Mold: A silent, dangerous threat to homes and health

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Mold: A silent, dangerous threat to homes and health

Tampa Bay's 10 - St. sburg,FL*

By: Reginald Roundtree

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=67815

Clearwater, Florida – There are hundreds of thousands of dwellings

in the Tampa Bay area. There are apartments, condos, townhouses and

single family homes. And each and every one of them is a potential

target of mold infestation.

Mold is caused by water intrusion from the roof, in your windows or

through the walls of your house.

lived in a building at the Vinings Apartment Complex in

Clearwater. She says she moved in march of this year, and from day

one she felt something was wrong.

" The place would have a really bad odor, " says. After just

one month, she moved out because she was constantly getting sick.

says, " I've had several eye infections, breathing problems and

anxiety because of this. "

In June of this year, we went in with our cameras and mold was all

over her apartment. She had it in her sink, under the cabinets,

under the air conditioning unit, in her clothes and in her shoes.

says she told management at the Vinings about the mold problem

immediately, but she says they were slow to respond.

decided to pay for her apartment to be tested for mold. She

hired Innovative Environmental solutions.

And in their report, the total spore count topped more than 117,000

per cubic meter. That is considered " abundant. " They also found an

aspergillus count of 112,000, a cladosporium count of more than

3,000 and stachybotrys of 114 count.

It's important for you to understand some common types of mold.

Aspergillus is a common mold linked to allergies and other diseases.

And then there is cladosporium, which is easily made airborne and

can cause respiratory infections, asthma and hay fever. But

stachybotrys is the most toxic and dangerous of them all. This mold

has the ability to produce what is called mycotoxins.

Dr. Lipsey, a mold toxicologist says it can kill you. He

says while cases of fatalities involving mold are rare, there is no

ignoring the symptoms of people exposed to dangerous levels of mold.

" You will have upper respiratory, headaches, nausea and pains, like

burning eyes, nose and throat, " according to Dr. Lipsey.

's doctor referred her to a respiratory allergist because of

her exposure to high levels of mold.

But her attorney says he's also concerned about how widespread the

mold problem might be at her apartment complex.

" What I'm afraid of in this case of the Vinings, is it appears

there's a possibility it had infected other units. "

He says he does not know how many might be involved. Mr. Berman's

fears are not far fetched. Dr. Lipsey says mold can and will spread

quickly.

We asked management at the Vinings about 's case and if they

were having mold problems with other tenants.

They sent Tampa Bay's 10 News a fax saying, " moisture is an issue

for every Florida resident. It's why we encourage our residents to

control the humidity in their apartments. "

The fax goes on to say, " ensuring the health and safety of our

residents and employees is our highest priority " .

Reginald Roundtree, Tampa Bay's 10News