The Problem With Mold

It's friendly outdoors, but inside schools, mold stinks--and it's making children sick.

After only her third day in the first grade at Andover Elementary School in Connecticut, Emilee O'Brien began getting sick. Over the next several months she battled everything from sore throats and ear infections to skin rashes and fatigue. She endured the removal of her tonsils and adenoids, and had a string of sinus infections so severe that, according to her mom, Renee O'Brien, her eyes turned "black and blue."

The culprit, it turns out, was mold-infested air from a contaminated crawlspace under her classroom. "It was just awful," says O'Brien, whose daughter missed nearly half of the 2001-02 school year because of her illnesses. "She's better now, but is so sensitive to mold that when she is around it she has severe reactions. I just tell her, 'If you see, smell, or taste it, get out!'"

Often called the "new asbestos," menacing mold problems are wreaking havoc on schools across the country and making thousands of students and school personnel sick. In many cases the victims don't even realize they're facing off with mold contamination, but they are clear about its often-debilitating effects. In addition to steep medical bills to families, the payoff to schools is often high absenteeism rates.

That's in part because mold exposure sets off increased episodes of asthma, which already account for over 10 million missed school days a year. Affected students who stay in classrooms with poor air quality, research shows, often suffer poor concentration and underperform.

Public awareness of indoor air quality issues is increasing, but more is yet to be learned about the effects of mold exposure. So what do we already know, and what can educators do toward prevention?

What Is It Anyway?
Molds are microscopic fungi that occur naturally in our environment--and they are virtually impossible to eliminate. While outdoor molds play an important role in breaking down dead organic matter, indoor molds offer no benefits and their growth should be prevented. The only effective way to do that is to control moisture. Common sources to watch include leaks or spills, uncontrolled humidity, flooding, or heavy condensation.

What's the Health Impact?
Research is ongoing, but all molds have the potential to cause adverse health effects. The most common symptoms of mold exposure are coughing, nasal or sinus congestion, sneezing, runny nose, headaches, skin rash, red or burning eyes, fatigue, and asthma attacks.

Children are at special risk to indoor air pollutants such as mold, because their lungs are not fully developed so they breathe in more air relative to their body weight than do adults. At even greater risk are students with respiratory illnesses or compromised immune systems. Still, everyone has a different reaction to mold, depending on the types of mold present, the extent of the exposure, and the individual's age and susceptibility level.

How Can I Protect My School?

• Be a moisture detective! Be on the lookout for condensation on windows, window sills, or cold water pipes; stained ceiling tiles, walls, or floors; leaks around classroom sinks; pungent, musty, mildew-like odors.
• Talk to the school nurse about health problems you notice your students experiencing in school.
• Report signs of excess moisture or mold growth to the school administration immediately. While national standards or "safe levels" for airborne concentrations of mold have not been established, if you see or smell mold, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), you almost certainly have a problem and testing is not necessary.
• Monitor the cleanup. When a moisture problem is discovered, the source of moisture should be eliminated and wet materials and furnishings dried within 24-48 hours. When mold is detected, it should be cleaned up according to EPA recommended guidelines, and any materials damaged by mold should be discarded.
• Be diligent. If your school ignores the problems, write the superintendent, if necessary. If the problem is still not addressed, contact your UniServ director. You may also want to involve parents or the PTA. For further help, consult EPA resources such as the IAQ Tools for Schools Kit and Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings available at www.epa.gov/iaq.

--Jennie Young
NEA Health Information Network

For More: Contact EPA's IAQ Info Clearinghouse at 800/438-4318 or Jennie Young at jyoung@nea.org.

What's Up at HIN?

Support for NEA Members on Military Bases
As the U.S. military deploys, NEA members working on base schools take on additional responsibilities, helping children and spouses left behind. HIN is conducting training for local NEA presidents working on military bases across the United States and for the Federal Education Association's Executive Board and FEA statewide members. This training provides support for these exceptional staff members while allowing members working at base schools to exchange model programs. HIN also provides training to assist these staff members with effective parent conferences. For more information, visit www.feaonline.org.

Plain Talk on Drugs
HIN is developing "Families Talk About Safe and Drug Free Schools," a workshop series for parents, based in part on the success of HIN's "Can We Talk?" program. The program will offer updates on safe and drug-free school programming, communication strategies, and community resources. It will be available in early 2004, but visit www.canwetalk.org for more.

Report on Stolen Guns
HIN's Gun Safety Project partner, Americans for Gun Safety (AGS), reports in a recent study that gun theft rates are higher in states without laws requiring safe storage of firearms in the home. Gun theft rates are also higher in places with relatively large numbers of gun owners and where crime rates in general are relatively high. Based on FBI data, nearly 1.7 million guns have been reported stolen in the past 10 years, and only 40 percent of those were recovered. NEA, AGS, and the National Rifle Association advocate for safe storage. To access the report, "Stolen Guns: Arming the Enemy," visit www.agsfoundation.com or go to www.neahin.org/gunsafety.