December 7, 2001 The Times Record Is your home making your children sick? Submitted by City-County Health Department While most people spend at least half of theii lives inside their homes, few know that the air we breathe indoors can be more harmful than outdoor air, especially when it comes to your child's development. Parents everywhere are now worrying that indoor pollutants have turned their homes from safe havens into toxic zones. Professional Laboratories Inc., maker of PRO-LAB® do-it-yourself home safety test kits, is helping to case anxious parents with a simple way to test for these environmental health hazards. Over (he past several decades, our exposure 10 indoor air pollutants such as radon, carbon monoxide and lead is believed to have increased. This is due to a variety of factors, including the construction of more tightly seared buildings; reduced ventilation rates to save energy and the use of synthetic building materials and furnishings. More recently, Americans became aware of another envi ronmental danger lurking in their homes and offices. It's Siachyboirys, also known as black mold. Greater use of mold-friendly cellulose-based building materials and air conditioning systems have created conditions conducive for trapping molds and their spores. Once in place, these spores will remain in place and if moisture from leaks, condensation, flood events or other sources is introduced, the mold will proliferate. If a rood source such as paper, wallboard, wood or other organic source is available, that growth may go unseen and unstopped. Later cycles of dryness will create airborne spores that can be transported to create new colonies where similar conditions exist. Contact with the toxic mold's carcinogenic spores leads 10 a host of health problems, ranging from allergies, congestion, rashes, memory loss, pulmonary hemaorraging -- even death. "The holiest environmental health issue this year has beer mold, without question," said James McDonnell, home safe expert and president of PRO-LAB®. "That's because mold asbestos, and worried consumers are buying these kits to test their homes, schools and offices. Anxious mothers ask me 'What should I do,' and I tell them my rule of thumb. When indoubt, check it out." The link between mold and health problems was first reported in the fall of 1994, when a pediatric pulmonologist at Cleveland's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital saw an alarming increase in cases featuring babies with bleeding in their lungs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent investigators who found a link between black mold present in homes and the frequency of "acute ideopathic pulmonary hemorrhage." In late June, a Texas jury awarded Melinda Ballard of Austin $32 million for damages resulting from Stachybotrys infestation of her luxury home. The toxic mold caused her son to develop asthma, and her husband had unexplained memory lapses resulting in momentary trance-like states. In addition, the damages to her family's health. Ms. Ballard lost all of her treasured heirlooms, including albums filled with priceless wedding and baby photos. Several mothers in New York have also turned to the legal sys tem when their children fell ill, apparently due to Stachybotrys. Marisot Vargas is suing the management of Henry Phipps Plaza, claiming that they are at fault for her memory loss and the severe asthma her four children have developed. Married Quily, also a resident at Phipps, has filed a wrongful death suit, charging the poisonous mold killed her daughter. In all, 150 families are presently suing the management, and four families are seeking damages, charging wrongful deaths. Medical institutions across the nation have been warning parents of the dangers of this toxic menace. According to the Mayo Clinic, mold is responsible for the tripling of the nation's asthma rate in the last 30 years, with the biggest increase seen in children between the ages of 5 and 15. A study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH) indicates that 30 separate investigations around the world have mold and adverse respiratory conditions in children. In addition to asthma, these studies connect mold to conditions ranging from fatigue, headaches, and other central nervous system symptoms (such as memory loss), to a heightened risk for bleeding in the lungs (hemorraghic pnuemonia) and death. The NIH goes on to warn that the danger of mold to children is greater, as (heir immune systems are still developing until they reach adolescence. In an acute reaction, their underdeveloped immune systems could overload in a short period, much like the Cleveland infants. Exposure to these particles over time could also lead the immune system to overcompensate, causing inflammation later in life due to the absence of the irritants. It is because of sobering medical facts that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns Americans that indoor air pollution has become the nation's No. 1 environmental health problem. They estimate that it's anywhere from two to 10 limes worse than outdoor air pollution. The mold threat is not the only indoor air pollutant that poses dangers to children. Carbon monoxide is a particularly dangerous toxin that causes headaches, dizziness, nausea, weakness, and even death. Radon is a radioactive gas that has been found in homes all over the United Stales. When trapped in the lungs, these radioactive panicles start eating away at your lung tissue which causes cancer and eventually death. The EPA cites radon as the second-leading cause of lung cancer in America and estimate that there are between 21,000 and 40,000 deaths a year directly attributed 10 radon. Lead paint and asbestos are toxins that are found in older buildings, and lead to lung cancer. PRO-LAB has simple do-it-yourself tests thai deiect these, and other harmful toxins. The PRO-LAB® brand Mold Test Kit retails for $9.95 and is available at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, and other home improvement/hardware stores nationwide. For more information, call 1-800-427-0550 or visit www.moldtestkit.com.
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