Guest guest Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/13937992.html The El Paso County Coroner still doesn't know why a two year old Colorado Springs boy died suddenly. The boy's mother, Chilla Connor, is convinced her son died from mold growing inside their apartment. Connor and her kids live at Pine Creek Village Apartments on the east side of town. 11 News tried calling the owner of the apartment complex but we weren't able to reach him. We even stopped by his home but he wasn't there. A mold inspector, Ken Warden who's the owner of Peak Home Inspections, visited Chilla Connor's home Sunday evening. Warden said he found a shocking amount of mold right next to the boy's bedroom. Ken Warden said, " If mold is not taken care of, it'll eat your house. " Warden began testing inside and out of Connor's home. " Inside the walls, who knows what's in there " , said Warden. But when he opened up the closet door which sits right next to two year old Jovian's room, there was no question that the black spots Warden was looking at was mold growing furiously over the walls. " All homes have mold spores. Everybody has them but when there's a higher count, that's when people get sick. " Spore levels will need to be tested in order to find out if the mold inside the home is toxic or not. Chilla Connor said she's desperate to find out why a week ago her healthy two year old boy died mysteriously in his sleep. She believes the mold in her home is toxic and is the reason why Jovian died. Connor believes the mold began to grown after a water main break flooded her home last August. " It leaked all the way from my bedroom, all the way throughout to the living room and my kid's bedroom " , said Connor. Connor says she and her kids have been sick ever since suffering from colds and sinus infections. But what she wants now, are answers and justice. Again, we don't know if the mold in her home is toxic or not. Peak Home Inspections will have the results back with-in 48 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 I hope she had a number of different labs take samples. Of course, children who die won't be needing any lifelong medical care, and don't have salaries to value claims against or lost wages, or families to support so the damages might not be very high at all, especially as he died in his sleep, peacefully. (without 'pain and suffering') And then the lawyer will get what, 40% of that. I hope that she can find one. On Jan 21, 2008 1:26 AM, happyruiam <happyru@...> wrote: > http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/13937992.html > > The El Paso County Coroner still doesn't know why a two year old > Colorado Springs boy died suddenly. > > The boy's mother, Chilla Connor, is convinced her son died from mold > growing inside their apartment. > > Connor and her kids live at Pine Creek Village Apartments on the east > side of town. > > 11 News tried calling the owner of the apartment complex but we > weren't able to reach him. We even stopped by his home but he wasn't > there. > > A mold inspector, Ken Warden who's the owner of Peak Home > Inspections, visited Chilla Connor's home Sunday evening. Warden said > he found a shocking amount of mold right next to the boy's bedroom. > > Ken Warden said, " If mold is not taken care of, it'll eat your house. " > > Warden began testing inside and out of Connor's home. > > " Inside the walls, who knows what's in there " , said Warden. > > But when he opened up the closet door which sits right next to two > year old Jovian's room, there was no question that the black spots > Warden was looking at was mold growing furiously over the walls. > > " All homes have mold spores. Everybody has them but when there's a > higher count, that's when people get sick. " > > Spore levels will need to be tested in order to find out if the mold > inside the home is toxic or not. > > Chilla Connor said she's desperate to find out why a week ago her > healthy two year old boy died mysteriously in his sleep. > > She believes the mold in her home is toxic and is the reason why > Jovian died. > > Connor believes the mold began to grown after a water main break > flooded her home last August. > > " It leaked all the way from my bedroom, all the way throughout to the > living room and my kid's bedroom " , said Connor. > > Connor says she and her kids have been sick ever since suffering from > colds and sinus infections. But what she wants now, are answers and > justice. > > Again, we don't know if the mold in her home is toxic or not. Peak > Home Inspections will have the results back with-in 48 hours. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 The mold in this apartment might be tested, and may or may not be found to be toxic, depending on just who does the testing. But that still does not shift the blame. High levels of any mold, toxic or not, can initiate asthma, and then go on to trigger asthma episodes, perhaps even fatal episodes. Too often we hear that mold is only a problem for sensitive people. We do not hear what most of us have learned: mold exposure leads to sensitization in people who previously had no trouble with normal minor mold exposures. Perhaps when more " authorities " acknowledge that fact, progress can start. Gil Woman Believes Mold Killed Her Two Year Old SonPosted by: " happyruiam " happyru@... happyruiamDate: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:32 am ((PST)) http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/13937992.html The El Paso County Coroner still doesn't know why a two year old Colorado Springs boy died suddenly. The boy's mother, Chilla Connor, is convinced her son died from mold growing inside their apartment. Connor and her kids live at Pine Creek Village Apartments on the east side of town. 11 News tried calling the owner of the apartment complex but we weren't able to reach him. We even stopped by his home but he wasn't there. A mold inspector, Ken Warden who's the owner of Peak Home Inspections, visited Chilla Connor's home Sunday evening. Warden said he found a shocking amount of mold right next to the boy's bedroom. Ken Warden said, " If mold is not taken care of, it'll eat your house. " Warden began testing inside and out of Connor's home. " Inside the walls, who knows what's in there " , said Warden. But when he opened up the closet door which sits right next to two year old Jovian's room, there was no question that the black spots Warden was looking at was mold growing furiously over the walls. " All homes have mold spores. Everybody has them but when there's a higher count, that's when people get sick. " Spore levels will need to be tested in order to find out if the mold inside the home is toxic or not. Chilla Connor said she's desperate to find out why a week ago her healthy two year old boy died mysteriously in his sleep. She believes the mold in her home is toxic and is the reason why Jovian died. Connor believes the mold began to grown after a water main break flooded her home last August. " It leaked all the way from my bedroom, all the way throughout to the living room and my kid's bedroom " , said Connor. Connor says she and her kids have been sick ever since suffering from colds and sinus infections. But what she wants now, are answers and justice. Again, we don't know if the mold in her home is toxic or not. Peak Home Inspections will have the results back with-in 48 hours. _________________________________________________________________ Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 this is heartbreaking.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 I think its quite possible that a very high percentage of 'unexplained' deaths are caused by mold. When you read papers like the one below, you realize that the kinds of 'mold testing' (testing for spores) that are done by most 'mold inspectors' and firms are unlikely to detect stachybotrys spores even if there is a serious stacybotrys problem. The toxins do not necessarily stay with the spores, so testing for spores is not the same as testing how unhealthy a building is. They can show that stachy is there but NOT that it isn't there. With stachy, no spores found means very little, the wall can still be full of mold. And stacybotrys is one kind of mold that has been known to cause sudden PROBLEMS- especially in children. Fungal Genet Biol. 2007 Jul;44(7):641-7. Epub 2006 Dec 24. Biomechanics of conidial dispersal in the toxic mold Stachybotrys chartarum. Tucker K, Stolze JL, Kennedy AH, Money NP. Department of Botany, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA. Conidial dispersal in Stachybotrys chartarum in response to low-velocity airflow was studied using a microflow apparatus. The maximum rate of spore release occurred during the first 5 min of airflow, followed by a dramatic reduction in dispersal that left more than 99% of the conidia attached to their conidiophores. Micromanipulation of undisturbed colonies showed that micronewton (microN) forces were needed to dislodge spore clusters from their supporting conidiophores. Calculations show that airspeeds that normally prevail in the indoor environment disturb colonies with forces that are 1000-fold lower, in the nanonewton (nN) range. Low-velocity airflow does not, therefore, cause sufficient disturbance to disperse a large proportion of the conidia of S. chartarum. PMID: 17267247 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Mycopathologia. 2004 Jul;158(1):87-97.Click here to read Links Protein translation inhibition by Stachybotrys chartarum conidia with and without the mycotoxin containing polysaccharide matrix. Karunasena E, Cooley JD, Straus D, Straus DC. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA. Recent studies have correlated the presence of Stachybotrys chartarum in structures with SBS. S. chartarum produces mycotoxins that are thought to produce some of the symptoms reported in sick-building syndrome (SBS). The conidia (spores) produced by Stachybotrys species are not commonly found in the air of buildings that have been found to contain significant interior growth of this organism. This could be due in part to the large size of the Stachybotrys spores, or the organism growing in hidden areas such as wall cavities. However, individuals in buildings with significant Stachybotrys growth frequently display symptoms that may be attributed to exposure to the organism's mycotoxins. In addition, Stachybotrys colonies produce a " slime " or polysaccharide (carbohydrate) matrix that coats the hyphae and the spores. The intent of this project was to determine whether the carbohydrate matrix and the mycotoxins embedded in it could be removed from the spores by repeated washings with either aqueous or organic solvents. The results demonstrated that the process of spore washing removed compounds that were toxic in a protein translation assay as compared to spores that were washed with an organic solution, however a correlation between carbohydrate removal during the washing process and the removal of mycotoxins from the spore surface was not observed. These data demonstrated that mycotoxins are not likely to be found exclusively in the carbohydrate matrix of the spores. Therefore, mycotoxin removal from the spore surface can occur without significant loss of polysaccharide. We also showed that toxic substances may be removed from the spore surface with an aqueous solution. These results suggest that satratoxins are soluble in aqueous solutions without being bound to water-soluble moieties, such as the carbohydrate slime matrix. PMID: 15487326 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Appl Environ Microbiol. 2005 Jan;71(1):114-22. Detection of airborne Stachybotrys chartarum macrocyclic trichothecene mycotoxins on particulates smaller than conidia. Brasel TL, DR, SC, Straus DC. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, TTUHSC, 3601 4th St., Lubbock, TX 79430, USA. http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/71/1/114?view=long & pmid=15640178 Highly respirable particles (diameter, <1 microm) constitute the majority of particulate matter found in indoor air. It is hypothesized that these particles serve as carriers for toxic compounds, specifically the compounds produced by molds in water-damaged buildings. The presence of airborne Stachybotrys chartarum trichothecene mycotoxins on particles smaller than conidia (e.g., fungal fragments) was therefore investigated. Cellulose ceiling tiles with confluent Stachybotrys growth were placed in gas-drying containers through which filtered air was passed. Exiting particulates were collected by using a series of polycarbonate membrane filters with decreasing pore sizes. Scanning electron microscopy was employed to determine the presence of conidia on the filters. A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) specific for macrocyclic trichothecenes was used to analyze filter extracts. Cross-reactivity to various mycotoxins was examined to confirm the specificity. Statistically significant (P < 0.05) ELISA binding was observed primarily for macrocyclic trichothecenes at concentrations of 50 and 5 ng/ml and 500 pg/ml (58.4 to 83.5% inhibition). Of the remaining toxins tested, only verrucarol and diacetylverrucarol (nonmacrocyclic trichothecenes) demonstrated significant binding (18.2 and 51.7% inhibition, respectively) and then only at high concentrations. The results showed that extracts from conidium-free filters demonstrated statistically significant (P < 0.05) antibody binding that increased with sampling time (38.4 to 71.9% inhibition, representing a range of 0.5 to 4.0 ng/ml). High-performance liquid chromatography analysis suggested the presence of satratoxin H in conidium-free filter extracts. These data show that S. chartarum trichothecene mycotoxins can become airborne in association with intact conidia or smaller particles. These findings may have important implications for indoor air quality assessment. PMID: 15640178 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Appl Environ Microbiol. 2005 Nov;71(11):7376-88.Click here to read Click here to read Links Detection of airborne Stachybotrys chartarum macrocyclic trichothecene mycotoxins in the indoor environment. Brasel TL, JM, Carriker CG, SC, Straus DC. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, TTUHSC, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA. The existence of airborne mycotoxins in mold-contaminated buildings has long been hypothesized to be a potential occupant health risk. However, little work has been done to demonstrate the presence of these compounds in such environments. The presence of airborne macrocyclic trichothecene mycotoxins in indoor environments with known Stachybotrys chartarum contamination was therefore investigated. In seven buildings, air was collected using a high-volume liquid impaction bioaerosol sampler (SpinCon PAS 450-10) under static or disturbed conditions. An additional building was sampled using an Andersen GPS-1 PUF sampler modified to separate and collect particulates smaller than conidia. Four control buildings (i.e., no detectable S. chartarum growth or history of water damage) and outdoor air were also tested. Samples were analyzed using a macrocyclic trichothecene-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ELISA specificity was tested using phosphate-buffered saline extracts of the fungal genera Aspergillus, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Memnoniella, Penicillium, Rhizopus, and Trichoderma, five Stachybotrys strains, and the indoor air allergens Can f 1, Der p 1, and Fel d 1. For test buildings, the results showed that detectable toxin concentrations increased with the sampling time and short periods of air disturbance. Trichothecene values ranged from <10 to >1,300 pg/m3 of sampled air. The control environments demonstrated statistically significantly (P < 0.001) lower levels of airborne trichothecenes. ELISA specificity experiments demonstrated a high specificity for the trichothecene-producing strain of S. chartarum. Our data indicate that airborne macrocyclic trichothecenes can exist in Stachybotrys-contaminated buildings, and this should be taken into consideration in future indoor air quality investigations. PMID: 16269780 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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