Re: STUDY FINDS HIGH MOLD LEVELS IN POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS AIR

[Guest guest]

Duh...

Is this a surprise in anyone's mind ?

STUDY FINDS HIGH MOLD LEVELS IN POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS AIR

National Resource Defense CouncilFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press contact: Craig Noble, If you are not a member of the press, please write to us at nrdcinfo@... or see our contact page.STUDY FINDS HIGH MOLD LEVELS IN POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS AIRReturning Residents at Risk for Serious Respiratory Ailments

SAN FRANCISCO (June 15, 2006) -- 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 today on the website of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

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 paper is available online here.)

"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, Dr. said. "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 six 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 m-3. 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.More information about the NRDC test results, health risks from mold and mold remediation is available here. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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[Guest guest]

, you wrote:

"

Duh...

Is this a surprise in anyone's mind ?

Sounds like it could be a bit of a surprise to the Lousianna Dept of Health, who is only looking for resultant illness from this in emergency room reports, (where physicians are being told these illnesses are "not plausible" anyway. So what would they look for?) Wonder what the percentage increase is in "non-Katrina non- mold related illnesses" are?

.... 50000 emergency room visits in the area from October 2005 through March 2006, ... “There is no such thing as a single condition such as ‘Katrina Cough’ ...

http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/news.asp?ID=192 & Detail=852

Sharon

[Guest guest]

gval102@... wrote:

> Duh...

> Is this a surprise in anyone's mind ?

>

It must be! - to some people in these groups, because in all the

times " pre-Katrina " that I warned that mold is not just an " indoor air

quality problem " and spoke of " Sick Region Syndrome " , there was

no interest, no response, no reply, or any indication of recognition

of the concept.

-

[Guest guest]

OK - I'll bite...

Sick to what or whom?

After all, in terms of " sick buildings " we are primarily talking about

human habitat. Are you referring to other human habitats such as

cities? No-one will argue that air quality aint great in these areas.

But if you are talking about those mold hot-spots such as forests,

swamps, etc, then what exactly do you propose?

Stuart McCallum

>

> > Duh...

> > Is this a surprise in anyone's mind ?

> >

>

>

> It must be! - to some people in these groups, because in all the

> times " pre-Katrina " that I warned that mold is not just an " indoor

air

> quality problem " and spoke of " Sick Region Syndrome " , there was

> no interest, no response, no reply, or any indication of recognition

> of the concept.

> -

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sharon

Talking about the after effects of a major storm just rubs salt into a cut for me... Now we're back to the doctors of prior question. A political circle...

A Proposal before the storm :

We have in this group, medical , electro/mech engineering , laboratory . industrial hygiene, construction , IAQ , Government. Representing ASHREA, EPA, AMIAQ, OSHA .........and every other association in the US and other countries.

What would be the chance of coming with a way to keep the medical staff working as we acquire the H5N1 virus. Would have to be a fast portable tent type structure + pressure staff side - patient side OUTSIDE emergency room location. Thermal scanning to separate those with high fevers and keep them (me-You) out of the general areas. 100% Outside air with hepa bags and uv. Doctors would have to treat thru ports patient served, cleaned by nurses ect in + pressure remote air and convert to a temp mortuary.

If they don't show up a lot more folks will die, maybe us.

Its coming folks. Mutation is a numbers game . Its will go undetected in some remote village and then spread. This is IAQ.

Any Takers?

Valin It's easier to start a parade than walk in one.

gval102@...

From: snk1955@...To: iequality Sent: Mon, 19 Jun 2006 14:38:28 EDTSubject: Re: STUDY FINDS HIGH MOLD LEVELS IN POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS AIR

, you wrote:

"

Duh...

Is this a surprise in anyone's mind ?

Sounds like it could be a bit of a surprise to the Lousianna Dept of Health, who is only looking for resultant illness from this in emergency room reports, (where physicians are being told these illnesses are "not plausible" anyway. So what would they look for?) Wonder what the percentage increase is in "non-Katrina non- mold related illnesses" are?

.... 50000 emergency room visits in the area from October 2005 through March 2006, ... “There is no such thing as a single condition such as ‘Katrina Cough’ ...

http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/news.asp?ID=192 & Detail=852

Sharon

Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free.

[Guest guest]

gval102@... wrote:

>

>

>

> You are so politically incorrect its frightening.

>

> I have watched the writings of what the normal spore counts in the

gulf coast area are. ( of course 300' high mounds of rotting wet

drywall and vegetation don't seem to be reflected in their

calculations or they happen to be up wind). And some will still say

you are out of line.

>

> I tip my hat to ya.

>

> Valin

> ( 8 hurricanes over my head and counting )

Thanks . Just tellin' it like it is.

It has been fascinating to watch this societal paradigm shift

regarding mold.

I am in an unusual vantage point to observe this shift since I was

at " Ground Zero for CFS " and was complaining about mold at the very

beginning of CFS, as described in Dr Shoemakers book, Mold Warriors.

We mold survivors are in the amazing position of watching society

gradually changing their perspectives and conforming to our

formerly " impossible " views, just as Schopenhauer described in

his " Stages of Truth " .

To paraphrase how it feels to us:

" Mold illness is RIDICULOUS, Stupid! "

" Mold illness is IMPOSSIBLE, Stupid! "

" Mold illness? Everybody knows about THAT. What are you?, Stupid? "

Those of us who know how mold works could see the clues about the

effects of Hurricanes in changing ambient levels that are baffling

researchers, as I described in this post on Sickbuildings:

Re: Misguided " recovery " from CFS

Sickbuildings msg. 22530 Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:29 am

I'm running out of CFS specialists to present this concept to.

They have all shot me down except Dr Shoemaker, who is virtually the

only doctor who made any effort to pry this information out of me.

I haven't tried Dr Lapp, but Dr Klimas has made the same misguided

stress asssociation as a lot of CFSers have.

I tried to tell her Hurricane CFS survivors that their

symptoms may have been exacerbated by increased ambient levels of

mold rather than stress, but Dr Klimas has concluded that stress is

the cause, and that is that!

>More important than cross sectional studies of cytokines is the need

to do more studies of cytokine expression over time and what it might

be related to. Klimas has done studies of patterns of cytokine

expression over time and noted that they change with illness severity

with pro-inflammatory Th2 pattern increasing during times of flare.

Also a cluster analysis in literature show TNF cluster with IL1 and

TH2 type cytokines being expressed.

Hurricane study showed after the hurricane everyone with

chronic diseases became worse and study of HIV showed increased viral

expression and that the stress of the hurricane caused increased

viral replication. CFS patients showed dramatic increases in severity

of illness but also IL-1 expression tracking along with the severity

of illness. Important studies to track the illness over time are

ongoing. At least one study in Europe is looking at type 2 shift that

seems to occur later in illness rather than at onset.

The literature has its flaws because of too many cross sectional

studies. The literature suggests an antigen driven system that is

stuck " on. " The question has been raised whether it is polyclonal or

oligoclonal activation. It is possible to tell if polyclonal or

oligoclonal activation by the diversity of the immune response. It

does not appear to be polyclonal, but rather oligoclonal or antigen

specific. It appears to be antigen specific but we do not know the

antigen (the cause). We must reinforce the importance of

subgrouping.<

Well, at least some of us know what the " antigen " is but it doesn't

do any good to scream it at them. I literally yelled this at Dr

in 1998 and have been trying to tell these researchers that

mycotoxins are the common denominator that tie these subgroups

together, but they are still locked into " denial " mode.

-

[Guest guest]

" Mark Doughty " wrote:

>

> , Sharon and others,

Shermer's column in Scientific American this month has a

piece on confirmation bias. This is a topic that too few people,

especially non-scientist, do not grasp. At least scientists try to

be aware of the bias and compensate for it. <

Great! I'm looking forward to it.

Dr Shoemaker has a wonderful quote:

" In the face of obvious abnormalities, skepticism is inappropriate " .

I've been trying very hard to understand how doctors and researchers

who are searching for ways to help CFS patients would literally turn

and walk away without the slightest interest after hearing my story.

I was hoping that when the mycotoxin connection to illness has been

firmly established, some future study would be conducted to clarify

why this abnormality was met with such incredible skepticism.

-

[Guest guest]

> "

>

>

>

>

> Duh...

> Is this a surprise in anyone's mind ?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Sounds like it could be a bit of a surprise to the Lousianna Dept

of Health,

> who is only looking for resultant illness from this in emergency

room

> reports, (where physicians are being told these illnesses are " not

plausible "

> anyway. So what would they look for?) Wonder what the percentage

increase is in

> " non-Katrina non- mold related illnesses " are?

> ... 50000 emergency room visits in the area from October 2005

through March

> 2006, ... “There is no such thing as a single condition such as

‘Katrina

> Cough’ ...

> _http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/news.asp?ID=192 & Detail=852_

> (http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/news.asp?ID=192 & Detail=852)

>

> Sharon

>

The report doesn't seem to reflect the number of people that left the

city. If this was factored in the rise may be noted.