Toxic Mold Blooms: seeing a lot of asthma from inhaling the mold

[Guest guest]

Toxic Mold Blooms

In addition to the toxic sediment, sprawling blooms of mold have now

taken hold in many flooded homes. " The mold is growing everywhere—

homes are just coated with it,'' Subra said.

The problem has become so widespread that federal health officials

warned Wednesday of allergic reactions and toxic responses to the

mold. Professionals should be hired to clean mold that covers more

than ten square feet (one square meter), they urged.

" Those [surfaces] that can't be cleaned need to be removed, " said

Redd, chief of the Air Pollution and Respiratory Health

Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The effects of the mold are already surfacing in Mississippi, where

respiratory problems are among the illnesses doctors there are

reporting.

" We're seeing a lot of asthma from inhaling the mold,'' said

Paat, team leader of a temporary East Biloxi clinic. " And mouth

sores from the bad water. "

Due to contact with unclean water, 33 people in the flood zone have

contracted Vibrio infections, according to the CDC. The infections

are caused by a family of bacteria that live in contaminated salt

water. They can cause serious illness, especially in people with

compromised immune systems.

To date, six people have died from Vibrio infections.

" People had open wounds and walked through floodwater with sewage in

it, " CDC spokesperson Von Roebuck said. " And these folks were having

these wounds infected with Vibrio.''

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0930_050930_katrina_h

ealth.html

Gulf Wracked By Katrina's Latest Legacy—Disease, Poisons, Mold

ne Appel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

for National Geographic News

September 30, 2005

A month after Hurricane Katrina tore through the U.S. Gulf Coast,

medical experts are now struggling with the latest crisis in the

region: contamination.

Katrina left New Orleans and other communities tainted with oil,

sewage, and possibly poisons leached from federal toxic waste sites,

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says.

The pollution, combined with the lack of regular medical services in

the region, has raised serious questions about the safety of New

Orleans and other coastal towns as people longing for home begin to

go back.

" I don't think New Orleans is safe for people to return to, from a

public health and environmental health standpoint,'' said Miriam

Aschkenasy, an environmental health expert working with Oxfam

America in the region.

Much of the contamination rests in the brown, filmy sediment left

behind by Katrina's polluted floodwaters.

Recent EPA tests of the sediment confirmed high levels of E. coli

bacteria, oil and gas chemicals, and lead, as well as varying

quantities of arsenic.

The health risks posed by the sediment are immediate, experts say,

because the sludge is nearly impossible for returning residents to

avoid. In New Orleans, it covers every surface that was flooded,

from cars and now-dead lawns to the entire contents of flooded

homes, stores, hospitals, and schools.

" When people come back, they are exposed to the sediment, " said

Wilma Subra, a chemist from New Iberia, Louisiana, who is analyzing

the sediment. " It's in their yards and houses.''

Old Pollution Resurfacing

Plaquemines Parish, a rural county on the peninsula south of New

Orleans, is now covered with even more toxic sediment than it was

two weeks ago, thanks to Hurricane Rita.

" Six inches up to one foot [15 to 30 centimeters] of sludge,'' Subra

reported.

Much of the sludge in Plaquemines is the product of nearby bayous

and bay bottoms, where sediment was lifted up by Katrina's and

Rita's storm surges.

The sediment has been polluted over the years with industrial

chemicals and heavy metals, said Subra, who tested the sediment for

the Southern Mutual Help Association, a nonprofit organization in

New Iberia, Louisiana.

" These water bodies have received industrial wastes for decades,''

she said. " This material has toxic chemicals, metals, and organic

petrochemicals.''

Matters have only been made worse by multiple oil spills caused by

Katrina and Rita. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 11 oil spills

have occurred in southern Louisiana, totaling 7.4 million gallons

(28 million liters) of oil, most of which has been contained.

Bacteria levels are also especially high in the Plaquemines sludge,

said Rodney Mallett, spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of

Environmental Quality.

" The sewage treatment plants were underwater, " he

explained. " Between the animal waste and the human waste, you've got

a lot of bacteria.''

Protection Kits

Health and environmental agencies are advising people to avoid

contact with the sludge. They recommend that people wear gloves,

goggles, and dust masks, and that they wash promptly if exposure

occurs.

EPA officials are directing people to its Web site (www.epa.gov) to

inform themselves of the contamination risks.

But most people returning to the area don't have computers to get

that information, said Olson, an attorney for the Natural

Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group.

" If you [do] read the Web site, " he added, " you practically have to

have a degree in chemistry to understand it. "

To better inform people of health risks, the Southern Mutual Help

Association and Oxfam America are developing a program to give every

returning resident a protective kit.

Each kit would contain waterproof suits, goggles, shoe covers, and

masks, along with information about potential hazards. Volunteers

would give out the kits at the security checkpoints that now stand

at the major entrances to affected cities.

The groups have made a hundred demonstration kits, which cost about

$100 (U.S.) each to produce, and have shown them to state leaders in

Louisiana.

" The governor is really in favor of this, " Subra said. " We just have

to determine how we're going to fund them.''

Toxic Mold Blooms

In addition to the toxic sediment, sprawling blooms of mold have now

taken hold in many flooded homes. " The mold is growing everywhere—

homes are just coated with it,'' Subra said.

The problem has become so widespread that federal health officials

warned Wednesday of allergic reactions and toxic responses to the

mold. Professionals should be hired to clean mold that covers more

than ten square feet (one square meter), they urged.

" Those [surfaces] that can't be cleaned need to be removed, " said

Redd, chief of the Air Pollution and Respiratory Health

Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The effects of the mold are already surfacing in Mississippi, where

respiratory problems are among the illnesses doctors there are

reporting.

" We're seeing a lot of asthma from inhaling the mold,'' said

Paat, team leader of a temporary East Biloxi clinic. " And mouth

sores from the bad water. "

Due to contact with unclean water, 33 people in the flood zone have

contracted Vibrio infections, according to the CDC. The infections

are caused by a family of bacteria that live in contaminated salt

water. They can cause serious illness, especially in people with

compromised immune systems.

To date, six people have died from Vibrio infections.

" People had open wounds and walked through floodwater with sewage in

it, " CDC spokesperson Von Roebuck said. " And these folks were having

these wounds infected with Vibrio.''

Disaster Response Care

" This is a highly contaminated area,'' said Briggs, the

physician overseeing FEMA's disaster-response medical teams in

Louisiana and Alabama.

Her teams have been inoculating residents for tetanus and Hepatitis

A and B. Hepatitis is a danger when people are exposed to sewage,

through water or food, Briggs explained. Tetanus can occur when

people cut themselves on unclean materials, as may happen when

cleaning debris.

The rudimentary living conditions in many Katrina-struck areas make

it more likely that people will get sick and injured, Briggs said.

" They have no electricity, no clean water, no air conditioning, " she

said. " There are collapsed structures and stray animals. There are

huge amounts of stray dogs, and people have been bitten. "

Briggs and other doctors in the area have been treating many cases

of diarrhea, rashes, and upper-respiratory illnesses.

All of these conditions are to be expected after natural disasters,

according to the CDC. But it's too soon to know if these ailments

are related to contamination, the CDC's Roebuck said.

" We're looking at that question, " he said. " We'd like to know the

answer. "

[Guest guest]

--- In , " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@y...>

wrote:

> Toxic Mold Blooms

>

> In addition to the toxic sediment, sprawling blooms of mold have now

> taken hold in many flooded homes. " The mold is growing everywhere—

> homes are just coated with it,'' Subra said.

>

It just seems to be criminal that the mayor, the CDC, and this expert

are not giving the proper information to protect the people. Can't we

do a petition and send to the news organizations or something. Our

government just seems to be turning their head the other way. What

they don't know about, they don't have to do anything about. So many

lives are going to be destroyed because of criminal negligence.