Mold Article

[Guest guest]

And it isnt just a few weeks of sickness. I am three years out of where I

worked in a moldy federal building and I am still sick. From what Im told by my

allergist is the environmental overload ruins your immune system. I fight that.

I live in my home with air cleaners not going anywhere. I react to everything

and now have asthma and my cognitive reflexes are not so good.I hate living

like this. I lost my whole world. Job, man I loved, owcp who denied me. It is

an on going illnessses. All I can hope for is time.

Janet

[Guest guest]

Dear nne -

While it is, in fact, true that many people can

be unaffected by exposure to mold, the

information you found to write your article

seriously downplays the risks for many others -

and when we're concerned about the health impacts

of exposure, it doesn't help the people who have

or may have major health challenges to only focus

on those who don't have them.

I think you'd agree, for instance, that a person

with asthma or in congestive heart failure will

have a different set of issues with second-hand

smoke than those who do not, and people with

asthma and CHF are by far in the minority in this

county - is that a reason to not talk about the

dangers to the portion of the population that can

be dramatically impacted?

It is important to remember that what science is

studied and how it is reported is political, as

much as we'd prefer it weren't. You have well

cited the CDC's official public stance on mold,

but if you look a bit deeper, it is clear that

this is not their only information on the

subject.

For instance, in March of 2005 this CDC warning

talks about the danger of a mycotoxin called

trichothecene:

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/trichothecene/casedef.asp

A mycotoxin is what they call a 'secondary

metabolite' of mold. The other secondary

metabolite you know about is stuff they make

antibiotics from. The term secondary metabolite

means that it is a process that isn't necessary

for the mold's life - it tends to be a way that

they compete against other molds.

The warning you see here is advising of the

possibility that trichothecene can be weaponized

and used to hurt groups of people - if you dig a

little deeper, you'll find that it is generally

believed trichothecene was the biological weapon

used in Laos in the 1970s called 'yellow rain.'

In fact, other than a handful of germs, the vast

majority of biological weapons are made from

molds because of their capacity to maim and kill

- don't take my word for it - Google it.

The warning talks about acute exposure, but I can

tell you from my own experience that chronic

exposure can also be deadly - my neighbor died

unexpectedly at 36 after livng in an apartment

with mold for several years. Forensic pathology

showed he had a huge amount of trichothecene in

his lung tissue (it was the only tissue tested).

By huge, I mean he had 128.9 parts per billion of

trichothecene, but 2 ppb can make a person sick,

and 10 ppb can make someone really sick.

There is mounting evidence that those of us who

have reactions to mold are genetically lacking

the antibodies to remove biotoxins from our

bodies - studies so far appear to show that it is

a quarter of the population that is unable to

remove toxins from our systems without

assistance. The best discussion of this is in a

book called MoldWarriors by Ritchie Shoemaker, MD

of Pokomoke, land. This explains why some

people get quite ill while others are relatively

unaffected by exposure. Do we not discuss the

potential dangers just because those potentially

affected are in the minority?

Perhaps the loudest denials about health matters

concerning mold are about compromised immune

systems - it is generally accepted that people

with HIV can have problems with mold exposure -

what isn't so well reported is that mold exposure

can weaken the immune system itself.

Anecdotal 'evidence' may not impress you, but

just for kicks, try Googling 'mold seizures' or

'mold bleeding.'

I hope you'll go on to research this for yourself

- it's an important topic

Best,

~Haley