FW: New to the group and need some help and/or advice, please.

[Guest guest]

You don't have to live in a hurricane prone area to suffer from this problem.

I developed the same respiratory problems along with calcified granulomas

working in Cincinnati Ohio in a lab with an old, malfunctioning air conditioning

system which contained fiberglass insulation in the ductwork. If you can get to

a university science library, look up Journal of Industrial Microbiology summer

1997 for an article titled " Fungal colonization of fiberglass insulation in the

air distribution system of a multi-story office building " by R.L. et.al.

It will explain the problem rather well. Show it to your doctor who apparently

has no clue. Show it to your manager who hopefully will also be sick. Maybe then

he will get something done. Medicine will not make you better. Getting the

system fixed or getting a different job will be necessary. I put up with it

longer than you did, because I had been at my employer many years, and wanted to

protect my pension benefit. Eventually, I was so sick all the time, I had no

choice but retiring early with a permanent condition caused by that experience.

Look up the web site of American College of Allergy. Asthma, and Immunology

(www.ACAAI.org). There you will see a comment on allergy testing: The primary

reason for allergy testing is to help the patient learn what to avoid. Medicine

is secondary, a fact ignored by too many doctors. All the medicine in the world

will not prevent increased sensitization from continued exposure to the cause of

your problem. I learned the hard way that toughing it out leaves permanent

damage.

You might also look up www.niosh.gov and search for an online pdf book titled

" Indoor Air Quality: a Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers " . It has

some good tips on safely operating as building. You might even want to contact

your local health department. Many older HVAC systems had insulation in the

ductwork, or used fiberglass ductboard. These improved energy efficiency and

were quiet, but were prone to mold problems, and are thus against building code

in new construction in Florida and some other states. Unfortunately, owners of

old buildings are slow to correct this problem, which gets worse as the system

ages, gets dirty, and the efficiency drops, creating the conditions you now

have. Good luck.

Gil Vice

New to the group and need some help and/or advice, please.

Posted by: " laquilino68 " laquilino68@... laquilino68

Date: Tue Jun 29, 2010 7:24 am ((PDT))

Hi all,

I am new to the group and have been trying to find a way to locate a Dr in my

area who is knowledgeable with mold testing. I am working in an office building

that had extensive hurricane damage in 2004. It took 2-3 years to fix the roof,

the ceiling tiles, and replace the carpet. When the old carpet was pulled up,

there wasn't any air quality precautions taken. The air vents in the ceiling had

black spots all over them. I had been at my sickest in 2007, developing asthma

and chronic bronchitis. I was tested for allergies, and my only allergy is to

mold. So, I asked my HR head to investigate the air vents. he sent the head of

maintenance who claimed it was dirt kicked up from replacing the carpet, and

cleaned all of the vents with a non-bacterial cleaning solution. Well, the vents

have black spots again, I am still sick, having maybe one or two good months out

of the year, if that. I just finished 3 rounds of antibiotic, and am still

coughing and wheezing. My Dr. says I am fine, and that it must be the flu since

the antibiotics did not clear it. My chest x-Ray shows granulomas, which my Dr

also did not think was a problem. My boyfriend is not sick, so he has not caught

anything from me. The people who work in my building are always sick, coughing,

allergies, etc.

I apologize for such a long winded paragraph, but if there is some link or

website out there that can help me find a Dr. who will consider mold testing, I

would really appreciate the help.

Thank you all for any help you can give!

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[Guest guest]

Thank you, Gil! You provided me with a lot of helpful information...and that is

exactly how I feel.....so sick all the time! I just want to feel better. I

need a good Dr. and hopefully a way to get this situation fixed. Thank you for

the references and the reading material!

>

>

> You don't have to live in a hurricane prone area to suffer from this

problem. I developed the same respiratory problems along with calcified

granulomas working in Cincinnati Ohio in a lab with an old, malfunctioning air

conditioning system which contained fiberglass insulation in the ductwork. If

you can get to a university science library, look up Journal of Industrial

Microbiology summer 1997 for an article titled " Fungal colonization of

fiberglass insulation in the air distribution system of a multi-story office

building " by R.L. et.al. It will explain the problem rather well. Show

it to your doctor who apparently has no clue. Show it to your manager who

hopefully will also be sick. Maybe then he will get something done. Medicine

will not make you better. Getting the system fixed or getting a different job

will be necessary. I put up with it longer than you did, because I had been at

my employer many years, and wanted to protect my pension benefit. Eventually, I

was so sick all the time, I had no choice but retiring early with a permanent

condition caused by that experience.

> Look up the web site of American College of Allergy. Asthma, and Immunology

(www.ACAAI.org). There you will see a comment on allergy testing: The primary

reason for allergy testing is to help the patient learn what to avoid. Medicine

is secondary, a fact ignored by too many doctors. All the medicine in the world

will not prevent increased sensitization from continued exposure to the cause of

your problem. I learned the hard way that toughing it out leaves permanent

damage.

> You might also look up www.niosh.gov and search for an online pdf book

titled " Indoor Air Quality: a Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers " .

It has some good tips on safely operating as building. You might even want to

contact your local health department. Many older HVAC systems had insulation in

the ductwork, or used fiberglass ductboard. These improved energy efficiency and

were quiet, but were prone to mold problems, and are thus against building code

in new construction in Florida and some other states. Unfortunately, owners of

old buildings are slow to correct this problem, which gets worse as the system

ages, gets dirty, and the efficiency drops, creating the conditions you now

have. Good luck.

>

> Gil Vice

>