Mold Stirs Health Concerns in Kansas City Schools

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http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/news/2422660.htm Posted on Tue, Jan. 08, 2002 Mold stirs health concerns in area school districtsBy STACY DOWNS,The Kansas City Star As life forms go, Aspergillus versicolor and Stachybotrys atra are pretty unpleasant. They start as microscopic, airborne spores. When they light in a place that's warm and wet, they sprout into a toxic, greenish-black crud. They will grow on almost anything -- including books and blackboards, ceiling tiles and carpet. In September, these two types of mold drove pupils and teachers from Apache Elementary School in Overland Park. The building won't reopen this school year, ee Mission School District administrators decided recently. The Independence and Bonner Springs school districts also are grappling with mold problems. For districts across the country, mold cleanup costs are mounting into the millions of dollars. Since 1998, ee Mission has tapped its emergency funds for hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight mold -- and that doesn't include Apache's cleanup. Mold "tops the list of (health) concerns for school districts," said Lear, director of the Washington-based Center for Health and Health Care in Schools. "There are a lot of older school buildings, there are increased rates of asthma, and school budgets are tight, especially with the economic slowdown. It's a tough problem." Mold has been around forever, but only in recent years has it been linked to health problems. It's a trigger for asthma, which is blamed for about 10 million missed school days a year. A handful of the nation's 90,000 elementary and secondary schools have had to close their doors permanently because of toxic mold problems, said Judy Marks, associate director of the Washington-based National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities. But hundreds have had to spend money cleaning mold, she said. "It's become a spectacular issue," Marks said. "There has been a lot of advocacy from parents to get rid of it." The problem of mold in schools could have been avoided, according to experts cited in the trade publication Education Week. They say it's the legacy of water leaks, poor ventilation, sloppy maintenance, and, in some schools, cheaper construction materials. As more schools act on mold problems, business is surging for companies that test for mold and clean it up. Membership in the Indoor Air Quality Association has more than doubled since the beginning of 2001, to about 1,000, according to Glen Fellman, the land-based group's executive director. Lack of guidelines Despite the growing awareness of mold's problems, no federal laws define safe levels or what methods should be used for removal. Government regulations address the removal of some other toxic substances, such as lead and asbestos, but not mold. That has led to frustration for some school officials. When parents addressed Bonner Springs school Superintendent Van Maren about potential mold problems at the district's high school this school year, he threw to the ground an informational packet from the Environmental Protection Agency that a parent had given him. "There are no guidelines," Van Maren said later in the board meeting, explaining his outburst. But he ordered tests at the school, which had water coming in from a roof that was under construction. Although some mold was visible, an industrial hygienist said levels were low. With a dearth of research, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is unable to offer more than vague guidelines on dealing with mold, said Dan Burrows, a public health adviser. "We can't say it is causing a problem. We can't say it isn't causing a problem," Burrows said. "Without that scientific information, everybody's at a loss of what to do." But the EPA has a different approach. The agency last year produced a 48-page booklet, "Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings," that lists steps for cleaning mold and suggests what kind of protective equipment to wear. "All molds have the potential to cause health effects," the report said. "Potential health concerns are an important reason to prevent mold growth and to clean up any existing indoor mold growth." There's no question that consistent exposure to mold spores makes some people sick, especially those with asthma or immune problems who are more susceptible to respiratory problems, said Dorr Dearborn, a professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University's medical school in Cleveland. Over the last several decades, increasing numbers of children -- especially those in urban neighborhoods -- have developed asthma and other respiratory diseases, Dearborn said. Although mold is a known allergen and asthma trigger, it has not been conclusively linked to severe illnesses. That's because unlike substances such as lead, mold leaves no biological marker in the bloodstream. When lead exposure causes illness, lead shows up in the blood. "We don't have an equivalent for mold," Dearborn said. That makes it difficult to study whether mold in schools or any other buildings contributes to illness. Still, health complaints and long-term medical leaves that coincided with mold discovered in a courthouse prompted California lawmakers to take action last year. The governor signed the Toxic Mold Protection Act, which directs state health officials to set exposure limits for homes, schools, businesses and other public buildings. Dearborn led a mid-1990s study in Cleveland that linked exposure to Stachybotrys to the deaths of 16 infants from pulmonary hemorrhages. In 1999, the CDC rejected the study's findings as inconclusive, but Dearborn says he stands by the report's data. Spores from some molds can contribute to allergylike symptoms and asthma but are relatively harmless to healthy individuals, experts say. ee Mission problems Mold detected in three elementary schools in 1998 prompted the ee Mission district to change its policies, said Bruce Kracl, the district's maintenance director. Mold problems were discovered that summer at Belinder, East Antioch and Somerset elementary schools. The cleanup carried a $200,000 price tag. Disaster Recovery Services, a Dallas consulting firm hired by the district, pointed to a cause for the schools' mold problem. As part of a $140 million bond issue ee Mission voters approved in 1994, the three schools and many other buildings in the district received central air conditioning. But to save money on utility bills, custodians turned thermostats to 80 degrees in unoccupied buildings during the summer. The district's common practice was to clean carpets in schools at the end of the school year, turn off all lights, close blinds or curtains, and turn up the temperature. That created perfect growing conditions for mold, Kracl said. Now custodians who clean carpets at the beginning of the summer use fans to dry them. Blinds are left open, and thermostats are set at 76 degrees, which has raised the district's utility costs. Kracl said the district's mold problems worsened as buildings received air conditioning. There are several reasons, he said. As the district added central air, buildings were retrofitted to become more energy-efficient. That meant replacing old, leaky metal windows with airtight ones. Because of standards from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers, a certain amount of outside air must be circulated through buildings with central air conditioning or heat, Kracl said. When outside air containing mold spores gets circulated through a building that's airtight, mold can start growing quickly when warm temperatures or high humidity are factors, Kracl said. Leaks in the walls, windows and roof probably caused the mold problem at Apache, he said. Getting rid of mold can be difficult, said Jay Portnoy, chief allergist at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. Nonporous surfaces can be washed with bleach, but air-duct seams and porous surfaces such as carpeting often must be replaced by specialists wearing masks and protective gear. People wearing "moon suits" cleaned two schools in the Independence School District at the beginning of the school year at a cost of $200,000. The 300 students at Spring Branch Elementary School attended classes in a church for the first month of the school year. The problem was smaller at Chrisman High School, causing fewer interruptions to classes. Frey, vice president of Apex Environmental Consulting in Overland Park, said cleaning mold could be expensive because only a handful of local companies have the know-how. His company, which tests for mold and suggests ways to get rid of it, is working with the ee Mission district. "When children are involved, getting sick and having permanent effects, that puts fear in individuals," Frey said. "There are more cases now because people are more aware." To reach Downs, call (816) 234-7716 or send e-mail to sdowns@.... To reach Weeks, call (816) 234-7726 or send e-mail to kweeks@.... Kate Beem is a free-lance writer. On the Web Go to The Star online at kansascity.com to learn more about mold in buildings. Preventing mold • Fix plumbing and building leaks as soon as possible. • Watch for condensation and wet spots. Fix sources of moisture problems as soon as possible. • Keep heating, ventilation and air conditioning drip pans clean and flowing properly. • Vent moisture-generating appliances, such as dryers, to the outside where possible. • Maintain low indoor humidity, ideally 30 percent to 50 percent relative humidity, if possible. • Perform regular building inspections and maintenance as scheduled. • Don't let foundations stay wet. Provide drainage, and slope the ground away from the foundation. Source: Environmental Protection Agency