Boston Globe: Record rainfall favors mold, health officials warn

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Record rainfall favors mold, health officials warn

By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff | July 6, 2006

April showers may bring May flowers, but rains in May and June?

They bear mold.

With the region drenched in record rainfall over the last two months, state

health officials are warning that July and August are expected to be among

the heaviest mold months in recent history and are urging homeowners to throw

out soggy mattresses, carpets, and other porous objects, and to use bleach to

clean hard surfaces. Those with extensive flood damage should enlist

professional cleaners, they said.

``There's one thing you can say about mold: If you don't get rid of it, it's

going to keep growing, " said associate state public health commissioner

Suzanne Condon . ``It gets more dangerous as the spore count goes up. "

For the moment, the wet weather -- a chance of showers is predicted for

every day this week -- is actually helping stave off the mold infestation.

Spores

initially thrive in wet conditions, but flourish only when it turns dry and

hot.

``If it starts to dry off next week, people are going to have to take swift

action, " said Condon. ``The conditions are absolutely becoming ripe for mold

growth. "

Mold removal firms have already done brisk business on the North Shore,

where May flooding left hundreds of basements and first floors waterlogged.

State

officials said several government offices had to destroy records stored in

basements because mold had taken hold.

Boston logged 22.57 inches of rain in May and June, the most in a two-month

period since record-keeping began in 1872. Two major rainstorms produced

widespread flooding, most disastrously on the North Shore in May, then a lesser

but still messy deluge in June along the South Shore. Officials in both

regions have reported mold problems.

State officials said Essex County is expected to be hardest hit by mold

outbreaks. It has accounted for more than two-thirds of the $13 million in

federal disaster-assistance aid approved since the May floods, and officials

believe the mold outbreak will track closely with where aid is being sent.

Cal Bankston , New England coordinator for the Southern Baptist Convention

Disaster Relief program, which has done nearly 500 hours of volunteer work in

Massachusetts since the floods, said his teams have seen many incomplete mold

clean up jobs.

``People have cleaned up their homes, discarded the affected material. But

still we see the mold because the house has not been properly disinfected, " he

said. ``A lot of people haven't even pulled things out of the house. You

have mold growing and it takes root everywhere. "

Bankston said some houses where mold has been given time to grow are

off-limits to his crews. ``After four to six weeks, you get into a different

mold

environment, " he said. ``The smell can be very harmful. People can get really

sick just by being in the environment. "

Mold is common outdoors, but can spawn indoors when airborne spores land on

wet spots, where they multiply. They reach problem levels when the weather

turns humid and sunny. Mold spores can exacerbate allergies and asthma and also

cause eye, skin, nose, throat, and lung problems.

Health officials recommend cleaning hard surfaces with a solution made of

two capfuls of bleach for every gallon of water. Porous objects should simply

be discarded. But sometimes people such as Pacific need to be called in.

``If you have kids especially, I'd recommend you get it cleaned up, " said

the owner of Winchester-based Pacific Power Washing, which has done

heavier-than-usual business in such towns as Peabody, Winchester, and

Wakefield.

(Sidebar in print edition)

Mold Prevention

When water leaks or spills, act quickly. If dried within 24-48 hours, mold

should not grow.

Properly wipe up condensation or moisture collecting on windows, walls or

pipes.

Keep air conditioning drip pans clean and drain lines unobstructed and

flowing properly.

Keep indoor humidity low, if possible below 60 percent.

Clean and repair roof gutters regularly.

Make sure ground slopes away from building foundations, so water doesn't

collect.

Raja Mishra can be reached at _rmishra@..._ (mailto:rmishra@...)

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