Inverness Middle School Expert disputes toxic mold findings

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Expert disputes toxic mold findings

05/02/02

Jan Witherspoon

Two air quality experts disagree on test results at Inverness Middle School.

One said it's within normal ranges for airborne fungi; the other said the

results are too high and could be a potential source of illness.

Superintendent of Schools Hickey said he's concerned. Morelli,

an advocate determined to reveal the harmful effects of toxic mold,

requested that a classroom be tested for mold and the school system complied

after first testing for radon. The school district has a contract with GLE

Associates Inc., a ville-based air quality testing lab. The company

conducted tests and issued a report in January 2002.

The GLE report said the results showed several types of non-pathogenic molds

were present and that the levels are within the typical range for a

classroom environment with high occupancy.

Dr. Lipsey, a ville toxicologist, does not agree with the GLE

report.

Penicillium was one of the molds found in the room. Lipsey said it is

pathogenic and produces mycotoxins that can cause brain damage, and that the

levels found in room 804 " are not insignificant. "

Another mold, alternaria, was also found and Lipsey said it is known to

cause asthma and sinusitis. After reviewing the GLE report, he said, he was

surprised.

" Any time you have pathogens inside a building three or four times higher in

number than outside, it tells you the building is generating those

pathogens. . It didn't just have three or four times more mold inside, it

had 32 to 40 times more mold, " he said.

Morelli met with Hickey in April and asked for a second opinion, with

testing done by another company. Because the school system has a contract

with GLE, Hickey had the company retest room 804 as well as other areas of

the school.

Colasanti, health and safety specialist for the school district,

recently talked to representatives of GLE and is expecting a written report

next week.

" I'm comfortable with the information they give me, " he said. " They tell me

things to do when it's necessary. "

Hickey said the school system is responding to Morelli's concerns.

" Any concern about safety in the schools is our concern, " he said. " The

safety and well-being of children and the staff is a primary concern for us.

" I have a concern about this. We're looking at it and addressing it and

using all information I have at my disposal. We're going to explore this,

and there is no avenue we will not explore in providing safety to our

children. "

Morelli's daughter, , 13, has had asthma since she enrolled in second

grade at Inverness Primary. She is now in the eighth grade at Inverness

Middle and has problems breathing when she is in room 804, which is now her

homeroom, Morelli said.

" When started school this year, she came home and said, 'There's a

classroom where all I do is cough and my chest hurts,' " Morelli said. " It

wasn't until open house when I went to school to meet her teachers, and I

was standing in the classroom and started getting sick myself - within 10

minutes I was coughing and my skin was itching. "