Re: READ THIS ARTICLE!!!!!! The Globe & Mail SICK SCHOOLS SYNDROME

[Guest guest]

Sharon, can we send this entire message to our Congressmen?

[] READ THIS ARTICLE!!!!!! The Globe & Mail SICK SCHOOLS

SYNDROME

Dear All,

The following is such an important investigative news report out of Canada,

I wanted to make certain it was read. The report covers the symptoms of

illness from mold exposure, school districts' attempt to silence the

information,

the accusations of mental illness against the physically sick, and

intimidation tactics used against them purely for the sake of limiting financial

responsibility of stakeholders of moldy buildings. How can this be happening,

with our governments turning a blind eye in the United States of America and in

Canada?

They KNOW what is occurring. They have even been told EXACTLY how it is

being done. Some of our most respected medical associations and teaching

hospitals are KNOWINGLY promoting FALSE SCIENCE that causes the sick to be

unable

to obtain medical treatment. It is PUBLIC POLICY that this is occurring.

It is a true disgrace that so many know this is happening everyday to

thousands of people and little to nothing is being done to stop the deceit

immediately. Our governments have it in their power to make this STOP TODAY.

Sharon Kramer

The Globe and Mail, Canada¢s National Newspaper

HEALTH: SICK SCHOOLS SYNDROME

'When kids are sitting there scratching and they can't concentrate on their

little test, it just breaks your heart'

Teachers are complaining, children are suffering, even Health Canada admits

that mould is 'toxic' - but the schools of Lambton Kent District still

haven't been able to get anyone to clean up their classrooms.

JESSICA LEEDER

June 7, 2008

PETROLIA, ONT. -- The fall of 2005 marked a fresh start for Jackie Pynaert,

a veteran teacher beginning a new eighth-grade teaching assignment at Queen

II primary school in Petrolia, Ont. Her homeroom was P1, a portable

classroom across the hall from two friendly teachers who had a long history

with the school.

Still, it wasn't long before Ms. Pynaert, then 42, found herself having a

tough time in class. " I started having flu-like symptoms, chills for two months,

and I couldn't shake them, " she said. " I was coughing, wheezing, we're

talking coughing until you nearly bring up a lung. I had rashes all over my

face. "

The students told her that the teacher who had the room before her coughed

the same way.

Puzzled, Ms. Pynaert began to dig into building maintenance records. The

school where she worked, a one-storey brick building in the Lambton Kent

District School Board, had gone through several additions during its 56 years,

including one that resulted in a cluster of eight temporary classrooms (one of

which was Ms. Pynaert's) being tacked onto the school's west wing to accommodate

an influx of students.

Ms. Pynaert was horrified by what she learned from the records. As far back

as 2002, teachers were reporting " squishy " floors and rotting wood in the

portables. In 2004, teachers were complaining about headaches and constant

colds. The last teacher in her room went to the emergency room twice with

symptoms

similar to her own: breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue, headaches,

nausea. He also had painful sores in his nose.

When class was out, his symptoms would fade or disappear. By December of

2005, Ms. Pynaert's lips were swelling when she entered her classroom, pockets

of liquid had begun pouching beneath her eyes and a white, filmy fungus was

growing on her face. She also coughed " until I sprayed urine. I was losing

bladder control. My bladder muscle was giving out. " She couldn't shake the

belief

that something in the classrooms was making people sick.

Ms. Pynaert is not the first teacher to develop such a hunch. In nearly

every province in recent years, educators have raised alarms about strange

illnesses they think are caused by mould.

Health Canada says mould is " toxic, " and no amount of it indoors is safe,

but there are no laws or policies that require school boards to search out

hidden moulds. And because the boards fall under provincial jurisdiction - and

the provinces have no official policies on what specific tests should be done by

boards to ensure schools are mould-free - how mould complaints are handled

by school boards can vary considerably.

Many whistle-blowers have been able to muster enough public pressure - often

with the help of intense local media coverage - to force school

administrators to deal with the problem.

However, no group of mould-battling teachers has succeeded in creating a

strong enough precedent for subsequent sufferers to draw on. Often, when

teachers' symptoms disappear, so does the mould issue from public discourse -

until

the next round of unknowing teachers is struck.

The battle over mould in Lambton Kent, which covers a sprawling rural area

with 67 schools, 54 of which house elementary teachers and students, began

brewing more than five years ago, when several teachers from across the district

independently began making health complaints.

Some had itchy red rashes, constant congestion, phlegm buildup, ear fungus,

bloody noses or hives. For others, there was unexplained facial swelling,

skin lumps, growths, coughing attacks, bowel problems, stomachaches, searing

headaches and chronic fatigue.

" Everybody had to stay drugged to get through work, " said Johanne

Tranquille, a French teacher who had been working in portable classrooms since

1990 -

across the hall from Ms. Pynaert - and coughed constantly, broke out in red

facial rashes and suffered bad sinus problems.

Ms. Tranquille said she would drag herself to work in spite of her symptoms

out of fears that " nobody would help the kids. " But it was tough. " I told my

mom one time, 'I think I'll have to quit teaching. I'm too sick.' "

Laurel Liddicoat-Newton, an elementary teacher at Lansdowne Public School in

Sarnia, had to have an egg-sized growth, which her doctor said " bloomed "

because of something in her environment, surgically removed from her neck.

Brimming with frustration at unresolved health problems in her school, she

joined

a health and safety committee in hopes of spurring a fix.

That's when Ms. Liddicoat-Newton learned that her colleagues and their

students were suffering too. From 2002 to 2005, records show, Lansdowne teachers

filed more than a dozen official complaints requesting air-quality tests in the

school's portables. After an expert tester was finally contracted by the

school board to deal with the portables, no less than 84 square metres of mouldy

and water-damaged materials were cut out of the structure.

However, upon their return to the classrooms - after air sampling deemed the

rooms acceptable - the teachers still felt ill. In the ensuing months, a

repetitive cycle began in which mould was found, removed and found again.

Amid that cycle, Ms. Liddicoat-Newton found a " garden of mould " beneath a

portable that had supposedly been cleaned.

" It was black earth, covered with orange and white and yellow and green,

like cauliflowers, for as far as you can see, " she said. Exasperated, she

ultimately led a work refusal in March, 2007.

" I'm not a person who stands out and fights. I will avoid conflict at all

costs, " she said. " I've always been a fixer. I don't like confrontation and

arguing, especially in public. But I want it to be safe for the kids. Those

little kids are developing immune systems. And they're getting sick. "

One of those was Ethan Dickhout, a seven-year-old at a Chatham public school

who is literally scarred from reactions he had in the classroom, his mother

said.

" He started to get the spots all over his body. First it was on his

forehead. Then it was on his stomach, his legs, all over his arms, " said Billie

Jo

on. " It has caused him to have three or four bald spots on the back of

his head where hair will not grow back. "

When the rash was at its worst, a manager at a Chatham fast-food outlet

asked Mrs. on not to bring Ethan into the restaurant. " He asked me to

leave because it was making the other customers on edge, " she said.

Since Ethan switched schools last fall, his problems have cleared up.

Teachers began turning to their union, the Elementary Teachers' Federation

of Ontario, for help. At group meetings held to air concerns, Ms. Pynaert was

the first to talk about her health problems, which have forced the

45-year-old to take an extended leave from work.

Soon, more teachers began to speak out.

Jodi Mandeno, a Grade 2 teacher from Chatham, said she was taking eight

allergy pills a day so that she could go to school without her body breaking out

in hives. The 32-year-old had logged official health and safety complaints

about her classroom, but also changed her diet, laundry detergents and body wash

and even traded in her brand-new car - out of concern she was allergic to

the seat coverings - to try stopping the hives. Only on March Break, when she

spent a week away from her school, did the huge welts disappear.

Afterward, she began documenting her students' symptoms too. By her count,

14 out of 19 students in the class were suffering, mainly from headaches, red

rashes and respiratory problems. One youngster had such bad migraines that

his mother was often called to take him home..

" When kids are sitting there scratching and they can't concentrate on their

little test, it just breaks your heart, " she said.

TEACHERS SILENCED

With the onslaught of complaints showing no signs of abating - by fall,

2007, Ministry of Labour inspectors had made more than 30 visits to district

schools and issued stop-work orders for 16 rooms - the school board agreed to

start cleaning up the problems in elementary buildings. Their pledge, which will

cost about $1-million a year, was a welcome surprise for teachers. But it

came with a condition: The plan would go forward only if the outspoken teachers

responsible for drawing attention to mould problems agreed to silence their

complaints. Grudgingly, the teachers, via their union, agreed to the deal.

The Globe and Mail's interviews - nearly two dozen teachers and parents from

across the school district talked about the ailments they link to time spent

in district schools - all took place before the gag order went into effect.

In the months since then, Om Malik, principal of Environmental Consulting

and Occupational Health Management Inc., based in Mississauga, was contracted to

inspect all of Lambton Kent's elementary schools. He uncovered mould and

indoor air-quality problems in most of the nine buildings he has seen, as well

as repeated signs of shoddy upkeep: rodent excrement, leaky windows and

clogged air exchanges.

For the schools he has seen so far, the inspector has recommended a broad

slate of often-expensive remedies. With four dozen more schools left to be

inspected, worries persist that the schools will not be fixed.

It's a concern that school board officials have tried to strike down.

Gayle Stucke, chair of the Lambton Kent school board, said all the

classrooms will be inspected, as per the agreement with the union. But she also

said

that " the idea of a mould-free building is not realistic. "

" Mould in buildings has been an issue forever. ... When you have mould, it's

cleared up and six months later it shows again. " Friends of Ms. Pynaert said

she has begun considering a second career out of worries that returning to

her classroom would make her sick.

Ms. Stucke, who would not discuss the specifics of any teacher's case with

The Globe, rejected the possibility, saying: " There's no medical evidence that

in fact those symptoms are caused by mould. ... There's no scientific

connection. "

Mould has been present in the environment since biblical days, but the

science around it remains patchy and controversial. And though the term " toxic

mould " has become a mainstay in popular vernacular, there is still fierce debate

in the medical community over whether it is the sole culprit for illnesses it

appears to cause.

" We all agree that there are a number of health issues. We don't understand

them all, " said Dr. , an Ottawa-based expert who has helped to

develop federal guidelines.

One problem is the sheer number of mould species - there are hundreds of

thousands.

Another is that " the constellation of symptoms people can potentially

experience are quite varied, " according to Bartlett, a microbiologist at

the

University of British Columbia's School of Environmental Health who has been

studying mould issues since the early 1990s.

" This is the crux of why these things are so difficult to sort out. The

medical community has no problem with the concept that people in mould-infested

places can experience a wide variety of respiratory symptoms, " she said. " There

is no consensus in what happens for other kinds of symptoms. We don't have a

nice clean test that can be applied that gives us a result. "

There is one controversial American doctor who says he does.

Ritchie C. Shoemaker is a land-based family physician who began delving

into bacteria and mould medicine in the mid-1990s, when some of his long-time

patients - swimmers and fishermen - began complaining of memory problems,

fatigue, coughs, chronic pains, diarrhea and sensitivity to bright light.

Dr. Shoemaker ultimately connected their illnesses to an outbreak of

Pfiesteria, a toxin-forming micro-organism responsible for large fish kills in

North

Carolina and land. His work with those patients led him to another

network that was complaining of similar symptoms. However, theirs were due to

exposures to mould and water-damaged buildings.

Dr. Shoemaker has since developed a reputation as something of a

mould-science cowboy; he theorizes that people who fall ill after contact with

mould are

actually having reactions to the toxins contained in the fungus's

microscopic spores. Among some individuals, particularly those who he says are

genetically vulnerable, biotoxins can cause immune-system impairment or

inflammation.

" Mould exposure initiates a series of illness generators, hurting

immune-system responses and altering blood flow to many small blood vessels, "

Dr.

Shoemaker wrote in his 2005 book, Mold Warriors: Fighting America's Hidden

Health

Threat.. He said the effects of biotoxin exposures are often mistaken as

influenza, chronic fatigue syndrome or other common ailments.

He claims that he is able to diagnose biotoxin-related illnesses by

analyzing a patient's medical history, blood tests, physical exam and

performance on

a visual contrast sensitivity test, which a colleague developed. That test

measures whether toxins have disrupted neural function. Although his work has

been peer-reviewed, he acknowledges that his theories remain controversial.

" Indoor growth of toxin-forming moulds make people sick in ways most

physicians don't yet fully understand, " he wrote in his book. " Proving that

mould

causes common illnesses that are rarely recognized by physicians has been a

challenge. "

Schools are particularly susceptible to mould - the problems in Lambton Kent

have been seen in nearly every province, as well as across the United

States.

In San Diego, a former schoolteacher named Brinchman has set up the

Center for School Mold Help, a website that serves as a continent-wide clearing

house for information about mould science, policy and media coverage. Ms.

Brinchman, who taught for 25 years before being transferred to a mouldy school

where she became too sick to work, said her website gets 120,000 hits per

year, with an endless stream of requests from teachers looking for help in the

mould " war. "

WHY SCHOOLS?

Because schools are often built with flat roofs, they are vulnerable to

water pooling and leakages. In this era of stretched budgets, expensive

maintenance jobs - such as adequately repairing water damage - are often

deferred in

favour of spending in the classroom. Schools in the past have tried to fix

water seepage by permanently sealing windows, which has the effect of trapping

moisture in the schools (which helps mould to grow), said Mr. Malik, of the

firm now inspecting the Lambton Kent schools.

Poor ventilation is another common factor abetting mould growth in schools,

he said.

In Newfoundland last year, severe mould problems were discovered in at least

eight schools, seven of which were closed. Since last September, mould and

water problems have been discovered in at least two Ontario school districts

aside from Lambton Kent: Ottawa-Carleton and nearby Renfrew.

Kathleen Wynne, Ontario's Education Minister, said last fall that problems

in Lambton Kent schools got out of hand. " This particular situation is one

that we will rely on for some pretty serious lessons, " she said.

Still, individual teachers, including Ms. Pynaert and Ms. Liddicoat-Newton,

who appealed to the minister for help when Labour Ministry processes seemed

unable to stimulate an end to the mould, say she never responded.

Asked why she did not intervene to help with the issue, Ms. Wynne said:

" There isn't a direct way for me to be involved. "

However, lessons drawn from other provinces suggest that there could be.

Canada's most notorious school-mould problem broke out in Nova Scotia in the

late 1990s; more than a dozen schools were closed. In one case, several

million dollars was spent trying to remediate a school before it was finally

torn

down; in another, contractors were forced to peel back the building

materials to the rafters to get at all of the mould.

The problem was so bad the Education Minister created a dedicated team of

staffers to travel around the province helping school boards tackle the mould -

and the politics the fungus seems to carry with it.

" My biggest job was to show that I was impartial and that I believed that if

you said the child was sick, the child was sick, " said Gerald Muise, who

headed the department's team. " It was critical to have the province involved.

....

" This health and safety business is used and abused, " he said, adding: " We

had some of the best medical people around. All they could agree on what not

to agree on. "

Also born out of that era was the Halifax-based environmental advocacy group

called Citizens for a Safe Learning Environment.

The group, now a registered charity, was formed in the early 1990s. " I

personally went through two years of being blasted in my community, " said the

group's head, . " Teachers would stop me in stairwells and whisper

to me, 'Please don't stop, Mrs. .' "

By 1997, however, after seeking out national experts on mould and indoor

air-quality problems, members of the group ended up working frequently as

advisers to the Education Department and the following year were asked to work

with

the province on the design of new " healthy " schools.

Ms. even received a commendation in the provincial legislature for

her efforts.

" We started by pledging that our way of operating was going to be a

respectful one, that we'd get more with honey than vinegar, " she said. " We

worked

with solid information ... [and pledged] to be respectful of any of those who

were harming our children. No one really wants to harm children, " she said.

In most cases, Ms. said, the events that led to the discovery of

serious mould problems unfolded in a similar manner to those in Lambton Kent,

where sick teachers, at first, hesitated to speak out.

" I hazard to say that it's happening right across North America, " she said.

" It's amazing how much people can be suffering ... and they're afraid to

speak up. " They're afraid there will be repercussions and things will get worse.

Teachers can be harmed in insidious ways. They can quietly find a little glass

ceiling placed over them, or they can be shipped off to a school in the far

reaches of the school board, or you miss out on your principalship. You

become a troublemaker when you speak out against your employer. "

MENTAL HEALTH QUESTIONED

For Ms. Pynaert, the Lambton teacher who had been the most outspoken on the

mould issue, the full price tag of the ordeal has yet to be tallied. When she

last met with The Globe, her health was still waning despite being out of

the classroom for months.

She was hoarse-voiced, tired easily and was suffering gastrointestinal

issues. Also waning was her reputation in the community. Her outspokenness,

penchant for taking after-hours pictures of mouldy schoolrooms to add to her

cache

of files and to challenge the school board - particularly in the pages of

local newspapers - worried other teachers and ostracized her from colleagues.

Even her own sister, also a schoolteacher, had grown wary of being in public

with her.

When the school board began to take a hard line against her allegations, Ms.

Pynaert said, she was " made out to be a liar and a nut. " Her mental health

was publicly questioned.

" In the beginning, we thought we would tell the board and they would save

us. They would say, 'This is horrible, and the children are in there and we've

got to get them out,' " Ms. Pynaert said.

" What should have been a surefire health and safety issue has become a

political nightmare, " she said.

Because of the agreement with the school board brokered by her union, Ms..

Pynaert was not able to describe her current situation. Friends said she has not

been able to return to work since leaving in 2006 and faces a growing risk

of losing her job if she continues to refuse to go back to her classroom

without being able to prove conclusively that something in the room is causing

her

illness.

So far, Ms. Pynaert has gone to extreme lengths to try to validate her

claims. Along with some of the other Lambton Kent teachers, she paid about $600

in

April, 2007, to send blood samples for testing by a California-based

mould-allergy specialist. All of them said they had tested positive for

antibodies

related to mould exposures.

Ms. Pynaert's results were so alarming that she spent several more thousand

dollars to take the test results to Dr. Shoemaker for his analysis. In a long

report on his diagnosis, the doctor wrote that he believes her illness is

without a doubt due to mould exposures at work.

" The syndrome that affects Ms. Pynaert is a biotoxin-associated illness that

has been given many names, including Sick Building Syndrome, " he wrote. " To

a reasonable degree of medical certainty, exposure to the interior environment

of the water-damaged building is the sole cause of her illness. " Water

damage, he said in an interview, is a precursor to mould.

" Ms. Pynaert is no different from my thousands of cases of mould illness:

She is primed for subsequent illness solely caused by exposure to the indoor air

environment in her workplace. ... She will become ill following re-exposure

to any other environment with presence of biotoxin-producing organisms

growing in buildings with water damage. "

Dr. Shoemaker went on to say that out of the 4,400 cases he has seen, Ms.

Pynaert's is " one of the most flagrant examples of disregard of an employer's

responsibility to provide a safe workplace I have evaluated.

" What this means is that because of the illness Ms. Pynaert acquired from

her workplace, her life will be forever changed. "

FUNGI FUNDAMENTALS

Moulds are a form of fungi that help to break down organic material and can

grow indoors or out on nearly any surface, from food in the fridge to

building materials left out in the rain.

When mouldy material is disturbed, spores are dispersed into the air and can

be inhaled. The worst offender is stachybotrys chartarum, a greenish-black

mould that grows easily on drywall, drop-ceiling tiles and wood, and which is

known to have health effects.

Health Canada guidelines endorse a ban on indoor moulds, noting that

" exposure to fungi in occupational environments causes allergic and toxic

diseases, "

but there is no official policy on testing for mould in schools or

workplaces.

Even when tests are carried out, they can be inconclusive: Most tests begin

with air quality, which is problematic for a number of reasons, including the

fact that the indoor environmental and air-quality industry is unregulated

in Canada. Consultants can pick and choose from a patchwork of standards set by

industry groups, which do little to scrutinize members' quality of work,

said Bruce , senior vice-president at Pinchin Environmental Ltd., a

Mississauga- based national environmental- consulting company.

According to Mr. , 80 per cent of indoor mould grows in wall cavities

and other hidden places. Buildings that have had water leaks, a fire or poor

air quality are the most susceptible.

" When it starts growing inside, mould is a symptom of a building system that

is failing, " said Om Malik, an industrial hygienist and indoor-air-quality

expert who heads the Mississauga- based firm Environmental Consulting and

Occupational Health Management Inc.

One thing known for certain is that water is a major factor.

" Mould and moisture are interchangeable, " Mr. Malik said. " You have to find

the cause of the moisture. "

Leeder is an investigative reporter for The Globe and Mail.

************ **Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch " Cooking with

Tyler Florence " on AOL Food.

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[Guest guest]

A portable classroom is similar to the trailers used for Katrina

relief. They are simple, efficient buildings. It is well documented

that families living in there air tight buildings became ill. What

do you expect having +20 occupants in this space? My suggestion is

to provide proper fresh air ventilation when occupied and maintain

<50%RH in the space for 24/7. There is neither in both uses. What do

you expect from little or no fresh ventilation? During wet cool

weather, the %RH is near saturation and of little concern. Fresh air

ventilation and maintaining <50%RH fixes both structures.

Unbelievable, Ken Gehring

--- In , <brianc8452@...>

wrote:

>

> Sharon, can we send this entire message to our Congressmen?

>

>

> [] READ THIS ARTICLE!!!!!! The Globe & Mail

SICK SCHOOLS SYNDROME

>

>

>

> Dear All,

> The following is such an important investigative news report out of

Canada,

> I wanted to make certain it was read. The report covers the

symptoms of

> illness from mold exposure, school districts' attempt to silence

the information,

> the accusations of mental illness against the physically sick, and

> intimidation tactics used against them purely for the sake of

limiting financial

> responsibility of stakeholders of moldy buildings. How can this be

happening,

> with our governments turning a blind eye in the United States of

America and in

> Canada?

> They KNOW what is occurring. They have even been told EXACTLY how

it is

> being done. Some of our most respected medical associations and

teaching

> hospitals are KNOWINGLY promoting FALSE SCIENCE that causes the

sick to be unable

> to obtain medical treatment. It is PUBLIC POLICY that this is

occurring.

> It is a true disgrace that so many know this is happening everyday

to

> thousands of people and little to nothing is being done to stop the

deceit

> immediately. Our governments have it in their power to make this

STOP TODAY.

> Sharon Kramer

> The Globe and Mail, Canada¢s National Newspaper

> HEALTH: SICK SCHOOLS SYNDROME

> 'When kids are sitting there scratching and they can't concentrate

on their

> little test, it just breaks your heart'

> Teachers are complaining, children are suffering, even Health

Canada admits

> that mould is 'toxic' - but the schools of Lambton Kent District

still

> haven't been able to get anyone to clean up their classrooms.

> JESSICA LEEDER

> June 7, 2008

> PETROLIA, ONT. -- The fall of 2005 marked a fresh start for Jackie

Pynaert,

> a veteran teacher beginning a new eighth-grade teaching assignment

at Queen

> II primary school in Petrolia, Ont. Her homeroom was P1,

a portable

> classroom across the hall from two friendly teachers who had a long

history

> with the school.

> Still, it wasn't long before Ms. Pynaert, then 42, found herself

having a

> tough time in class. " I started having flu-like symptoms, chills

for two months,

> and I couldn't shake them, " she said. " I was coughing, wheezing,

we're

> talking coughing until you nearly bring up a lung. I had rashes all

over my face. "

> The students told her that the teacher who had the room before her

coughed

> the same way.

> Puzzled, Ms. Pynaert began to dig into building maintenance

records. The

> school where she worked, a one-storey brick building in the Lambton

Kent

> District School Board, had gone through several additions during

its 56 years,

> including one that resulted in a cluster of eight temporary

classrooms (one of

> which was Ms. Pynaert's) being tacked onto the school's west wing

to accommodate

> an influx of students.

> Ms. Pynaert was horrified by what she learned from the records. As

far back

> as 2002, teachers were reporting " squishy " floors and rotting wood

in the

> portables. In 2004, teachers were complaining about headaches and

constant

> colds. The last teacher in her room went to the emergency room

twice with symptoms

> similar to her own: breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue,

headaches,

> nausea. He also had painful sores in his nose.

> When class was out, his symptoms would fade or disappear. By

December of

> 2005, Ms. Pynaert's lips were swelling when she entered her

classroom, pockets

> of liquid had begun pouching beneath her eyes and a white, filmy

fungus was

> growing on her face. She also coughed " until I sprayed urine. I was

losing

> bladder control. My bladder muscle was giving out. " She couldn't

shake the belief

> that something in the classrooms was making people sick.

> Ms. Pynaert is not the first teacher to develop such a hunch. In

nearly

> every province in recent years, educators have raised alarms about

strange

> illnesses they think are caused by mould.

> Health Canada says mould is " toxic, " and no amount of it indoors is

safe,

> but there are no laws or policies that require school boards to

search out

> hidden moulds. And because the boards fall under provincial

jurisdiction - and

> the provinces have no official policies on what specific tests

should be done by

> boards to ensure schools are mould-free - how mould complaints are

handled

> by school boards can vary considerably.

> Many whistle-blowers have been able to muster enough public

pressure - often

> with the help of intense local media coverage - to force school

> administrators to deal with the problem.

> However, no group of mould-battling teachers has succeeded in

creating a

> strong enough precedent for subsequent sufferers to draw on. Often,

when

> teachers' symptoms disappear, so does the mould issue from public

discourse - until

> the next round of unknowing teachers is struck.

> The battle over mould in Lambton Kent, which covers a sprawling

rural area

> with 67 schools, 54 of which house elementary teachers and

students, began

> brewing more than five years ago, when several teachers from across

the district

> independently began making health complaints.

> Some had itchy red rashes, constant congestion, phlegm buildup, ear

fungus,

> bloody noses or hives. For others, there was unexplained facial

swelling,

> skin lumps, growths, coughing attacks, bowel problems,

stomachaches, searing

> headaches and chronic fatigue.

> " Everybody had to stay drugged to get through work, " said Johanne

> Tranquille, a French teacher who had been working in portable

classrooms since 1990 -

> across the hall from Ms. Pynaert - and coughed constantly, broke

out in red

> facial rashes and suffered bad sinus problems.

> Ms. Tranquille said she would drag herself to work in spite of her

symptoms

> out of fears that " nobody would help the kids. " But it was

tough. " I told my

> mom one time, 'I think I'll have to quit teaching. I'm too sick.' "

> Laurel Liddicoat-Newton, an elementary teacher at Lansdowne Public

School in

> Sarnia, had to have an egg-sized growth, which her doctor

said " bloomed "

> because of something in her environment, surgically removed from

her neck.

> Brimming with frustration at unresolved health problems in her

school, she joined

> a health and safety committee in hopes of spurring a fix.

> That's when Ms. Liddicoat-Newton learned that her colleagues and

their

> students were suffering too. From 2002 to 2005, records show,

Lansdowne teachers

> filed more than a dozen official complaints requesting air-quality

tests in the

> school's portables. After an expert tester was finally contracted

by the

> school board to deal with the portables, no less than 84 square

metres of mouldy

> and water-damaged materials were cut out of the structure.

> However, upon their return to the classrooms - after air sampling

deemed the

> rooms acceptable - the teachers still felt ill. In the ensuing

months, a

> repetitive cycle began in which mould was found, removed and found

again.

> Amid that cycle, Ms. Liddicoat-Newton found a " garden of mould "

beneath a

> portable that had supposedly been cleaned.

> " It was black earth, covered with orange and white and yellow and

green,

> like cauliflowers, for as far as you can see, " she said.

Exasperated, she

> ultimately led a work refusal in March, 2007.

> " I'm not a person who stands out and fights. I will avoid conflict

at all

> costs, " she said. " I've always been a fixer. I don't like

confrontation and

> arguing, especially in public. But I want it to be safe for the

kids. Those

> little kids are developing immune systems. And they're getting

sick. "

> One of those was Ethan Dickhout, a seven-year-old at a Chatham

public school

> who is literally scarred from reactions he had in the classroom,

his mother

> said.

> " He started to get the spots all over his body. First it was on his

> forehead. Then it was on his stomach, his legs, all over his arms, "

said Billie Jo

> on. " It has caused him to have three or four bald spots on

the back of

> his head where hair will not grow back. "

> When the rash was at its worst, a manager at a Chatham fast-food

outlet

> asked Mrs. on not to bring Ethan into the restaurant. " He

asked me to

> leave because it was making the other customers on edge, " she said.

> Since Ethan switched schools last fall, his problems have cleared

up.

> Teachers began turning to their union, the Elementary Teachers'

Federation

> of Ontario, for help. At group meetings held to air concerns, Ms.

Pynaert was

> the first to talk about her health problems, which have forced the

> 45-year-old to take an extended leave from work.

> Soon, more teachers began to speak out.

> Jodi Mandeno, a Grade 2 teacher from Chatham, said she was taking

eight

> allergy pills a day so that she could go to school without her body

breaking out

> in hives. The 32-year-old had logged official health and safety

complaints

> about her classroom, but also changed her diet, laundry detergents

and body wash

> and even traded in her brand-new car - out of concern she was

allergic to

> the seat coverings - to try stopping the hives. Only on March

Break, when she

> spent a week away from her school, did the huge welts disappear.

> Afterward, she began documenting her students' symptoms too. By her

count,

> 14 out of 19 students in the class were suffering, mainly from

headaches, red

> rashes and respiratory problems. One youngster had such bad

migraines that

> his mother was often called to take him home..

> " When kids are sitting there scratching and they can't concentrate

on their

> little test, it just breaks your heart, " she said.

> TEACHERS SILENCED

> With the onslaught of complaints showing no signs of abating - by

fall,

> 2007, Ministry of Labour inspectors had made more than 30 visits to

district

> schools and issued stop-work orders for 16 rooms - the school board

agreed to

> start cleaning up the problems in elementary buildings. Their

pledge, which will

> cost about $1-million a year, was a welcome surprise for teachers.

But it

> came with a condition: The plan would go forward only if the

outspoken teachers

> responsible for drawing attention to mould problems agreed to

silence their

> complaints. Grudgingly, the teachers, via their union, agreed to

the deal.

> The Globe and Mail's interviews - nearly two dozen teachers and

parents from

> across the school district talked about the ailments they link to

time spent

> in district schools - all took place before the gag order went into

effect.

> In the months since then, Om Malik, principal of Environmental

Consulting

> and Occupational Health Management Inc., based in Mississauga, was

contracted to

> inspect all of Lambton Kent's elementary schools. He uncovered

mould and

> indoor air-quality problems in most of the nine buildings he has

seen, as well

> as repeated signs of shoddy upkeep: rodent excrement, leaky windows

and

> clogged air exchanges.

> For the schools he has seen so far, the inspector has recommended a

broad

> slate of often-expensive remedies. With four dozen more schools

left to be

> inspected, worries persist that the schools will not be fixed.

> It's a concern that school board officials have tried to strike

down.

> Gayle Stucke, chair of the Lambton Kent school board, said all the

> classrooms will be inspected, as per the agreement with the union.

But she also said

> that " the idea of a mould-free building is not realistic. "

> " Mould in buildings has been an issue forever. ... When you have

mould, it's

> cleared up and six months later it shows again. " Friends of Ms.

Pynaert said

> she has begun considering a second career out of worries that

returning to

> her classroom would make her sick.

> Ms. Stucke, who would not discuss the specifics of any teacher's

case with

> The Globe, rejected the possibility, saying: " There's no medical

evidence that

> in fact those symptoms are caused by mould. ... There's no

scientific

> connection. "

> Mould has been present in the environment since biblical days, but

the

> science around it remains patchy and controversial. And though the

term " toxic

> mould " has become a mainstay in popular vernacular, there is still

fierce debate

> in the medical community over whether it is the sole culprit for

illnesses it

> appears to cause.

> " We all agree that there are a number of health issues. We don't

understand

> them all, " said Dr. , an Ottawa-based expert who has

helped to

> develop federal guidelines.

> One problem is the sheer number of mould species - there are

hundreds of

> thousands.

> Another is that " the constellation of symptoms people can

potentially

> experience are quite varied, " according to Bartlett, a

microbiologist at the

> University of British Columbia's School of Environmental Health who

has been

> studying mould issues since the early 1990s.

> " This is the crux of why these things are so difficult to sort out.

The

> medical community has no problem with the concept that people in

mould-infested

> places can experience a wide variety of respiratory symptoms, " she

said. " There

> is no consensus in what happens for other kinds of symptoms. We

don't have a

> nice clean test that can be applied that gives us a result. "

> There is one controversial American doctor who says he does.

> Ritchie C. Shoemaker is a land-based family physician who began

delving

> into bacteria and mould medicine in the mid-1990s, when some of his

long-time

> patients - swimmers and fishermen - began complaining of memory

problems,

> fatigue, coughs, chronic pains, diarrhea and sensitivity to bright

light.

> Dr. Shoemaker ultimately connected their illnesses to an outbreak

of

> Pfiesteria, a toxin-forming micro-organism responsible for large

fish kills in North

> Carolina and land. His work with those patients led him to

another

> network that was complaining of similar symptoms. However, theirs

were due to

> exposures to mould and water-damaged buildings.

> Dr. Shoemaker has since developed a reputation as something of a

> mould-science cowboy; he theorizes that people who fall ill after

contact with mould are

> actually having reactions to the toxins contained in the fungus's

> microscopic spores. Among some individuals, particularly those who

he says are

> genetically vulnerable, biotoxins can cause immune-system

impairment or inflammation.

> " Mould exposure initiates a series of illness generators, hurting

> immune-system responses and altering blood flow to many small blood

vessels, " Dr.

> Shoemaker wrote in his 2005 book, Mold Warriors: Fighting America's

Hidden Health

> Threat.. He said the effects of biotoxin exposures are often

mistaken as

> influenza, chronic fatigue syndrome or other common ailments.

> He claims that he is able to diagnose biotoxin-related illnesses by

> analyzing a patient's medical history, blood tests, physical exam

and performance on

> a visual contrast sensitivity test, which a colleague developed.

That test

> measures whether toxins have disrupted neural function. Although

his work has

> been peer-reviewed, he acknowledges that his theories remain

controversial.

> " Indoor growth of toxin-forming moulds make people sick in ways

most

> physicians don't yet fully understand, " he wrote in his

book. " Proving that mould

> causes common illnesses that are rarely recognized by physicians

has been a

> challenge. "

> Schools are particularly susceptible to mould - the problems in

Lambton Kent

> have been seen in nearly every province, as well as across the

United

> States.

> In San Diego, a former schoolteacher named Brinchman has set

up the

> Center for School Mold Help, a website that serves as a continent-

wide clearing

> house for information about mould science, policy and media

coverage. Ms.

> Brinchman, who taught for 25 years before being transferred to a

mouldy school

> where she became too sick to work, said her website gets 120,000

hits per

> year, with an endless stream of requests from teachers looking for

help in the

> mould " war. "

> WHY SCHOOLS?

> Because schools are often built with flat roofs, they are

vulnerable to

> water pooling and leakages. In this era of stretched budgets,

expensive

> maintenance jobs - such as adequately repairing water damage - are

often deferred in

> favour of spending in the classroom. Schools in the past have tried

to fix

> water seepage by permanently sealing windows, which has the effect

of trapping

> moisture in the schools (which helps mould to grow), said Mr.

Malik, of the

> firm now inspecting the Lambton Kent schools.

> Poor ventilation is another common factor abetting mould growth in

schools,

> he said.

> In Newfoundland last year, severe mould problems were discovered in

at least

> eight schools, seven of which were closed. Since last September,

mould and

> water problems have been discovered in at least two Ontario school

districts

> aside from Lambton Kent: Ottawa-Carleton and nearby Renfrew.

> Kathleen Wynne, Ontario's Education Minister, said last fall that

problems

> in Lambton Kent schools got out of hand. " This particular situation

is one

> that we will rely on for some pretty serious lessons, " she said.

> Still, individual teachers, including Ms. Pynaert and Ms. Liddicoat-

Newton,

> who appealed to the minister for help when Labour Ministry

processes seemed

> unable to stimulate an end to the mould, say she never responded.

> Asked why she did not intervene to help with the issue, Ms. Wynne

said:

> " There isn't a direct way for me to be involved. "

> However, lessons drawn from other provinces suggest that there

could be.

> Canada's most notorious school-mould problem broke out in Nova

Scotia in the

> late 1990s; more than a dozen schools were closed. In one case,

several

> million dollars was spent trying to remediate a school before it

was finally torn

> down; in another, contractors were forced to peel back the building

> materials to the rafters to get at all of the mould.

> The problem was so bad the Education Minister created a dedicated

team of

> staffers to travel around the province helping school boards tackle

the mould -

> and the politics the fungus seems to carry with it.

> " My biggest job was to show that I was impartial and that I

believed that if

> you said the child was sick, the child was sick, " said Gerald

Muise, who

> headed the department's team. " It was critical to have the province

involved.

> ...

> " This health and safety business is used and abused, " he said,

adding: " We

> had some of the best medical people around. All they could agree on

what not

> to agree on. "

> Also born out of that era was the Halifax-based environmental

advocacy group

> called Citizens for a Safe Learning Environment.

> The group, now a registered charity, was formed in the early

1990s. " I

> personally went through two years of being blasted in my

community, " said the

> group's head, . " Teachers would stop me in stairwells

and whisper

> to me, 'Please don't stop, Mrs. .' "

> By 1997, however, after seeking out national experts on mould and

indoor

> air-quality problems, members of the group ended up working

frequently as

> advisers to the Education Department and the following year were

asked to work with

> the province on the design of new " healthy " schools.

> Ms. even received a commendation in the provincial

legislature for

> her efforts.

> " We started by pledging that our way of operating was going to be a

> respectful one, that we'd get more with honey than vinegar, " she

said. " We worked

> with solid information ... [and pledged] to be respectful of any of

those who

> were harming our children. No one really wants to harm children, "

she said.

> In most cases, Ms. said, the events that led to the

discovery of

> serious mould problems unfolded in a similar manner to those in

Lambton Kent,

> where sick teachers, at first, hesitated to speak out.

> " I hazard to say that it's happening right across North America, "

she said.

> " It's amazing how much people can be suffering ... and they're

afraid to

> speak up. " They're afraid there will be repercussions and things

will get worse.

> Teachers can be harmed in insidious ways. They can quietly find a

little glass

> ceiling placed over them, or they can be shipped off to a school in

the far

> reaches of the school board, or you miss out on your principalship.

You

> become a troublemaker when you speak out against your employer. "

> MENTAL HEALTH QUESTIONED

> For Ms. Pynaert, the Lambton teacher who had been the most

outspoken on the

> mould issue, the full price tag of the ordeal has yet to be

tallied. When she

> last met with The Globe, her health was still waning despite being

out of

> the classroom for months.

> She was hoarse-voiced, tired easily and was suffering

gastrointestinal

> issues. Also waning was her reputation in the community. Her

outspokenness,

> penchant for taking after-hours pictures of mouldy schoolrooms to

add to her cache

> of files and to challenge the school board - particularly in the

pages of

> local newspapers - worried other teachers and ostracized her from

colleagues.

> Even her own sister, also a schoolteacher, had grown wary of being

in public

> with her.

> When the school board began to take a hard line against her

allegations, Ms.

> Pynaert said, she was " made out to be a liar and a nut. " Her mental

health

> was publicly questioned.

> " In the beginning, we thought we would tell the board and they

would save

> us. They would say, 'This is horrible, and the children are in

there and we've

> got to get them out,' " Ms. Pynaert said.

> " What should have been a surefire health and safety issue has

become a

> political nightmare, " she said.

> Because of the agreement with the school board brokered by her

union, Ms..

> Pynaert was not able to describe her current situation. Friends

said she has not

> been able to return to work since leaving in 2006 and faces a

growing risk

> of losing her job if she continues to refuse to go back to her

classroom

> without being able to prove conclusively that something in the room

is causing her

> illness.

> So far, Ms. Pynaert has gone to extreme lengths to try to validate

her

> claims. Along with some of the other Lambton Kent teachers, she

paid about $600 in

> April, 2007, to send blood samples for testing by a California-

based

> mould-allergy specialist. All of them said they had tested positive

for antibodies

> related to mould exposures.

> Ms. Pynaert's results were so alarming that she spent several more

thousand

> dollars to take the test results to Dr. Shoemaker for his analysis.

In a long

> report on his diagnosis, the doctor wrote that he believes her

illness is

> without a doubt due to mould exposures at work.

> " The syndrome that affects Ms. Pynaert is a biotoxin-associated

illness that

> has been given many names, including Sick Building Syndrome, " he

wrote. " To

> a reasonable degree of medical certainty, exposure to the interior

environment

> of the water-damaged building is the sole cause of her illness. "

Water

> damage, he said in an interview, is a precursor to mould.

> " Ms. Pynaert is no different from my thousands of cases of mould

illness:

> She is primed for subsequent illness solely caused by exposure to

the indoor air

> environment in her workplace. ... She will become ill following re-

exposure

> to any other environment with presence of biotoxin-producing

organisms

> growing in buildings with water damage. "

> Dr. Shoemaker went on to say that out of the 4,400 cases he has

seen, Ms.

> Pynaert's is " one of the most flagrant examples of disregard of an

employer's

> responsibility to provide a safe workplace I have evaluated.

> " What this means is that because of the illness Ms. Pynaert

acquired from

> her workplace, her life will be forever changed. "

> FUNGI FUNDAMENTALS

> Moulds are a form of fungi that help to break down organic material

and can

> grow indoors or out on nearly any surface, from food in the fridge

to

> building materials left out in the rain.

> When mouldy material is disturbed, spores are dispersed into the

air and can

> be inhaled. The worst offender is stachybotrys chartarum, a

greenish-black

> mould that grows easily on drywall, drop-ceiling tiles and wood,

and which is

> known to have health effects.

> Health Canada guidelines endorse a ban on indoor moulds, noting

that

> " exposure to fungi in occupational environments causes allergic and

toxic diseases, "

> but there is no official policy on testing for mould in schools or

> workplaces.

> Even when tests are carried out, they can be inconclusive: Most

tests begin

> with air quality, which is problematic for a number of reasons,

including the

> fact that the indoor environmental and air-quality industry is

unregulated

> in Canada. Consultants can pick and choose from a patchwork of

standards set by

> industry groups, which do little to scrutinize members' quality of

work,

> said Bruce , senior vice-president at Pinchin Environmental

Ltd., a

> Mississauga- based national environmental- consulting company.

> According to Mr. , 80 per cent of indoor mould grows in wall

cavities

> and other hidden places. Buildings that have had water leaks, a

fire or poor

> air quality are the most susceptible.

> " When it starts growing inside, mould is a symptom of a building

system that

> is failing, " said Om Malik, an industrial hygienist and indoor-air-

quality

> expert who heads the Mississauga- based firm Environmental

Consulting and

> Occupational Health Management Inc.

> One thing known for certain is that water is a major factor.

> " Mould and moisture are interchangeable, " Mr. Malik said. " You

have to find

> the cause of the moisture. "

> Leeder is an investigative reporter for The Globe and Mail.

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