Woman Believes Mold Killed Her Two Year Old Son

[Guest guest]

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.

[Guest guest]

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.

>

>

[Guest guest]

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.

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[Guest guest]

this is heartbreaking....

[Guest guest]

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]