Re: Panel Hears Testimony on Toxic Mold

[Guest guest]

_http://cityroom.http://cityroohttp://cihttp://cityrhttp://cityroom._

(http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/panel-hears-testimony-)

on-toxic-mold/

Related article from:

November 26, 2007, 5:57 pm

Toxic Mold Complaints? Albany Wants to Hear Them.

By _Sewell Chan_ (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/author/schan/)

In 2005, the State Legislature found that “certain forms of mold pose an

unacceptable risk to New York State’s health and environment†and that

“indoor

toxins, specifically toxic mold, have been an under-recognized health and

environmental problem.†The Legislature passed a law, effective Aug. 2, 2005,

that called for the creation of a 14-member Toxic Mold Task Force to “assess,

based on scientific evidence, the nature, scope and magnitude of the adverse

environmental and health impacts caused by toxic mold in the state.â€

But more than two years passed, and nothing was done. No task force, no

assessment. Lawmakers, led by State Senator Liz Krueger, Democrat of Manhattan,

urged Gov. Eliot Spitzer to implement the law.

The governor listened. The state’s Toxic Mold Task Force will _hold its first

meeting_ (http://www.health.state.ny.us/events/meetings/index.htm) on Dec.

4, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., in the boardroom of the _New York State Nurses

Association_ (http://www.nysna.org/) headquarters in Latham, N.Y.

Mold is no joke; ingesting, inhaling or touching spores can seriously injure

infants, children, pregnant women, elderly people and people with asthma,

allergies or compromised immune systems. Mold can trigger asthma attacks, cause

allergies, impair vital organs and increase susceptibility to colds and flu.

The _Times Topics page on mold_

(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/mold/index.html?\

8qa) contains links to a variety of

mold-related resources. (“Haunted by Mold,†a _2001 cover article by

Belkin_

(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E0D7113CF931A2575BC0A9679C8

B63) in The New York Times Magazine, helped focus public attention on the

problem.)

The new task force will be led by Dr. Kim, interim director of the

Center for Environmental Health at the _State Department of Health_

(http://www.health.state.ny.us/) , and Mahar, assistant director of code

enforcement and administration at the _State Department of State_

(http://www.dos.state.ny.us/) .

The other task force members are:

* Anagnost, associate professor, SUNY College of Environmental

Science and Forestry

* Terry Brennan, president, Camroden Associates

* Ginger Chew, assistant professor, Mailman School of Public Health,

Columbia University

* D’, research scientist, New York City Department of

Health and Mental Hygiene

* Denz, director of environmental health services, Broome County

Health Department

* Desiderio, assistant director of environmental health, Erie

County Department of Health

* Faisst, public health director, Madison County Health Department

* Haines, emeritus scientist, New York State Museum

* Dr. Meyer Kattan, professor of pediatrics, Columbia University

Medical Center

* ph Laquatra, professor in family policy, Hazel E. Human

Ecology Extension, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University

* Dr. Melius, administrator, New York State Laborers’ Health and

Safety Trust Fund

* Dr. Jianshun Zhang, professor and director, energy and indoor

environmental systems, Syracuse University

The Dec. 4 hearing will include a 30-minute public comment period. The task

force may decide to hold subsequent public hearings in different parts of the

state.

**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

fuel-efficient used cars.

(http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

[Guest guest]

I have 2 words for Guy Vann and Dr. Johanning.

YOU ROCK!

Great job~!

>

> July 8, 2008

> Panel Hears Testimony on Toxic Mold

> New York Times*

> By Colin Moynihan

>

> http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/panel-hears-testimony-

> on-toxic-mold/

>

> The New York State Toxic Mold Task Force, which first met in

> December, convened in an office building in Lower Manhattan on

> Tuesday for a daylong meeting on the health and economic impacts

> associated with mold.

>

> The task force, which was formally established in 2005 but did not

> begin work until last year, is to prepare a report for the governor

> and the Legislature.

>

> One task force member, D', a research scientist at

> the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, presented

> the panel with an update on guidelines that his department was

> preparing to advise residents on how to find mold and get rid of it.

> He said that the city received about 20,000 mold complaints each

> year and issued about 14,000 citations. But not all mold problems

> rise to the same level. Mr. D' projected a slide of a shower

> stall, three feet long by three feet wide, to illustrate the type of

> potential mold environment that people ought to feel comfortable

> taking a brush or sponge to on their own.

>

> In contrast, in places where mold has spread over 100 square feet,

> Mr. D' said, professional mediators are appropriate, along

> with workers wearing respirators, coveralls and gloves.

> In some situations, he said, mold removers might even want to

> consider using an airlock to separate mold-infested zones from other

> areas.

>

> Just before noon, the task force took a break for lunch. Downstairs,

> on Broadway, several dozen demonstrators were gathered, holding

> aloft banners and a jumbo model of an asthma inhaler. They said that

> they were concerned about adverse health effects connected to mold,

> but that they had been blocked from attending the meeting.

> (Officials said that the meeting was open to the public but that

> participants had to register their names in advance; the

> demonstrators said they had indeed registered, only to be told there

> was no record of their having done so.)

>

> " Neither New York City or New York State has strong regulations

> around mold, " said Irene Tung, the director of organizing for Make

> the Road New York, an advocacy group that organized the

> demonstration. Ms. Tung said that she arrived with about 40 people.

> In the afternoon session, other witnesses described their

> experiences, both professional and personal, with mold.

> Lourdes , a resident of Bushwick, Brooklyn, told the task

> force that many people in her neighborhood suffered from asthma

> exacerbated by mold.

>

> Guy Vann, a lawyer who has represented plaintiffs in mold-

> related cases, submitted 15 academic papers to the task force that

> he said illustrated the dangers of mold in construction,

> particularly in walls and ceilings that become waterlogged.

> He noted that mold was one of only several environmental

> hazards. " Mold has gotten a lot of attention because it is visible, "

> he said. " Bacteria can grow and grow, but you're never going to see

> it. "

>

> Another witness was Dr. Eckardt Johanning, who specializes in

> occupational and environmental medicine and for 15 years has treated

> people affected by mold. He works with the Fungal Research Group, a

> nonprofit group based in Albany that promotes the study of the

> health effects of airborne exposure to mold in workplaces and other

> group settings.

>

> While it is widely known that mold can worsen allergies, Dr.

> Johanning said, new research has associated mold with other

> disorders, including depression and neurological conditions.

> " These toxins that are produced by the mold are very potent

> chemicals, " he said.

>

> Cheryl Borden, who lives in Huntington, N.Y., told the panel that

> she was exposed to mold for 16 months in 1999 and 2000 while living

> in Woodbury, N.Y. She said she had suffered from upper-respiratory

> infections and yeast in her lungs and become acutely sensitive to

> changes in environmental conditions.

>

> Ms. Borden, who said she favors strict laws controlling mold, said

> she had attended all of the task force's meetings. " I want them to

> see my face every time, " she said. " I want them to remember me. "

>