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The NY State Task Force on Toxic Mold has been set up with appointments to the task force
by the governor. Watch a TV video news broadcast covering this story at this link below!
"Mold like this has been found throughout residential communities on Long Island and in tri-state area schools.
Now, Gov. Eliot Spitzer has commissioned a task force to address the problem. "(CBS)
Dec 4, 2007 7:51 pm US/Eastern
Watch video tv news broadcast and read this story at:
http://wcbstv.com/seenon/mold.task.force.2.602478.html
N.Y. State To Form Mold Task Force
Problems Throughout Tri-State Area Get Spitzer's Attention
Reporting, Andrew Kirtzman NEW YORK (CBS) ― It is a common site yet often dangerous to your health. Mold is suddenly the focus of medical experts. And now New York state is investigating what can be done to protect the public from its effects.
Barbara Skinner is a casualty in the battle against toxic mold. The Harlem resident says she had to move when the fungus spread through her apartment. Now she says it's spreading through another.
"The leaks keep coming, so if the leaks keep coming the mold keeps coming behind the walls," Skinner said.
She's not alone. Last week, an entire housing complex in the Long Island community of Westbury was shut down from a mold infestation. For some, the recent developments did a lot more than provide inconveniences.
"This ruined our first Christmas for her," said Barbara and Manny Delmas.
"And this is confusing because we renewed our lease for a year, and thought we would have the peace of mind of a home. We find out that we have no place to live as of the 31st," Manny added.
The problem has now caught the attention of the state government. A special panel formed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer convened in upstate New York to map strategy on Tuesday.
"All of us have become more aware of the potential health affects from mold, more aware of the problem," said panel co-chair Nancy Kim.
The public health officials who gathered upstate have documented a long list of ailments. They range from depression and asthma to memory loss.
Cheryl Borden went to recount her ordeal. Toxic mold forced her to flee her Long Island home in 2000.
"By the time I went to the doctor, they thought I had PCP -- the pneumonia AIDS patients die from -- and to this day I still have hundreds of spots on my lungs," said Borden.
Dr. Eckhardt Johanning said a recent study found mold to be as harmful to children as cigarette smoke.
"They found that the risk people have to develop new onsets of environmental asthma is similar to the risk you have if your parents smoke," said Johanning.
People are hoping they escaped the plague before it had the opportunity to inflict life-threatening damage.
The panel has invited members of the public to speak at each of its meetings.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Related Stories
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/toxic-mold-complaints-albany-wants-to-hear-them/?emc=eta1
NY Times, Monday, Dec. 3, 2007
NY/Region
Back to front page »
November 26, 2007, 5:57 pm
Toxic Mold Complaints? Albany Wants to Hear Them.
By Sewell Chan
In 2005, the State Legislature found that “certain forms of mold pose an unacceptable risk to New York State’s health and environment” and that “indoor toxins, specifically toxic mold, have been an under-recognized health and environmental problem.” The Legislature passed a law, effective Aug. 2, 2005, that called for the creation of a 14-member Toxic Mold Task Force to “assess, based on scientific evidence, the nature, scope and magnitude of the adverse environmental and health impacts caused by toxic mold in the state.”
But more than two years passed, and nothing was done. No task force, no assessment. Lawmakers, led by State Senator Liz Krueger, Democrat of Manhattan, urged Gov. Eliot Spitzer to implement the law.
The governor listened. The state’s Toxic Mold Task Force will hold its first meeting on Dec. 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., in the boardroom of the New York State Nurses Association headquarters in Latham, N.Y.
Mold is no joke; ingesting, inhaling or touching spores can seriously injure infants, children, pregnant women, elderly people and people with asthma, allergies or compromised immune systems. Mold can trigger asthma attacks, cause allergies, impair vital organs and increase susceptibility to colds and flu.
The Times Topics page on mold contains links to a variety of mold-related resources. (“Haunted by Mold,” a 2001 cover article by Lisa Belkin in The New York Times Magazine, helped focus public attention on the problem.)
The new task force will be led by Dr. Nancy Kim, interim director of the Center for Environmental Health at the State Department of Health, and Thomas Mahar, assistant director of code enforcement and administration at the State Department of State.
The other task force members are:
Susan Anagnost, associate professor, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Terry Brennan, president, Camroden Associates
Ginger Chew, assistant professor, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Christopher D’Andrea, research scientist, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Robert Denz, director of environmental health services, Broome County Health Department
Melanie Desiderio, assistant director of environmental health, Erie County Department of Health
Eric Faisst, public health director, Madison County Health Department
John Haines, emeritus scientist, New York State Museum
Dr. Meyer Kattan, professor of pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center
Joseph Laquatra, professor in family policy, Hazel E. Reed Human Ecology Extension, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University
Dr. James Melius, administrator, New York State Laborers’ Health and Safety Trust Fund
Dr. Jianshun Zhang, professor and director, energy and indoor environmental systems, Syracuse University
The Dec. 4 hearing will include a 30-minute public comment period. The task force may decide to hold subsequent public hearings in different parts of the state.
11 comments so far...
1.November 26th,
2007
6:48 pm Yet another issue that our state’s former landlord, George Pataki, didn’t give two hoots about. How many citizens have suffered from toxic mold, and waited more than two years for something—anything—to happen? As you write: “No task force, no assessment.”
— Posted by Steven M.
2.November 26th,
2007
9:45 pm Well, it’s interesting that he is assigning members to the Toxic Mold advisory council. I am the only member on the Children’s Environmental Health and Safety Council as of Jauary 22, 2007 and would like our Governor Spitzer to order Commissioner Daines to appoint the 11 members and the State Assembly to appoint the two members for the NEW YORK STATE ADVISORY COUNCIL ON CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY. Considering the multitude of problems our little ones are facing today, the appointments and action is needed. There is only so much a parent can do on their own. Various NGO’s have not helped in my endevor but, I want to thank Dr. David O. Carpenter and Ramona Travato for volunteering and helping me with the symposium on Children’s Environmental Health and Safety. I have DVD of the symposium if anyone wish to have one. I’m trying to get every school and library to have a copy. Hope someone will help.
— Posted by Judith Mokhiber
3.November 27th,
2007
8:13 am In the end severely infested buildings will create such unacceptible liability risks they’ll be sold for demolition and redevelopment into luxury housing. My guess is most standard landlord liability policies exclude coverage for molds and toxics.
Gentrification is largely the result of the practical effect of the old saw perfection is the enemy of the good. For example, want to drive out the poor? The quick, cheap and dirty way is strict housing code compliance.
— Posted by MARK KLEIN, M.D.
4.November 27th,
2007
4:25 pm There should be a state law against building public schools on top of cheap wetland parcels. Such institutions inevitably develop indoor mold problems.
— Posted by Rob Walters
5.November 28th,
2007
3:11 am Where on this task force are those who suffer daily from poisonous exposures from poor indoor air quality? Who picked thoss who are on this force, and what are their qualitifications for being charged with such a task?
We make it mandatory for children to attend school, yet there is no regulatory agency mandating the assurance that staff and students are breathing safe air.
— Posted by Angela Page
6.November 28th,
2007
6:26 am Nothing has been mentioned about mold in the workplace. I was exposed to it while working for United HealthCare in Kingston about 9 years ago and have since undergone extensive testing for my symptoms. I was denied LTD and WC and now I have just discovered that I have extensive liver damage from the exposure among other things such as interstitial lung disease, CFS and fibromyalgia. I would very much like to be on this task force to be able to give reference to what I’ve learned about toxic mold through the years.
— Posted by Patricia Barth
7.November 28th,
2007
7:25 am These committee meetings will go nowhere, just like the hundreds around the country before them, unless the conflicts of interest within the medical associations that stifle the medical science is first addressed. Quite a few of our premiere medical associations have allowed those who generate substantial income from expert witness testimony denying the severity of mold induced illnesses to write the national protocol.
There is currently a Federal Government Accountability Office audit into the matter.
What has been allowed to occur over the medical understanding of mold induced illnesses is quite dispicable. Search the words “mold conflicts of interest” to understand more.
— Posted by Sharon Kramer
8.November 28th,
2007
10:18 am Our legislators on the Federal and State levels should be enacting legislation to protect ALL people who work in conditions that are detrimental to their health. Why won’t this happen? the chemical company lobbyists and other companies with big bucks would rather spend the money on ways to avoid the problems rather than spend the money on solutions to the problems. If school districts would spend the money needed on proper maintenance in the first place, they would not have to be spending the money on trying to prove that the buildings are safe and on lawsuits that will surely follow with neglected buildings. THis is called poor administration and administrators should be held accountable for poor maintenance which leads to mold infestations and poor health in the building population. ALl schools and buildings should be inspected by the state every year to insure proper maintenance in all public buildings. There are supermarkets that are filthy and disgusting with mold infestation everywhere and nothing is being done about it. When someone complains (especially an employee) they are touted as a troublemaker or they are fired. This is becoming a national problem and it will only get worse without regulation.
— Posted by Pat Romansoky
9.November 28th,
2007
6:32 pm I am a casualty of mold. The task force needs a public voice. I will be driving 192 miles to witness this gathering. I agree with regulations for schools, the work place, all buildings. It starts with having a guideline in place with standards for what is acceptable in the state. There are no federal standards. Until that happens no one can agree on if a building is sick, how sick?, and how to remediate. Also many people have lost lawsuits because there are no standards. 10 million spores of stachybotrys in a gram of dust is only REALLY bad if there is some chart to hold it up to that says so. People who have had their life profoundly changed by mold need to be there.
— Posted by Cheryl
10.November 28th,
2007
8:40 pm I believe that change can occur, but not with a task force that has a majority of members employed by the government. We are missing several key people, such as: Victims of mold exposure (Angela Page), children and environmental advocates (Judith Mohkiber), a voice for the grassroot groups that have first-hand knowledge of mold contamination in public buildings, schools, and residential housing, (Susan Brinchman - Director of The Center for School Mold Help) and parents/taxpayers, like myself, who have worked tirelessly to expose problems of mold, bacteria, poor indoor air quality, fumes, faulty construction and architectural errors in the building and maintenance of our NYS public schools.
I have spread my knowledge in helping parents, teachers and taxpayers throughout the United States but I can’t get anyone to address and fix the problems in my children’s schools.
The NYS public schools that my children attend recently forced contractors and an architect to fix over 1/2 million dollars worth of membranes in the exterior walls of our 4 year old high school. (Even though the school was aware as early as 2004 and had proof of such errors in 2005.) It was not all paid for by those at fault. An additional amount of $4,000 was used from the district taxpayers and $17,000 was supplied by the NYS taxpayers, through the NYS Department of Education.
No one has addressed the mold and bacteria found in the walls, which was established by an independent environmental company in early 2005.
Myself and other concerned taxpayers/parents have contacted multiple officials, multiple agencies (local, state and federal). We have sent letters and documentation, but our pleas for help have gone unanswered.
I wish this Toxic Mold Task Force well, but without the help of key people, as I have mentioned above, this task force will never make a dent in the mold issue.
— Posted by Annmarie Reeb
11.November 30th,
2007
11:20 pm This Task Force is a small step in the right direction. Did the members volunteer or how were they assigned to this Task Force? It’s interesting that someone from the Erie County Department of Health is on this Task Force. Earlier this year, at an Erie County Legislator meeting,I expressed my concerns about chronic water damage and toxigenic mold growth in the Family Court Building, together with the unexplained myriad of health problems that many employees are experiencing. The Commissioner of the Health Department was at that meeting and would not agree that these symptoms could be a result of Stachybotrys and Aspergillus which were found growing in the building. Also our Erie County Deputy Commissioner of Public Works has stated that if you can’t see the mold, it can’t hurt you. Hopefully this Task Force will enlighten the people who have the capability to correct these health hazards throughout New York State.
— Posted by Cindy Brockman
State task force to focus on mold
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsmold305482034nov30,0,4600099.story
BY DELTHIA RICKS |
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November 30, 2007
Various types of mold - especially toxic forms - have long been a public concern, and now a New York State task force will investigate related health issues in a first-of-its-kind meeting next week.
The newly formed 14-member panel, which is welcoming the public, arguably has one of the worst names in investigative medicine: The Toxic Mold Task Force.
State legislators in 2005 urged that the panel be formed after hearing complaints of debilitating exposure to potentially lethal indoor air and concluding that toxic mold is an under-recognized health problem.
"The task force was formed by legislative mandate," said Claire Pospisil of the Health Department. ". . . to look into this issue, and prepare a report for the governor."
Pospisil added that the panel will assess existing scientific research on toxic mold and the illnesses it triggers.
Toxic mold is a hot-button national issue that has been the source of lawsuits and disability payments after people inhaled contaminated indoor air.
In 2004, an Institute of Medicine panel concluded that while indoor mold and dampness are linked to respiratory symptoms and asthma in vulnerable people, there is no evidence that they cause neurological disorders or conditions such as cancer. Some cancer patients had blamed mold spores for their disease. The institute, an arm of the National Academies, advises Congress on health issues.
Molds are the ubiquitous fungi that have contaminated the air in countless homes, schools and workplaces. They flourish in dampness and sometimes become so embedded, experts say, that entire walls must be removed to rid structures of the invasion.
On Long Island, the most common forms include Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium - and Stachybotrys chartarum, the so-called black toxic mold that is a notorious trigger of asthma.
Bruce Stevens of Manhattan has been sickened by mold, which he says he inhaled in his home. He applauds the state's plan to investigate toxic mold. In his case, the illness "started about 11 months ago with a little bit of a cough and continually progressed until April or May when my doctor, who happens to be a pulmonologist, ultimately did a lung biopsy."
Stevens said that test, as well as others, proved that Penicillium spores and Aspergillus had infiltrated his lungs. "I cough right after I wake up in the morning and cough for three to four hours," he said.
Related links (SMH Note: see URL above for live links to these articles)
Mold at Westbury luxury apartments Video
Mold is the source for many flu-like afflictions
Archstone Westbury dwellers deluged with offers
Resident files suit over mold damage
Tenants amid mold weigh options in Westbury
Uniondale multi-family rental home shut down
Nancy Kim and Thomas Mahar of the state Health Department will lead the group of experts, whose first meeting is in Latham on Tuesday.
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
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SMH has had one complaint already about one member of this task force with a past record that might not lend itself to open problem-solving on this issue.
We will keep a watch on the NY State Task Force on Toxic Mold to see if it really produces valid findings OR if this is merely a political bandaid on a gushing wound.
Members of this Task Force should be researched for any potential conflicts of interest and/or past track record that reveals their position on mold and health or building mold problems. Submit your comments to
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for possible publication on this website, related to this task force and its composition. |
