Death prompts action on mould

[Guest guest]

Death prompts action on mould

Montreal Gazette - Montreal,Quebec,Canada*

KAZI STASTNA

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=d89078f4-

6da7-4471-89b6-0f331eb5d43e

The illness that would eventually kill Z.O.O. co-op resident Carl

began last December with cold- and pneumonia-like symptoms.

When antibiotics didn't help he was hospitalized, and his doctor

asked about possible contact with asbestos or mould. That prompted

co-op president Laughren to order an air quality inspection of

the refurbished building in which lived.

Co-op residents had long complained to her of nasal congestion,

nosebleeds, headaches, increased asthma attacks, aggravated

allergies and other symptoms they said began or got worse when they

moved to the co-op.

The inspection showed obvious mould contamination in the basement,

one floor below 's apartment. The source of the basement

mould was thought to be a combination of plumbing leaks and water

damage to the foundation. No significant amount of mould was found

in 's apartment, although a second inspection detected some

excessive moisture.

It is possible the mould from the basement could have reached the

upper floors through normal air circulation, said Louis Jacques, a

physician with the city's public health department.

The department got involved a few days before 's death on

May 17 after Laughren sought help from a local CLSC in dealing with

the mould problem. It recommended immediate decontamination of the

basement and a more thorough investigation of all the buildings and

the ventilation system.

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia, or BOOP, the disease

died of, has multiple causes, only one of which has in rare

cases been linked to mould.

" We think there is a low probability ('s illness) was

related (to mould), " Jacques said. " We cannot exclude it, but we

don't think it's very likely. "

Surveys of the health of other residents in the building carried out

by public health officials revealed only minor, non-specific

symptoms such as aggravated asthma, he said, which aren't

necessarily linked to mould.

The inspections also revealed mould in the exterior part of the

ventilation system on the new construction, the source of which has

yet to be identified.

Decontamination of the basement started in July. 's common-

law wife, Lina Gonthier, will never know whether it could have saved

her husband if it was done earlier, but she is not ready to abandon

the co-op she and other young parents at a support group run by the

Head and Hands centre founded seven years ago.

" It was our dream to build the co-op, and we worked so hard at it. I

don't want to give it up just like that, " said Gonthier, who is

pregnant with the couple's third child. " Unfortunately, my husband

had to die ... for things to be taken seriously. "