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(Key Middle School) HOUSTON — After inspecting a middle school where dozens of employees and students have reported being sick, an expert with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said she found several air-quality problems there that could have led to sickness....
AP Texas News
Sept. 29, 2007, 1:48AM
Official says school's air problems could have led to illness
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5174621.html
© 2007 The Associated Press
HOUSTON — After inspecting a middle school where dozens of employees and students have reported being sick, an expert with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said she found several air-quality problems there that could have led to sickness.
But Nancy Burton, an industrial hygiene expert with the CDC, said Friday that the specific cause of the illnesses that have been reported since August will likely never be determined.
Burton, who inspected the school and met with employees for two days this week, said school officials initially underestimated the extent of the mold and humidity problems at Key Middle School.
"It has problems, but there are ways to address them," she said. "The school district is starting to do that and is working on making it an environment that would be safe to work in."
Burton and her CDC colleagues probably won't issue formal findings for several months.
Burton said the symptoms reported by those at Key — including nausea, dizziness and difficulty breathing — are similar to those reported by others exposed to overly damp buildings.
She said the district should continue cleaning up the visible mold at Key, controlling the humidity through the ventilation system and limiting the water drainage that can accumulate under the building.
Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said the CDC inspection shows the district should have acted quicker when her staff first raised concerns about Key in late August.
Three weeks after the teacher's union demanded the building's evacuation, the district said students and teachers would be temporarily removed. District officials have maintained since early September that the building was safe.
Key has been holding classes since Monday at nearby Fleming Middle School, an arrangement district spokesman Terry Abbott said will likely continue through at least December.
"We made the best decisions we could make with the information we had at the time," Abbott said Friday. "Keep in mind, we had independent, outside experts who said the building was safe for occupancy."
District officials asked the CDC to inspect Key after U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, invited the federal agency to tour the school at the request of the teachers' union.
Before that, the district had hired a private contractor which concluded that its tests for mold and other toxins didn't turn up any major problems. The city health department and the fire department also ran tests.
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Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com
NoMoreSchoolMold wrote:
PS It is extremely easy to rig testing so mold is not found. For instance, in many schools where testing is conducted, industry standards are not followed. The districts air out or "clean" rooms first, then testing is conducted. So the environment is tampered with to produce clean results. Or mold spores in the air are temporarily killed or removed. Then tested. Or no testing in places where the mold would be found. No testing used to find molds like stachy, that have heavy spores that don't reach up where the air testing is being conducted... This is the name of the game at school districts that are more concerned about coverups and liability than employees and kids. We don't know YET what this district did, if anything, to tamper with testing. But the methods used for testing and observations of the those present should be investigated fully. Some of these ill people may never recover.
9/30/2007 10:55:29 AM
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NoMoreSchoolMold wrote:
Re: >
Nonsense. All the CDC has to do is run tests on the molds and bacteria, to determine if they are toxin producers. They can even measure the toxins. They don't WANT to, it would seem.
9/30/2007 10:47:49 AM
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Snorri wrote:
Oops, I meant to say
"because the absence of spores at a given time only shows there were not spores there THEN at that moment."
And Stachybotrys spores are very uncommon to see because more than 99% of them stay attached for a long time. Even if its 'dead' they remain toxic for years, generating toxic dust. That dust can make people sick even if its inside a wall cavity. Its been proven that air pressure differentials spread it even through microscopic holes too small to see.
If you see any stachybotrys spores, its a serious reason to worry.
(There probably is a lot more inside of the wall, and you have to open up the walls and look for it.)
>because the absence of spores at a given time only shows there were not spores there.
The difference is important.
9/29/2007 10:44:31 PM
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Snorri wrote:
I'm guessing this was a spore test that was done. Microscopic spore tests are often touted as showing that building x or y DOES NOT have problems but in truth, microscopic spore testing should really only be used to show when there IS a problem, because the absence of spores at a given time only shows there were not spores there. That is what experts agree and that is what the EPA says as well. Spore tests are useful for evaluating situations, though, but they have a lot of drawbacks so that should be used with other data. The MOST important piece of information should ALWAYS be 'is the building making people sick'?
There are toxin tests for mold toxins and something called an ERMI test which measures mold DNA.
Why are they still arguing about whether mold should be completely cleaned up? they should not be. That should be a no brainer. Time spent arguing is time in which they could be patching leaks and then cleaning.
ALL children deserve clean, healthy schools. ALL teachers deserve healthy workplaces.
>Before that, the district had hired a private contractor which concluded that its tests for mold and other toxins didn't turn up any major problems. The city health department and the fire department also ran tests.
9/29/2007 10:37:01 PM
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CharlesLSJr wrote:
"But Nancy Burton, an industrial hygiene expert with the CDC, said Friday that the specific cause of the illnesses that have been reported since August will likely never be determined."
Naturally. Because NO doctor could find anything wrong with the people who REQUESTED to have themselves rushed to the hospital. Not ONE person exhibited anything a doctor could identify as chronic or systemic.
"Burton said the symptoms reported by those at Key — including nausea, dizziness and difficulty breathing — are similar to those reported by others exposed to overly damp buildings."
Overly damp? May we see the humidity measurements that exceeded environmental regulations? Do such recommended guidelines even exist? If the private contractor, the health department, and the fire department, covered up or lied about humidity measurements that exceeded code, then I agree with Hadenough; let's get going with a major corruption, or even criminal, investigation.
Otherwise: shut up
9/29/2007 9:45:24 PM
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