Toxic mold discovered in Billings school

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Toxic mold discovered in Billings school

By LAURA TODE

Of The Gazette Staff

MT, USA

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?

id=1 & display=rednews/2005/11/29/build/local/40-mold.inc

Air quality tests at Bench Elementary School recently detected low

levels of toxic mold.

Parents were notified by letter last week that the district had

sealed up a crawlspace below the school, where administrators

believe the mold may be growing.

Plans include continued testing.

Several teachers reported experiencing eye, nose and throat

irritation and their classrooms were tested for the microscopic mold

spores, said Bench Elementary Principal English.

Of the four rooms tested, three showed only traces of mold at a rate

significantly lower than what is generally found outside the

building. In the fourth room, the test detected spores from the

Stachybotrys black mold at a concentration of 22 spores per cubic

meter of air.

Stachybotrys mold releases a toxin that, in healthy people, may

cause symptoms similar to hay fever, including watery eyes, runny

nose and sneezing. Some people with allergies, asthma or lung

diseases are likely to have more severe symptoms. The toxins pose

the greatest risk to infants, and in rare extreme cases, have

resulted in infant deaths.

After the crawlspace was sealed and the room disinfected, a follow-

up test was conducted and no Stachybotrys mold spores were detected.

English said water was discovered in the crawlspace at Bench

Elementary after the heavy snowstorm last October and the space was

pumped, cleaned and dried. Water has seeped into the crawlspace on

previous occasions as well.

Molds of all kinds are present indoors and outdoors, and spores can

be brought into a building through an open door, window or

ventilation duct.

Billings School District Facilities Director Rich Whitney said air

quality tests were run at Newman Elementary and Riverside and

and middle schools as well. He said the tests did not indicate

a health hazard at any of the schools.

" I haven't heard any further concerns from folks at those schools,

but the people at Bench still have concerns, so we're doing further

testing there, " he said.

During Christmas break the district plans to check the air in the

crawlspaces under the school, English said. Next summer, Bench is

scheduled to have its heating and ventilation system replaced. At

that time, the crawlspaces will be inspected again.

Contact Tode at ltode@... or 657-1392.

Got mold?

Stachybotrys black mold can be found in just about any building,

including homes, and produces toxins that cause itchy eyes, runny

nose and sneezing. In some rare cases, more severe symptoms and

possibly death can occur.

The fungi prefer cellulous materials such as paper, wood, fabric and

insulation. Often the mold will be detected in areas that were

flooded or in spaces where water or condensation collects. It can

grow at any temperature above freezing.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all

mold infestations should be cleaned up no matter what type of mold

it is. If the mold is on a hard, nonporous surface, the CDC

recommends wiping the surface using a dilution of bleach. If the

mold is on carpet, wood or other building materials, the CDC

recommends removal and replacement.