Congressman-elect tackles mold problem in House office building

[Guest guest]

I hope they did more than wash it down with bleach. If you don't get rid of

the water source, the mold will just grow back.

(http://www.mercurynews.com/)

____________________________________

Posted on Thu, Dec. 07, 2006

Congressman-elect tackles mold problem in House office building

By M. Skiba

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(MCT)

WASHINGTON - For Kagen, it's a four-letter word: M-O-L-D.

So after the Appleton, Wis., physician, just elected to Congress, learned

that there was mold in the office building he'll occupy next year, he first

jumped into a hazmat suit Thursday - and then into action.

Turns out the mechanical room in the sub-basement of the Longworth House

Office Building had more than mold. More troubling was asbestos, Kagen said.

The good news: The mold has been treated with bleach, steps have been taken

to prevent toxins from seeping out and additional remediation is planned.

Kagen, 56, is an allergist and aerobiologist, so he's familiar with pollen,

mold spores and other organic materials in the air that can make people sick.

Wednesday, after a story about the mold appeared in The Hill newspaper,

Kagen had an aide call the Office of the Architect of the Capitol for

permission

to take a look.

Teasing before donning a respirator, Kagen remarked: " We're going back to

the Clinton administration: Do not inhale, anybody. "

After skulking around the room with a safety specialist, Kagen was

satisfied. " The potential problem is just that, " he said. " It's been contained

and is

in the process of being fully remediated. "

According to the architect's office, seven species of mold had been found.

One of them, Stachybotrys, can cause neurological damage after long-term

exposure, Kagen said.

The others were Acremonium, Alternari, Cladosporium, Stachybotrys,

Ulocladium, Gliomastix, and Basidiomycetes.

More worrisome to him were the asbestos-covered pipes in the room, since, as

he put it, " the safe level of exposure to asbestos is zero. "

A bleach solution was applied to kill the mold and it no longer is growing,

said Eva Malecki, spokeswoman for the architect's office. A contract has been

awarded to complete the cleanup and to remove the asbestos over the next

several weeks, she added.

Kagen said that in years past, he'd visit patients' workplaces to track down

what was making them ill, but that's less common as employers pay closer

attention to environmental hazards.

And while no laughing matter, Kagen's exploits triggered another of his

quips: " There's not just a doctor in the House - Dr. Kagen is cleaning House. "

---

© 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Visit JSOnline, the Journal Sentinel's World Wide Web site, at

_http://www.jsonline.com_ (http://www.jsonline.com/)

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

____________________________________

© 2006 KRT Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.mercurynews.com