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Mold Exposure Has Affected This Person's Life

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Submitted by :

I am a teacher in a large, urban, western USA school district. I had good

health until I went to work at Sherman Elementary School, in a high poverty,

central, downtown area, where up to 1,000 students attended.

At Sherman, the air conditioner/heating system had many complaints -- it was

very dirty, animals (rats) died in it, the air coming out in some rooms

smelled like mold or dead animals, at times, and the air was stagnant in some

rooms.

This school was enclosed, with no windows, I might add. The temperature

varied, from too hot to too cold (my room was 48 degrees for three months and I

had

to purchase ski type clothing to keep warm). Above the ceiling tiles, which

was part of a drop ceiling, there was a black layer of particles that was 1/2

inch deep, and these particles would actually drift in the air, in some rooms.

Some work was done on the HVAC system and ceilings, while the students and

staff were in the building, which undoubtedly gave us further exposure.

Since 1998, the staff had complained, as a survey showed that over 40 were

ill with respiratory and sinus conditions that they had not had till coming to

work at Sherman. The principal was eventually diagnosed with emphysema, though

he never had smoked, and his office air conditioning unit was found to have a

soup of bacteria near the air intake, which was cleaned. One day, when I had

been at the school for just a few months, the principal tried to tell me how

ill he was and couldn't speak from coughing and breathlessness. I noticed that

the vents for the air conditioning and heating system had thick, globular

looking strings of dirt hanging from them, in the teachers' lounge, right above

the

refrigerator and microwave, where food was prepared. I noticed other vents

were filthy. No one would clean the one in the lounge, till I complained for

many months. No one told me about the staff complaints about the building HVAC

(Heating, Ventilation and AC System) till long after I became ill, a year after

arriving at Sherman, with severe respiratory problems, that have never

entirely cleared up. I also developed problems with multiple chemical

sensitivities,

though I didn't recognize it as such, and memory problems. The very first

year, I experienced irritable bowel -- a very painful and new experience for me,

that, looking back on all this, was probably also related to the ongoing toxic

exposure that was happening at the school.

In the third year that I was at the school, I found out about the survey and

the ill staff. I filed a Worker's Comp claim due to my respiratory problems

that needed medical attention, and the absences it caused -- but the district

has denied it. The district hired an environmental company who did a limited

inspection and pronounced the air quality " healthy " . I tried wearing a face

mask,

which did improve my symptoms, somewhat, and I moved into an exterior room,

but still had meetings and daily activities to conduct in the main building. I

left the school four months after I found out that the building was the

probable culprit for my mysterious upper and lower respiratory symptoms.

For one year, I felt I was slowly improving. After being in a different

school, this fall, in the same district, where mold was found by professional

testing in a room that I felt was making me feel like I had at Sherman, I have

become very ill again (second exposure to a sensitized person is worse, I have

now

learned). I have been unable to work since early November of this year. I

feel like these exposures have stolen my good health and I won't be able to work

as a teacher in the poorly maintained buildings of my very defensive and

non-supportive school district.

I worry about the children, very much, in these schools. I have no vehicle to

inform parents. If I call them directly, or write them, I could be fired, as

another teacher was, for misuse of student records. The media supports our

district so much that it is hopeless to try to get them to cover something this

controversial. I have been just trying to regain as much of my health

(respiratory, sinus, and brain function) as I can, have sought medical help and

have a

firm diagnosis of the variety of conditions above as a result of exposure to

molds and mycotoxins. This constellation of symptoms does not occur except for

toxic exposures -- and the fact that so many coworkers were ill, combined with

one positive mold report -- are the smoking gun that the doctor used.

What is needed are studies of people exposed to these conditions --

particularly in schools. The number of children with medical conditions in

schools that

are inspected acccording to EPA standards and found to have mold and bacteria

in the ventilation systems would be documentable, compared to similar,

control schools. I ask that someone out there conduct some studies -- our

children

should not have to suffer debilitating illness (and neither should teachers).

At my district alone, the teachers' association has had reports from 10 percent

of the schools that teachers/staff feel mold is causing them illness. We need

studies and help in the area of prevention, diagnosing, and treatment.

Prevention could occur right now -- if parents took the time to inspect,

observe, and ensure that their children's school was safe and healthy. At the

U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Web site, there are materials to view

if you search on school mold that could assist.

Thank you for your time in reading this. To contact me, please write me at

nomoreschoolmold@....

Sincerely,

A Very Concerned Teacher

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May 7, 2004

As an update to my testimony about teaching in a moldy school (Sherman

Elementary) found here: http://allergies.about.com/library/uc/uc-molds-33.htm, I

want to tell the readers that Sherman is scheduled to be torn down, in one year,

leveled to the ground and rebuilt. The school district, San Diego City

Schools, is not admitting that mold is in the school. The mold is visible and

photos

have been taken. The local health dept. is currently investigating the mold

and current health complaints (11 or more) of a serious nature. However, the

supervisor of the San Diego County Health Dept. Environmental Health office,

under contract with my district ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$) has instructed the

Industrial

Hygienist not to talk to me and not to provide the report to me. He said, " have

her lawyer talk to the district's lawyer. " My district is not admitting to

mold and is claiming other reasons for leveling a fairly new school (about 30

years old). They are not paying me Workman's Comp, though I filed for this and

have been off from work since Nov. 3rd. I have been (finally) diagnosed with

hypersensitivity pneumonitis and chemical intolerance, among other things, by

specialists, including an Industrial Lung Specialist who had been former head of

the SD Lung Assn. I want to know why a public health agency investigating

mold and health problems in a public institution has the right to keep the

results secret. They are under contract and are paid extra money to do this

work.

Money that influences quite a bit. I call that a conflict of interest. Further,

I discovered that Aurora Hygiene's report of April 2002 has data within it

that shows a high level (double that of a healthy building) of outdoor spore

types, inside it. Yet Aurora pronounced the building safe, ignoring that data.

So

you see, readers, it is highly political when buildings are inspected. Whoever

is paying the inspector gets the report and the attitude they want, if they

have deep pockets. But I am pleased the contaminated school will be torn down.

But the children and staff will still be in it for the next year. Why do that

to them? Why keep the mold secret? Very wrong. Any attorneys out there who

might wish to address this?