Georgia Southern faculty member convinced mold made him sick

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July 24, 2002

One faculty member believes mold made him sick

By ANGELA LEE, Reporter for the Statesboro (Ga.) Herald

At least one Georgia Southern faculty member is convinced mold creeping

through the building where he worked nearly killed him recently.

It all began back in April, says the assistant professor who wishes to

remain anonymous. As usual, he was spending his work days in Georgia

Southern's communications art facility, a small group of " temporary "

buildings located not far from the university's Library.

Classes were in full swing. He was busy. But he stopped suddenly one evening

when he found himself unable to breathe. The doctors called it " reactive

airways, " he remembers. He calls it terror.

He survived and returned to his classroom in the communications art

facility, where he noticed he wasn't the only one who was sick. Others

complained of various health problems.

Finally, one determined staff member convinced university officials testing

was in order to determine if the building was a safe place to work. They

did the testing, he says, and found " massive amounts " of stachybotrys, a

mold sometimes blamed for serious health problems in humans.

Months later, he's feeling fine ... and he has a new office in another

building on the Georgia Southern campus.

" They fixed my problem, " he says.

Lee can be reached at 489-9454 or alee_ford@....

©Statesboro Herald 2002