Officials Warn of Mold from Water Damage

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Officials Warn of Mold from Water Damage

A foot of rain could result in more mold in Northern Virginia homes.

By J. Krischke

July 10, 2006

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?

article=68306 & paper=61 & cat=112

Burke Connection - McLean,VA

As Northern Virginians work to dry out rugs and flooded basements

after record-setting rains, Fairfax County health officials have

released information for residents concerned about an increase of

household mold spores associated with water damage.

" We get a lot of questions about mold and people become alarmed when

they see it in their homes and what effect this could have on their

health, " said Yetman, an environmental health specialist with

Fairfax County's Department of Health. " We're trying to get some of

those questions answered … and explain to people that it's not

necessarily a dire situation. "

Mold begins to form when a surface that is not meant to be wet is

exposed to water for an extended period of time — as in a flood —

allowing for spores already in the air to grow, according to the

health department. Then more spores are released into the air,

inhaled by anyone in its vicinity and causing some people to develop

irritation.

Symptoms of mold irritation include red, itchy eyes; increased

coughing or a higher level of stress while breathing; an increased

number of asthma attacks in asthma patients and rashes on the skin,

according to Pat Wilfond, a respiratory specialist at Inova Fairfax

Hospital.

" The time when you have large mold problems is when you have

flooding, " Yetman said.

" The most profound effects are for people who have allergies to

mold, and this creates an increased factor of mold that they have to

deal with and the body might not be able to handle it, " he

added. " This is an alien organism that your body has to propel, and

in a home where there's substantial amounts of mold spores in the

air, the body must work even harder to deflect them. "

THOSE WHO ARE at the highest risk include people with allergies to

mold, people living with asthma and children, elderly people and

people who are already ill, Wilfond said.

Mold " can cause significant irritation in those who are allergic to

it … and act as a trigger for asthma, " Wilfond said. " Some people

are more sensitive to mold spores … there are some people who it

won't bother at all while others will walk into an area with a high

number of spores and be really affected, and those people need to

know how to protect themselves from this. "

" I've had patients admitted [to the hospital] who are having

something trigger asthma attacks and we try and see what it is and

many times it comes back that there is an increased level of mold in

the house, " she said.

Wilfond said that residents with a compromised immune system are

vulnerable to developing Aspergillus Fumigatus, an infection where

fungus begins to develop in the lungs.

It's not just in homes, she added. Water damage in schools and

office buildings can result in an increased level of irritation for

those sensitive to airborne spores.

While mold ranks behind cigarette smoke, dust mites and animal

dander as the most common causes of irritation, Wilfond said that it

is still a very common problem in the patients that she treats.

" Sometimes people don't even know it until they come in and they

realize that, yeah, mold is a problem, " she said.

THE BEST WAY to eliminate mold is to remove all water-damaged

material and use dehumidifiers to dry out wet indoor areas,

according to official information released by the Fairfax County

Health Department.

" Any time a home has significant water intrusion, you have a problem

of mold growth, and until you stop that water intrusion, it's not

going to go away, " Yetman said. " Our homes weren't built to be wet,

so anytime we have wetness, these buildings are susceptible to

[supporting] mold growth. "

Mold growth, which is most commonly found near leaking windows or

flooded basements, resembles a stain of spilled cola present on a

moist surface, Yetman said.

If a resident suspects that mold is in his or her home or business

because of increased allergic irritation but doesn't see any mold,

he or she could enlist the assistance of a private water damage

consultant to look for the mold, Yetman said. If mold is visible,

the area should be dried out and the damaged material removed.

Residents who live on rental property who are concerned about the

presence of mold from water damage should contact their landlord

about repairs, he added. Fairfax County has the authority to require

landlords to fix water-damaged material in homes.