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          GRAND FORKS HERALD 
          PLEASE DON'T FEED THE MOLD
          DON'T PANIC, BUT MORE BLACK MOLD
          HAS BEEN FOUND IN GGF 
          Saturday, June 28, 1997 
          Section: REGION 
          Page: 2A 
          By Sue Ellyn Scaletta, Herald Staff Writer 
          Are you unwittingly serving dinner to some foul fungus?
          You could be, if you're hanging on to pieces of wallboard, carpet, insulation or
          any fiber-based item that was soaked in the flood.
          "All it takes is any cellulose" for it to grow on, said Joe Warmus, an industrial
          hygenist who owns ARC Laboratories of Grand Forks.
          He was speaking of molds in general -- and a species called stachybotrys in
          particular.
          Also known as  black mold,' stachybotrys was cited as the cause of about
          three infant deaths after flooding in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1993. The fungus was
          found earlier this month in areas of Lake Agassiz and Kelly schools in Grand
          Forks after those buildings were flooded.
          Children attending summer classes in those schools were relocated until the
          mold was eradicated. But Warmus, who has been evaluating many area
          properties since the flood, said black mold has been found elsewhere.
          "It's absolutely nothing to panic about," Warmus cautioned. "But it does grow
          on cellulose in heat and humidity." He said he has found the slimy, black
          substance growing in wallboard, Sheetrock, pipe insulation and similar
          fiber-based areas that were flood-soaked.
          In its wet state, Warmus said, the mold is not dangerous.
          "It's not an external hazard," he said. "You can touch it and it won't hurt you.
          It's when it dries out and shoots spoors that it's dangerous. If you inhale the
          spoors, it can grow in your lungs."
          But Warmus said it would take the inhalation of a large amount for someone
          to be affected.
          "There was a lot Of it growing near the intake of a heating system that was
          blowing into the rooms. where the babies that died were sleeping," Warmus
          said. "Those are the only cases of death from this ever reported."
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          said. "Those are the only cases of death from this ever reported."
          Warmus said black mold and the many other kinds that grow in similar
          conditions can be eliminated with ease.
          "Get rid of anything cellulose that has been saturated," he said. "And clean
          everything thoroughly with a bleach solution."
          Warmus also recommended wearing a filtered mask while doing such work.
          "If you don't breathe the stuff, it can't hurt you," he said.
          And he stressed that the key is to get rid of the mold's food sources.
          "It can lie dormant until the damp, warm conditions are ripe and then start
          growing," he said. "You need to eliminate sources for it to do that."
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