Lessons learned from Katrina can help you protect your health

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Lessons learned from Katrina can help you protect your health

Gazette Online - Solon,IA*

By Hadish

The Gazette

cindy.hadish@...

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20080701/NEWS/894865948/1006/news

IOWA CITY - Iowans can learn from the aftermath of Hurricane

Katrina, said University of Iowa toxicology professor Thorne,

who studied the health hazards of cleanup in New Orleans.

Thorne, director of the UI Environmental Health Sciences Research

Center, said even workers using face masks after the 2005 hurricane

suffered " Katrina cough " and other ailments.

" It's like a cold that doesn't go away, " Thorne said of the weeks-

long ailment suffered by Katrina workers and volunteers.

Besides a persistent cough, cleanup workers could become allergic to

mold or develop asthma symptoms, conditions that might not surface

until later.

Allergy symptoms include itchy eyes and a runny nose.

People removing carpet or doing other work in homes that were

flooded breathe high concentrations of mold spores and endotoxins,

the molecules from bacteria that can trigger asthma-like responses

of the immune system.

" We're already seeing tremendous mold growth here, just as we did in

New Orleans, " Thorne said. " In that sense, we're in the same boat as

Katrina. "

With such high concentrations, even the N-95 respirator masks being

recommended are insufficient, he said, as they only remove 95

percent of particulate matter, including dust and mold spores, from

the air.

If the masks don't fit tightly, they are even less effective, Thorne

said, adding that in many cases, mold remediation should be left to

the experts with proper gear.

" Everyone wants to step up and help. That's the spirit of Iowa, " he

said. " But some people simply shouldn't do this kind of work. "

Children, whose lungs are still developing, asthmatics and anyone

with a lung condition or compromised immune system should stay out

of buildings and from neighborhoods that were flooded, he advised.

Piles of debris, even outdoors, also can hold high concentrations of

mold and endotoxins. Workers should wear rubber gloves and boots,

eye protection, a disposable cover over their clothes and a

disposable shower cap, along with the proper respirator.

Those respirators can cost hundreds of dollars, Thorne noted,

another reason to leave work to the experts. Safety glasses protect

against eye infections.

Shower caps prevent mold spores from getting into hair.

Workers should not track into another home wearing what they had

worn into a flooded building because mold spores can disperse into

the " clean " home.

Those who must do cleanup work should try to limit exposure time,

Thorne said, breaking up the work with frequent breaks for fresh air.

E. coli and other bacteria present another set of dangers, even

after floodwaters have receded.

Workers handling flood-soaked debris should wash with soap and water

before eating or run the risk of diarrhea and other gastrointestinal

diseases.

Hand sanitizers are better than nothing, Thorne said, but cannot

remove all pathogens.

" This isn't normal water, " he said. " It's contaminated water and it

has to be treated that way. "

The research center will use a grant from the National Institutes of

Health to study asthma and other respiratory diseases in flood-

affected areas, including Cedar Rapids.