Contact: Darla Akin, Field Services Director of American Lung

Association of Oklahoma, 918-747-3441, ext. 205.

SOURCE American Lung Association of Oklahoma

http://www.medallionhealthyhomes.com/newsarchive/okla.htm