Toxic mould infests homes in Port subdivision (Toronto)

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Toxic mould infests homes in Port subdivision

The Toronto Star

6-11-99

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Toxic mould infests homes in Port subdivision

By Nuttall-

Families beset with migraines, sinus trouble.

By Nuttall-

Toronto Star Staff Reporter

The wooden window frames in Port 's n Village, cracking and

peeling like remnants of a seacoast hamlet, give the first sign that

something's wrong with the young homes here.

Up on Poplar Park Cr., Tyler Briley shows where the water streams in when

rain comes from the north. He says he's been wracked with migraines since

his home started rotting.

A few doors away, Dianne Bunn fingers the blackening rot on a post that

holds up her porch, shaking her head as she wonders whether she'll get sick,

too.

And around the corner, on Ash Ave., Kathy McIntosh unseals the room where

her 8-year-old son used to sleep. She reaches with gloved hands for where an

inspector found stachybotrys, the toxic mould that's closed schools around

Toronto and frightened scores of families in this pretty subdivision north

of Oshawa.

``We've had to buy new mattresses,'' says McIntosh. ``Anything that was in

there had to be condemned.''

So far, inspectors have found the mould - linked to asthma, respiratory

infections, migraines and nausea - in two of the houses here. Another soggy

home, free from stachybotrys, hosted at least two other toxic moulds.

, a fungus researcher who inspected some homes, says mould levels

he found aren't yet disastrous.

But he says matters could get worse for n Village. The development,

full of warping and water-damaged dwellings, makes a perfect breeding ground

for potentially dangerous moulds.

and other researchers also say the neighbourhood could be an early

stop for a public health problem that most people have so far noticed only

in schools and portable classrooms.

That problem is likely to grow across Ontario.

``The stachybotrys problem is much worse in residential homes; it's much

worse than in schools,'' says .

Briley, a firefighter who bought a home with his family in n Village

in 1988, says he first noticed about four years ago that the paint was

peeling from the wood trim around his house. When he repainted it, it just

peeled again.

Some neighbours had the same problem, Briley says. ``Everybody was painting,

sometimes twice a year, and we just couldn't keep the paint on the houses.''

The Bunns, the McIntoshes and many of their neighbours also watched as their

homes began to peel, then crumble, both inside and out.

Some of them also started to feel sick, they say.

Like Briley, they complained of searing headaches. Dave McIntosh would

suffer weekends with sinus pain, then it would clear up at work during the

week. Tyler and Ian McIntosh, 11 and 8 years old, both have had sinus

surgery.

One of Angie DeJong's sons also had sinus surgery, and her husband developed

asthma. She called in the local health department, which found stachybotrys

in her living room.

Her family acted quickly. ``We put French doors up and sealed that room like

a drum,'' DeJong says.

Debra , a senior researcher with the Canada Mortgage and Housing

Corporation, worries that people all over Canada will soon start hearing

more about stachybotrys and other toxic moulds.

says more builders are constructing air-tight homes that can trap

moisture, and that people doing basement renovations often unwittingly

create near-perfect conditions for mould. ``This is only the beginning.''

But in many cases mould can be eliminated with strong bleach and by stopping

water from collecting, she says.

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`When you buy a house, you expect it to outlast your mortgage'

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Instead, her family is part of a lawsuit with some 110 other families who

bought homes in the subdivision, hoping to recoup their losses from the

builder and Scugog township.

``When you buy a house you expect it to outlast your mortgage,'' DeJong

says.

The McIntoshes are also part of the suit, but they're not waiting for a

decision.

Like many of their neighbours, they're getting estimates to replace their

exterior siding and windows.

Dave McIntosh says he expects a bill of between $30,000 and $40,000.