Re: Emailing: iaq_asthmold....Dr. M. Harbut

[Guest guest]

-

Lea

thanks for the article. Toxic mold is indeed a big problem. I have

met more than one person who developed all kinds of autoimmune

problems and mcs after being exposed to mold. Getting better wasn't

as simple as removing the mold. Like many of us, they have had to

try very hard to detox, support their immune system, etc, to regain

their health. It is too bad that there isn't a simple test to

determine mold in hidden places---it would certainly making renting

an apt or buying a house much safer.

Hugs, kathy

-- In , " Lea " <devans@c...> wrote:

> IAQ News: Black Mold Damage Hikes Mich. Home Costs

>

>

>

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------

>

> 5/15/2003 -

>

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------

>

>

> (Publication page references are not available

for this document.)

> The Detroit News

>

> Thursday, May 15, 2003

>

> Black mold damage hikes Mich. home costs

>

> Marisa Schultz

>

>

> ROSEVILLE -- Hardly anyone had heard of it a

decade ago. But black mold

> has become one of the most controversial aspects

of home ownership and

> is a rapidly growing health concern.

>

> The mold, called Stachybotrys, leaped to public

prominence when it was

> linked in a controversial study to 10 infant

deaths in Cleveland. Now it

> is blamed for closing Washington Elementary

School in Romeo, the Wayne

> County prosecutor's satellite office in

Westland, some units in

> Jordan's condominium complex in Washington and

Ed McMahon's home in

> California.

>

> It has forced Metro Detroit residents to abandon

their homes, fueled

> legal battles with insurance companies and

builders, prompted federal

> legislation, boosted homeowner insurance rates

and created a new field

> of research for environmentalists and health

experts.

>

> Three air quality testing companies say together

they have found mold in

> 450 homes in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

Metro Detroit experts

> say the numbers are actually much higher, since

mold is often hidden

> from homeowners.

>

> In Roseville, Bessie Mae Haus considers herself

one of those victims.

> Shortly after a leaky roof seeped rainwater into

her living room, she

> developed a hacking cough. Then she became so

exhausted that she

> struggled to dial the telephone.

>

> When Haus was diagnosed with shingles, emphysema

and fibrosis of the

> lungs six months later, she moved in with her

daughter and has not

> returned to her home on Glendale Street in

Roseville, which was infested

> with the black mold she now believes caused her

health problems.

>

> She has battled her insurance company to pay for

the mold's removal and

> has filed a lawsuit in Macomb Circuit Court

against a repair company she

> hired for not discovering the substance while

fixing water damage to her

> ceiling.

>

> Nationwide, the Insurance Information Institute

in New York estimates

> that 10,000 mold-related lawsuits are pending in

the United States -- a

> 300 percent increase from 1999.

>

> Home insurance companies have redefined policies

to exclude mold

> coverage in light of thousands of recent mold

damage claims and health

> reports refuting adverse health effects from

mold exposure.

>

> But U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

scientists have been

> frantically working with a short staff and

limited budget to find

> further evidence of the cause-and-effect

relationship.

>

> " The mold is everywhere, " said Marc Menetrez, an

environmental engineer

> who heads up one of the EPA's black mold

research teams in North

> Carolina, " from the desert of Las Vegas to the

high humidity conditions

> of Florida, to the cool areas of Washington

state. ... The public needs

> to be aware of this and the public needs to deal

with this quickly. "

>

> Damage unknown

>

> Scientists from the Centers of Disease Control

identified Stachybotrys

> in 1995 as the culprit for unexplained infant

deaths in Cleveland

> between January 1993 and December 1994. That

report was later challenged

> by CDC scientists who concluded there was not

enough evidence to prove

> the mold caused the babies' deaths.

>

> But there's no doubt that mold causes health

problems, said Dr.

> Harbut, head of the Center for Occupational and

Environmental Medicine

> in Southfield. It's the severity of those health

problems that some have

> disputed, he said.

>

> " You don't have to be a Ph.D. to know that if

you walk into a room that

> has mold and your nose starts running and you're

wheezing, that you are

> probably allergic to it, " said Harbut, who

treats " three or four "

> patients a day at his Royal Oak clinic for mold

exposure.

>

> Few studies attempt to gauge the prevalence of

dangerous molds. But a

> 1994 Harvard University study of 10,000 houses

in the United States and

> Canada found that half the buildings had mold

damage that presented a

> dramatically increased risk of respiratory

illness.

>

> Insurance agents credit the spike to the

publicity of a Texas lawsuit

> where a jury granted Melina Ballard and her

husband $32 million in June

> 2001 for mold damage in their mansion near

Austin. Ballard said her

> husband suffered memory loss and her son

contracted severe asthma from

> the mold. The verdict against Farmers Insurance

was later reduced to $4

> million.

>

> The highest disclosed mold settlement was

reached this year, when former

> ny Carson " Tonight Show " sidekick Ed McMahon

was awarded $7.2

> million for his lawsuit against American Equity

Insurance Co.,

> consultants and others. McMahon alleged toxic

mold spread through his

> home, sickened his family and killed their dog.

>

> Connie Morebach, vice president of Troy-based

Sanit-Air, said her air

> quality testing company has found black mold

locally in about 300 homes.

> Jon Dattilo, president of IAQ Management in

Livonia, said his company

> finds about 40 homes a year with black mold. And

Cote of Air

> Analysis and Consulting Co. in St. Clair Shores

said he's found about

> 100 homes with the toxic mold. Empirical

evidence suggests the problem

> is much larger.

>

> Illness unraveled

>

> It took 37 doctor visits and four hospital stays

before doctors could

> pinpoint mold as the cause of Carolyn Miu's

health problems.

>

> The Commerce Township woman used to juggle

taking care of her son,

> husband and work duties as an AT & T account

manager with ease. But in

> 1999,she developed hives regularly, needed an

inhaler to breathe and had

> trouble remembering job tasks and plans with her

husband.

>

> " I thought I was going crazy, " said Miu,

35. " Everyone was treating my

> symptoms. I wasn't getting better. "

>

> A visit to Dr. Harbut earlier this year began to

unravel the 4-year-old

> health mystery that Miu blames for a miscarriage

and for leaving her job

> on disability.

>

> Harbut diagnosed Miu with prolonged exposure to

toxic mold. He blamed

> her home.

>

> Air tests revealed mold growth in between her

walls of Aspergillus and

> Penicillium, other toxic molds linked to health

problems but not as

> widely reported as Stachybotrys. The mold was

never visible to Miu.

>

> Scientists suggested the mold got there after

the family's home caught

> fire in 1998. Ashes from the fireplace set fire

to trash in the garage.

>

> Firefighters used 9,000 gallons of water to put

out the flames, Miu

> said. But the water was never dried out in

between the walls, creating

> an ideal environment for mold to grow.

>

> The family now rents an apartment in West

Bloomfield. They recently

> hired a lawyer to work with their insurance

company.

>

> Lawsuits, claims increase

>

> The rise in mold lawsuits and insurance claims

is credited to greater

> consumer awareness and tighter building design,

said the EPA's Menetrez.

> After the energy crisis of the 1970s, homes were

built to prevent less

> exchange between the outside and inside air.

Today, homes are typically

> built with drywall instead of plaster, which is

more resistant to mold

> growth.

>

> A sister team of EPA researchers is studying the

health effects of the

> mold on mice. So far research has shown that

mice exposed to

> Stachybotrys exhibit characteristics of allergic

asthma, said jane

> Selgrade, who heads that EPA research team.

>

> Help for research and prevention may be on the

way.

>

> U.S. Rep. Conyers, D-Detroit, introduced

legislation last summer

> aimed at protecting homeowners against toxic-

mold poisoning.

>

> The bill, known as the Melina Bill, also asks

the EPA to set up

> standards for preventing, detecting and cleaning

up indoor mold growth.

> Right now it rests in a House committee.

>

> It's named for Melina Tumpkin, the daughter of

Conyers' Detroit office

> manager, who at age 9 was diagnosed with

exposure to toxic mold at her

> home in Southfield.

>

> Mold followed roof leak

>

> Bessie Mae Haus' problems began in March 2001,

when her roof was damaged

> by ice and water and started to leak into her

living room in Roseville.

>

> Her roof was later replaced and a contracting

company was hired to

> repair the interior water damage.

>

> While the repair men were working, Haus, 78,

said she saw a black

> substance fall from the ceiling. She asked an

employee if it was mold

> and he said it wasn't, Haus said. And he

continued to patch the ceiling.

>

> Afterward, Haus's health began to fail and

doctors diagnosed her with

> mold exposure. She had to evacuate her home and

move in with her

> daughter in Lenox Township after air tests

confirmed mold was growing.

>

> " After the mold, she became as weak as a cat, "

said daughter Carolyn

> Trombley, 43.

>

>

>

>

>

>

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