GERMY GROWTH Battling the mold menace

[Guest guest]

GERMY GROWTH

Battling the mold menace

By Ertischek

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - Updated: 01:25 PM EDT

West Roxbury Transcript - Massachusetts

Mulvey son used to get daily headaches from working at Boston’s

City Hall, and it wasn't because of her job. It was because where her job was

situated. City Hall is a mold trap, and son knows it well.

son hasn't been back to City Hall since 2001, but when she is

re-exposed to mold, she gets headaches, dizziness, rashes and will even have

gynecological problems.

As a member of the Healthy Schools Task Force, which is run through the

Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the Boston Urban

Asthma Coalition, son has launched an attack against mold.

Unfortunately, as son learned more about mold, she learned that many of

the problems that people face from mold have nothing to do with mold. It’s

all about the medical community and the physicians who represent special

interest groups who care more about money than how mold hurts people.

son’s frustration only grew after she attended a Defense Subcommittee

of Appropriations meeting last week in Washington, D.C., which focused on the

Walter VA Hospital problems.

In recent weeks, many media outlets have reported how the Walter

Hospital is not providing good health conditions to military personnel staying

in

the hospital.

“It was just unbelievable. It was just startling listening to the surgeon

general [and a military general] passing the buck,†said son, of West

Roxbury, who is the president of the West Roxbury Business and Professional

Association, “and that somehow this is OK that they have allowed these people

[hurt soldiers] to be exposed to these contaminants. There’s no one more

susceptible to contaminants than someone who is sick or injured.â€

But passing the buck, or misrepresentation, is something son has seen

throughout her fight against mold. son is also on a congressional task

force regarding health issues of mold for Conyers, D-Michigan.

“One of the main issues we've been working on is the medical issues and how

doctors don't seem to recognize and diagnose mold-related health issues,†said

son. “A lot of these doctors are representing whoever hired them on

behalf of special industries, not the health issues.â€

son commonly points to an American College of Occupational and

Environmental Medicine paper printed in 2002: “They made a concerted effort to

not

let doctors [who would disagree with their desired opinions] to review it,

including the head of the VA hospital for environmental medicine, who is a

member

of the ACOEM.â€

“The other major reason we were in D.C. is because we wanted to go one step

further and want a congressional investigation with the corruption on medical

issues of mold exposure,†she said.

Mold is commonly found in schools and causes asthma, chronic breathing

problems, reactive airway diseases, memory loss and problems concentrating.

“I know this stuff is causing children problems on concentrating and

remembering things,†said son.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention came out a few months back to

say that pregnant women should stay away from mold. The World Health

Organization believes that mold can cause breast cancer, as well as many other

gynecological problems.

son said she would like to see some standardization of cleaning up mold

out of buildings because many cleaners do not know how to clean it properly

and the mold just comes back.

The diagnosis of mold-related issues is also disheartening. son said

doctors often don’t know about mold-related health issues and often ask for

psychiatric exams for their patients.

son said she hasn’t visited any of the local VA hospitals, but said she

would like to see what condition they are in.

“It’s been hard under a Republican regime … [We would want] FEMA-type

funding to address problematic buildings and regiments to follow,†said

son. “

It touches upon the insurance industry … Especially in light of hurricanes

Katrina and Rita, there are more and more federal officials interested in mold

and what illnesses that it causes, and they are offering more help to people

associated with these problems.â€

son said that Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and U.S. Rep. Lynch,

D-9th, have been very receptive to mold-related health issues and fixing the

problems.

“It’s bad, very bad, and it’s not just Boston City Hall,†said son.

“

It’s many of our public buildings, not just in our state, it’s throughout

the

country and the world. It’s an international health hazard and it can

manifest itself in many ways.â€

How do we get rid of it?

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “it is impossible to

get rid of all mold and mold spores indoors; some mold spores will be found

floating through the air and in house dust. The mold spores will not grow if

moisture is not present. Indoor mold growth can and should be prevented or

controlled by controlling moisture indoors. If there is mold growth in your

home, you must clean up the mold and fix the water problem. If you clean up the

mold, but don't fix the water problem, then, most likely, the mold problem

will come back.â€

For more information, check _www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htmlto_

(http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htmlto) learn about combating mold.

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