Study Finds High Mold Levels in Post-Katrina New Orleans Air

[Guest guest]

Study Finds High Mold Levels in Post-Katrina New Orleans Air

http://www.homelandresponse.org/500/News/Article/False/21673/News

Airborne mold levels left in New Orleans pose a " significant

respiratory hazard " to residents returning to the devastated city in

the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to a paper published

on the Web site of the peer-reviewed scientific journal

Environmental Health Perspectives.

By: Sandy

The paper – the first scientific study of New Orleans air quality

since Hurricane Katrina – was published by a team of researchers

from the University of Colorado, Boulder; University of California,

Berkeley; and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The

researchers did the study in collaboration with New Orleans

community groups.

" The mold levels we found across the city could easily trigger

serious allergic or asthmatic reactions in sensitive people, " said

Dr. , M.D., the NRDC senior scientist who led the

research team. " The indoor air quality in the flooded homes was

particularly worrisome, but fortunately, the homes that had been

fully gutted and cleaned up did appear to have lower levels. "

Federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have not monitored mold

levels in areas that flooded, and have not helped residents cope

with the mold problem, prompting to say: " Although there are

no U.S. regulatory standards for either indoor or outdoor levels of

mold spores, it is the government's responsibility to ensure the

public is protected from the dangerous health risks. "

Mold growing on damp surfaces releases spores that can be inhaled.

Some molds also produce chemicals known at mycotoxins that may be

toxic to humans. Mold can cause congestion, sneezing, runny or itchy

nose, and throat irritation. More serious symptoms include major

allergic attacks, cough, asthma attacks, and hypersensitivity

pneumonitis (a pneumonia-like illness that causes fevers and makes

it hard to breathe). Some studies have shown that outdoor levels of

mold spores are directly associated with childhood asthma attacks.

The scientists collected air samples for mold spore analysis at 23

outdoor and eight indoor locations across the New Orleans

metropolitan area in October and November of 2005. They chose sites

representing varying degrees of flooding, and some of the indoor

sites had undergone remediation. Sampling times ranged from 6 to 24

hours.

The levels of airborne mold spores were extremely high both inside

and outside of homes, especially in the areas that flooded. The mold

concentrations outdoors ranged from 21,000 to 102,000 spores per

cubic meter (m3). The average outdoor spore concentration in flooded

areas was double the concentration in non-flooded areas. The

researchers also reported the peak mold spore concentrations over a

30-minute period. The highest outdoor 30-minute concentration was

259,000 spores m3.

The National Allergy Bureau of the American Academy of Allergy and

Immunology considers any outdoor mold spore level of greater than

50,000 spores m3 to be " very high. " The spore counts outdoors in 77

percent of the samples taken in flooded neighborhoods – including

New Orleans East, Lakeview, Gentilly, the Lower 9th Ward, Chalmette,

Uptown, Mid-City and the Garden District – exceeded 50,000 spores

m3. Background mold spore concentrations in Louisiana during that

same time period ranged from about 16,000 to 24,000 spores m3.

The highest concentrations were inside homes, where levels ranged

from 11,000 to 645,000 spores m3. The 30-minute peak concentration

was more than 1 million spores m3. The researchers identified 45

different types of mold in the sampling. The most common molds were

Cladosporium and Aspergillus/Penicillium. They also detected

Stachybotrys (often called " toxic mold " ) in some indoor samples.

[Guest guest]

Oh well, I guess this is Part II of the

government ignoring the needs of Hurricane

Katrina victims.

We all know that allergies and asthmas are the

very least of the troubles these people will

suffer. Shame on them.

--- tigerpaw2c <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote:

> Study Finds High Mold Levels in Post-Katrina

> New Orleans Air

>

>

http://www.homelandresponse.org/500/News/Article/False/21673/News

>

Federal agencies, including the Environmental

> Protection Agency

> (EPA), Department of Health and Human Services

> (HHS) and the Centers

> for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have

> not monitored mold

> levels in areas that flooded, and have not

> helped residents cope

> with the mold problem, prompting to

> say: " Although there are

> no U.S. regulatory standards for either indoor

> or outdoor levels of

> mold spores, it is the government's

> responsibility to ensure the

> public is protected from the dangerous health

> risks. "

>