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Editor's Page, September 1998
Home
HPAC Archive A Sad and Preventable Story
Feature Articles Open for By Michael G. Ivanovich
Discussion
The Law and
Your Profits If you haven't yet gotten the word that chronic water
problems can lead to the growth of mold, and that
IT Tips mold is not a good thing to have in buildings because it
can make people sick, then consider yourself warned.
Words of Wisdom A recent out-of-court settlement for an IAQ-related infant death is
cause for concern among building owners and professionals.
Editor's Page
Physicians believe that eight-month old Amber Patterson died of
You'll Want to
Know pulmonary hemosiderosis (bleeding lungs) after being exposed to
Stachybotrys atra (S. atra), a black, slimy mold.* Paper-backed
drywall, saturated by water from a chronically leaking pipe,
provided growing conditions for the mold. The spores of S. atra
contain a mycotoxin that is unhealthy for animals and people.
Exposure occurs when the spores are inhaled. Amber's parents
originally sought $10 million from Independent Management
Services of Cleveland but settled for $175,000 the day before the
case was to go to trial. Amber was one of 21 children diagnosed with PH between 1993
and 1996, and one of three whom have died. An epidemiological
study of the first 10 cases is reported in the Centers for Disease
Control publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,
January 17, 1997. A Website managed by the General Clinical
Research Center http://gcrc.meds.cwru.edu/stachy/ has more
information and links to a detailed paper that appeared in
Pediatrics, January 1997, describing the Cleveland outbreak. It has not been scientifically proven (95 percent certainty) that S.
atra causes the type of health effects implicated in Amber's death.
However, Dorr Dearborn, PhD, MD, Pediatric Pulmonary Div.,
Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, informed
me that the epidemiological evidence shows that they are with 90 1 of 2 12/19/99 3:16 PM HPAC Interactive Archive-Editor's Page http://www.hpac.com/member/archive/9809ed.html percent certainty. It turns out that S. atra exposure is difficult to
diagnose because it leaves no traces of itself in the tissue that it has
damaged. Amber's case has many lessons, many of which Heating/Piping/Air
Conditioning has imparted time and time again. Buildings should
be designed to keep unwanted moisture out. Where water damage
is nonetheless sustained, the causes have to be fixed, and the
damage repaired. Additionally, if mold subsequently grows, it has
to be removed, along with the materials it colonized, if necessary.
If an IAQ problem is suspected or reported, it has to be dealt with
immediately using procedures involving open communication and
well-coordinated internal and, if necessary, external resources.
Hospitals, senior care centers, and other facilities where occupants
are particularly sensitive to IAQ problems must be designed,
constructed, commissioned, operated, and maintained with extra
care. However, I caution that S. atra is not a cause for media hysteria. It
should not be paraded through publications as a baby killer. S. atra
is neither the only mold nor the only black mold that grows in
cellulose materials when they become saturated or chronically wet.
Keeping moisture under control will control mold, including S.
atra. *Reference: August 8, 1998, The Cleveland Plain Dealer Updated September 11, 1998
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