CDC to update website regarding mold induced illnesses.

[Guest guest]

School Mold Help has been working to encourage the CDC to update their

website with current accepted science over the mold issue. Below is a letter

received SMH yesterday from Frumkin of ATSDR over the matter. One

can read the entire sequence of events that have led to the updates at:

_https://www.schoolmoldhelp.org/content/view/1877/1/_

(https://www.schoolmoldhelp.org/content/view/1877/1/)

Dear Mrs. Brinchman,

Thank you for your letter of September 15, 2009.

I understand that you have spoken with Dr. Garbe, Chief of the Air

Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch at the National Center for

Environmental Health. As Dr. Garbe stated, the CDC recognizes the importance of

mold

as a public health concern, particularly for vulnerable individuals, such as

individuals with asthma and other respiratory diseases or with other

underlying conditions. We appreciate that you share this concern, and thank you

for bringing your specific suggestions to our attention.

As Dr. Garbe explained on your October 9 call, we are reviewing the new

World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on indoor air quality, dampness,

and mold to determine if those findings are at significant variance with the

Institute of Medicine (IOM) review/Damp Indoor Spaces and Health that CDC

sponsored in 2004. We feel the WHO authors' conclusions and their

recommendation for " prevention or remediation of dampness and mold-related

problems

to significantly reduce harm to health " are in agreement with the IOM report

and with what we have posted on our website. We are still reviewing the

evidence for WHO's characterization of mold as a " major cause of morbidity

and mortality " and will adjust our recommendations as needed based on that

review.

In the meantime, we have provided a link to the WHO report on our mold

website, _www.cdc.gov/mold_ (https://www.schoolmoldhelp.org/www.cdc.gov/mold) ,

as a " Key resource " (on the right side of the page), and as a " Nonfederal "

resource on our mold " resources " page (_http://www.cdc.gov'mold/links.htm_

(http://www.cdc.gov'mold/links.htm) ), as you suggested. Also, in response

to one of your emails on this matter, we have clarified some of the recent

redesign of our website to improve our links to the IOM report. Thank you

for bringing this oversight to our attention. We are reviewing how to more

clearly represent the IOM findings related to exposures and health effects.

In particular we will review our presentation of the IOM findings

regarding " Limited or suggestive evidence " and " Sufficient evidence of an

association " . (page 1)

I would also like to respond to two additional concerns you have raised.

1. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) Audit on Mold, found

inconsistencies among federal agencies addressing mold. This problem is being

addressed by the Federal Interagency Committee on Indoor Air quality (CIAQ),

which is chaired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Inquiries on

the CIAQ process should be addressed to the CIAQ. You may contact the CIAQ

at the following address: Philip Jalbert, Executive Secretary, Federal

Interagency Committee on Indoor Air quality (CIAQ) U.S. EPA, Indoor

Environments Division (6609J), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

20460

or via email at _ciaq@...._ (mailto:ciaq@....) This e-mail address

is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

2. You asked about email correspondence from Vangent Inc. CDC has used

Vangent Inc. to assist with public inquiry responses since 2005. The

information provided by Vangent in response to question about is prepared by

the

CDC's Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch.

Again, thank you for sharing your concerns with us.

Sincerely,

Frumkin, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Director, National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic

Substances and Disease Registry

-------------------------------------

The sequence of communications has been as follows, in Chronological Order,

culminating in the receipt of the letter above. We have not yet responded,

but will, shortly.(SMH)....

[Guest guest]

I trust that the CDC will open its eyes and ears to the complexity of the indoor

environment. I am working with a family in the midwest that has mold and

bacterial infection as result of water intrusion into their apartment. The

bacteria are rare bacilli that have not been identifide to date. I want to

emphasize once again that mold is not the only problem of damp indoor spaces.

There are also gram negative and positive bacteria, particuarly the

Actinomycetes (species of Streptomyces, Nocardia and Mycobacterium). I trust

the CDC will probably not even look at these. The health problems resulting

from a combination of exposure to both mold and bacteria by-products must be

considered.

Jack-Dwayne: Thrasher, Ph.D.

Toxicologist/Immunotoxicologist/Fetaltoxicologist

www.drthrasher.org

toxicologist1@...

Off: 916-745-4703

Cell: 575-937-1150

L. Crawley, M.ED., LADC

Trauma Specialist

sandracrawley@...

916-745-4703 - Off

775-309-3994 - Cell

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Thank you in advance for your compliance.