GM America - mold & other toxins

[Guest guest]

Good Morning America 10-11-05

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=1200774 & page=1

Girl's Illness Traced to 'Toxic' School

Kellianne King, 13, suffered headaches, sinus infections, chest

pains and seizures that were linked to germs and chemicals in her

school. (ABC NEWS)

Oct. 11, 2005 — Kellianne King was a healthy, vibrant little girl

until she started preschool. That's when she started to suffer from

headaches, sinus infections, chest pains and seizures, says her

mother, Kathy King.

It was a heart-wrenching time for the family. " She would stand on

her bed and she would just scream, 'You have to — you have to help

me. Someone has to help me.' And we couldn't do anything, " King

said.

And Kellianne, now 13, couldn't enjoy many of the pleasures of being

a kid.

" I feel like I didn't get to do much, " she said. " I mean, I can ride

a bike and read a book now but when I was little, I never got to do

that. I learned how to do those things much later. So it was hard. "

No one, it seemed, could figure out what was making the little girl

so sick. " We took her to all the best doctors and they were just

perplexed by her, " King said. " They really just couldn't pinpoint

what was wrong, "

Mystery Illness Revealed

When Kellianne was in the first grade, her parents learned the

painful truth: There were serious air quality problems in her school

that had sickened dozens of students and teachers.

" I was shocked that the only place, the only place I trusted to

leave her was what was making her sick, " said King.

Dr. Landigan chairs the Department of Community and

Preventative Medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

He is one of many doctors alarmed by hidden toxins in schools.

" Today, too many chemicals are put into schools that have never been

tested for the possible impacts they have on young children, "

Landigan said.

Simple leaks can breed deadly mold behind walls and trigger an

asthma attack; pesticides used to kill insects and weeds can damage

a child's developing nervous system, lowering IQ and affecting

attention span.

" Children live down on the floor, " Landigan said. " They crawl on the

rug. They're constantly putting their little fingers in their

mouths. And all of those actions increase the child's exposure. "

Just how quickly kids get exposed to toxins in school became clear

when " Good Morning America " conducted an experiment in a classroom

at P.S. 8 in New York.

First, we applied Glo-Germ, a non-toxic powder only visible under

ultra-violet light, in areas where pesticides are most likely to be

sprayed or to settle, like baseboards, windowsills and desktops.

Then we invited the kids to play. After only 20 minutes, we showed

them the stunning results.

Using UV light, we found traces of Glo-Germ all over their clothes,

hands and faces.

" It was actually scary to see how germs can spread, toxins can

spread all over the place, " said teacher Olivia Ellis.

Kids spend nearly 90 percent of their time indoors. Yet there are no

specific federal requirements limiting the use of toxins, such as

pesticides, in schools, which is why it often takes teamwork to get

a school to clean up its act and its air.

Berkey is the principal of Hastings Elementary School in

Massachusetts, where Kellianne attended school and was exposed to

toxins. " I think families need to feel comfortable when they send

their children off to school that they're sending their children to

a safe and healthy environment, " Berkey said.

That school took action and, nine years later, Hastings is an award-

winning example of a healthy environment school.

A health and safety team, composed of Berkey, a parent, teacher,

school nurse and maintenance technician, regularly inspects the

entire school looking for leaks, dirty ventilation filters and

making certain that only non-toxic cleaners are being used in the

classrooms.

" It's a really good feeling to know that if you take a little time

out locally in your schools that the impact can be really far-

reaching, " said King.

How far-reaching? Thanks to King and other parents' efforts, every

school in her district has similar toxin-fighting teams, protecting

the health of some 3,500 students — including Kellianne.

" I feel very proud to have a mom that would do that for her kid

instead of just giving up and saying, 'Oh well, I can live with them

being like this forever,' " Kellianne said. " Just fighting. Also, not

just for me but for other kids. "

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=1200774 & page=1