It will be interesting to see how this plays out. In any event it is great that mold will be in the public spotlight and more awareness will come about this.

Does mold make you sick? We breathe in many spores, but most of us don’t get sick. However, if your immune system is compromised or you suffer from asthma you may be particularly susceptible to mold. Although it isn’t certain if mold can cause an actual disease in the body, it may be able to make you sick. Dr. David Goldman and Dr. David Benning both have verified that treating those with severe asthma using anti-fungal treatments improved their condition. This leads them to believe that fungi is having something to do with it.

Joan Bennett, a fungus expert that ABC News talked to, never really believed in “sick building syndrome”. Lawsuits have been won based on this sickness that supposedly was caused by mold in a building (or home). But, after experiencing the air in her flooded home first hand, she set her mind to finally settle the question of whether mold makes you sick.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A groundbreaking public health study has found a connection between damp, moldy homes and depression. The study, led by Brown University epidemiologist Edmond Shenassa, is the largest investigation of an association between mold and mood and is the first such investigation conducted outside the United Kingdom.

Shenassa said the findings, published in the American Journal of Public Health, came as a complete surprise. In fact, after a few U.K. studies published in the last decade had suggested a link, Shenassa and his skeptical team set out to debunk the notion that any link existed.

“We thought that once we statistically accounted for factors that could clearly contribute to depression – things like employment status and crowding – we would see any link vanish,” said Shenassa, the lead author of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Community Health at Brown. “But the opposite was true. We found a solid association between depression and living in a damp, moldy home.”

Shenassa noted the study, an analysis of data from nearly 6,000 European adults, does not prove that moldy homes cause depression. The study wasn’t designed to draw that direct conclusion. However, Shenassa’s team did find a connection, one likely driven by two factors. One factor is a perceived lack of control over the housing environment. The other is mold-related health problems such as wheezing, fatigue and a cold or throat illness.

“Physical health, and perceptions of control, are linked with an elevated risk for depression,” Shenassa said, “and that makes sense. If you are sick from mold, and feel you can’t get rid of it, it may affect your mental health.”

The study was a statistical analysis of data from the Large Analysis and Review of European Housing and Health Status (LARES), a survey on housing, health and place of residence conducted in 2002 and 2003 by the World Health Organization (WHO). To conduct the survey, WHO interviewers visited thousands of homes in eight European cities and asked residents a series of questions, including if they had depressive symptoms such as decreased appetite, low self-esteem, and sleep disturbances. WHO interviewers also made visual checks of each household, looking for spots on walls and ceilings that indicate mold.

Shenassa’s team analyzed LARES data from 5,882 adults in 2,982 households.

“What the study makes clear is the importance of housing as indicator of health, including mental health,” Shenassa said. “Healthy homes can promote healthy lives.”

Shenassa and his team are conducting follow-up research to see if mold does, indeed, directly cause depression. Shenassa said that given the results of the current study, he wouldn’t be surprised if there is a cause-and-effect association. Molds are toxins, and some research has indicated that these toxins can affect the nervous system or the immune system or impede the function of the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that plays a part in impulse control, memory, problem solving, sexual behavior, socialization and spontaneity.

The research team includes Allison Liebhaber, a former Brown undergraduate; Constantine Daskalakis of Thomas Jefferson University; Matthias Braubach of WHO; and Mary Jean Brown of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Toxic mold syndrome — illnesses caused specifically by exposure to mold — continues to cause public concern despite a lack of evidence that supports its existence, researchers explain in the September issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Several critical reviews have failed to find scientific support for toxic effects from breathing in mold spores as a viable mechanism of human disease, they add.

Directs the Secretary of HUD to: (1) establish, with respect to indoor mold in public housing, inspection requirements for existing housing and construction standards for new housing; and (2) establish model construction standards and techniques for mold prevention in new buildings.

Establishes an indoor/toxic mold inspection requirement with respect to federally made or insured mortgages.

Amends the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993 to provide for industry standards development for building products that are designed to retard mold development.

Directs EPA to make grants to States and local governments for mold growth remediation efforts in buildings owned or leased by such governments, including schools and multifamily dwellings.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an annual tax credit for 60 percent of non-reimbursed mold inspection and remediation expenses ($50,000 annual maximum) paid or incurred by a taxpayer.

Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to: (1) establish a toxic mold insurance program, with priority for one-to-four-family residential properties; and (2) establish in the Treasury a National Toxic Mold Hazard Insurance Fund.

Authorizes the Director to assist qualifying insurers to form a federally-assisted toxic mold hazard insurance pool. Provides for Federal operation of such program under specified circumstances.

Authorizes State waiver of income, resource, and other Medicaid requirements for an individual whose health has been adversely affected by toxic mold exposure, and who lacks adequate medical insurance coverage.”

Amy has worked hard to make the house Habit for Humanity built for her five years ago a home. Landscaping has been done. Small ceramic and concrete figures stood post in a bed of woodchips.

There was evidence of children. A purple-and-pink pogo stick and a plastic pump-action toy shotgun sat on the patio next to a couple of chairs.

But the inside of the West home was another matter. The family was in the middle of a chaotic, unplanned move. There was no place to sit in the living room. Boxes, blankets, sheets and articles of clothing covered the couch and recliner chair.

The Wests’ move could be called an evacuation. Their home is infested with mold.

“It must have been about three weeks ago that I first noticed the stain on the ceiling,” Amy said.
She pointed to a portion of the ceiling in the kitchen. Spots that resembled black oil sat in the middle of a light brown stain.

“At first, it was just a light brown spot on the ceiling,” Amy said. “There is an attic crawlspace up there and it looked like water had leaked through the roof and was coming through the ceiling.”

Jeremy opened the attic hatch door and immediately knew they were dealing with more than just a leaky roof.

“Jeremy went up there and shined a flashlight in,” Amy said. “The first thing he said was ‘We’re in trouble.’ He saw the mold.

“I started freaking out.”

Dangerous mold

Amy’s concerns turned out to be well-founded after she called in Randy Stufflebeem, a mold specialist for Be Sure Environmental Services.

“I was there to do air sampling and testing,” Stufflebeem said. “When I walked into the home, I saw the black stains on the ceiling in the kitchen.”

The black spots are stachybotrys.

“Stachybotrys is called ‘black mold’ or ‘toxic mold.’ It is not a good thing,” Stufflebeem said. “Stachybotrys carries microtoxins that can be poisonous if they are inhaled.”
The toxins stachybotrys carry can cause all kinds of illnesses and even damage the structural integrity of cells.

Stufflebeem’s samples were sent to ProLab in Florida. The results that came back, according to Stufflebeem, went “way beyond the pale.”

“The raw count in the home was 848,” Stufflebeem said. “For comparison, a raw count of 1 of stachybotrys is considered elevated.”

Stufflebeem said a number of factors were present in the Wests’ home that made mold growth possible.

“I can’t tell exactly what happened structurally,” he said. “But when I went into the crawlspace under the house, I sunk in mud. It is very wet. And the dryer vent empties into the crawl space. That’s warm, moist air being pumped in there every time someone used the dryer.”

Stufflebeem said the attic area looked bad.

“As I crawled into the attic, it just got worse and worse,” he said.

Help from Habitat?

Amy West said she isn’t “out to get Habitat for Humanity.”

“This house was built for me by Habitat for Humanity about five years ago and I really appreciate it,” Amy said. “I wouldn’t have ever been able to have a home if it was for Habitat.

“That’s why I feel so bad now. I appreciate everything they have done for me in the past, but I feel left alone on this now.”

Jeremy and Amy said they contacted the Rev. James Ecklund, director of Habitat for Humanity of Knox County, and explained the mold problem.

Ecklund said Habitat for Humanity will do everything within its power to help the Wests.

Habitat for Humanity of Knox County started building homes in 1993 and has averaged three projects a year. The 35th home was dedicated last week, home No. 36 is under construction and work on No. 37 recently began.

Habitat for Humanity in Knox County has never encountered a mold problem in any of its homes, but the Warren County chapter had to remediate a home in the past year. Habitat for Humanity in Warren County bought out the mortgage of the family that lived in the home and a new family is living in the house.

“We don’t want to just leave Amy and her family with this problem,” Ecklund said. “This is not an easy situation for anyone. We will bend over backwards to help them.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that Habitat is in a unique situation. We are the builders, but the people we build for own the home. The owners pay a 20-year, interest-free mortgage,” Ecklund said.

So far, the Wests have received $319 from Habitat’s maintenance fund. Amy has been contributing to the fund since she moved into the home.

The Wests already have paid $490 to have the house inspected. They will have bills for medical tests and relocation costs.

The bills are mounting and the Wests have no idea how they will pay for them while they search for a new home.

“Our insurance won’t cover the damage or the repair,” Jeremy said. “They found that it was a structural problem with the house and the house wasn’t damaged.”

Jeremy said his insurance company said a flaw in the construction caused the structural problem. Stufflebeem estimated the cost to fix the mold problem started at $30,000.

“It’s the cost of another home,” he said. “We can’t get a loan to buy a house. Where are we going to get the money to fix this one?”

Ecklund knows the Wests need answers now.

“Amy and Jeremy and their family need to move fast,” Ecklund said. “But it is a situation where we can’t move as fast. We’re looking at a major financial issue and we are trying to help them figure out how to solve it.”

An answer could be provided by Habitat for Humanity of Knox County’s insurance agent. On Friday, Ecklund said Habitat is working with its insurance agent to determine what can be done with the house.

Health concerns

Amy’s sons, 7-year-old Cameron and 9-year-old Austin, moved to their grandmother’s March 9.

Jeremy’s daughter, 5-year-old Brenna, splits time at her mother’s house. She is there for the duration.

Stufflebeem said the stachybotrys mold is toxic and can cause an array of health issues, from sore throats and headaches to hair loss, general malaise.

According to Amy, the boys tested positive for the presence of mold in their blood.

Amy now looks back at her sons’ history of health issues and can’t help but wonder if the mold in her house was the cause or a contributing factor.

“The boys have had illnesses – mainly things associated with sinus and allergies,” Amy said. “Austyn had to see a pediatric neurologist because of headaches and Cameron does get bloody noses quite a bit. And Cameron had a fungal infection around his bottom. I’ve learned that mold can cause fungal skin infections.

“Now I’m left to wonder. And I wonder if there will be health issues down the line for our family.”

Stufflebeem said he wasn’t surprised West’s children have had health issues.

“Not everyone reacts to stachybotrys exposure in the same way,” he said. “But kids, older people and people with compromised immune systems are especially susceptible.

“I think this story is extremely troubling. Let’s put it this way: If I lived in that house on First Street, my family would not be in it right now.”

The future is as much a question as the present. The Wests said there is no resolution in sight.

“We’re living with my mom right now,” Amy said. “I don’t know where I’m going to live. And I don’t know how I’m going to live.

“Right now, we just don’t know what to do.”

DUDLEY— A local family has gone from exile from a home condemned for its toxic mold infestation to finalists for the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” show on ABC-TV.

Jason and Jennifer Jakubowski and their three children met yesterday with the show’s representatives from ABC.

“Originally, they started off with a thousand families who applied from Massachusetts and out of the 1,000, they’ve narrowed it down to 20,” Mr. Jakubowski explained. “We’ve been chosen as one out of 20. From 1,000, one out of 20 is not bad.”

After being interviewed at the home of relatives in Oxford, the Jakubowskis took a ride to their condemned home at 169 Klondike Road and led the “Extreme Makeover” casting agent and camera person from Los Angeles on a tour inside and out. Waiting for them in the frigid cold for nearly four hours were family, friends and neighbors.

A nomination video of testimony in support of the family’s application was shot yesterday. It will be used by the show’s producers to decide whether the Jakubowskis’ story has what it takes to make the final cut. If so, some of the footage might make its way onto a Massachusetts edition of the TV show.

“We are excited,” Mr. Jakubowski said. “We’re trying not to get our hopes up. We’re trying to be real about it.”

In October, the Jakubowskis and their three children, Jacob, 9, Clair, 6, and Lily, 10 months, were forced by the extensive toxic mold to abandon their one-story ranch home and most of their personal possessions.

They had bought the home in September 2005. A month after they moved in, they started getting sick. It was common for everyone in the house to have cold or flu symptoms, Mr. Jakubowski said.

Richard Power of the Worcester-based Commonwealth Environmental Services was called in October 2006 about possible mold problems in the house. He said he found the worst case of mold exposure he has ever seen in a house where a family is actually living.

Mr. Power said he saw extensive growth of mold spores throughout the property, the attic and the basement, as well as on the family’s clothing and footwear. The family abandoned their dream home, leaving behind their possessions to be destroyed as well.

“It’s a young family starting out, trying to do the right thing, raise their children properly, and unfortunately they got knocked down, and somebody needs to help pick them up by their bootstraps and set them back on the right path,” Mr. Power said yesterday. “And there is no way individually they can overcome this.”

Martha Kneizys, microbiology laboratory director at the Woburn-based Pro-Science Services, took mold samples from the premises Oct. 12. She found the spore count so high the data were coming up as TNTC or “too numerous to count.”

A 500-spore mold count or higher is a level worthy of concern. The sample from the house with the lowest mold spore count totaled 11,600.

“The family needed to be nominated because anyone that met them, anyone that heard their story, could put themselves in their shoes,” Ms. Kniezys said yesterday. “Looking under the microscope and seeing how much mold they were breathing in every single day, it’s the right thing to do to help this family. And this is an opportunity that they deserve.”

Chilled by the weather but noticeably warmed by the enthusiastic signs of support, the Jakubowskis were met with cheers as they got out of their SUV with two of the show’s representatives.

“It’s been quite the phenomenon,” Mr. Jakubowski said as he was mobbed by well-wishing neighbors, as though he were a celebrity.

“I’m just very overwhelmed by the support of our community and friends,” Mrs. Jakubowski said. “They helped us out through this whole thing and the support continues. Even though we have ups and downs and we wonder, the support is still there. And it’s great to have a whole community that cares so much.”

Mr. Jakubowski started to fill out the official “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” written and video application, but he never completed it. It turned out that he didn’t have to because he had, unbeknownst to him, plenty of friends and neighbors who truly cared.

“It’s fantastic,” said Mr. Jakubowski, who was notified Friday that he was a finalist. “When they called us, they said most of the applications that they received is from our neighbors. It’s a good feeling to know that our neighbors care that much.”

Whether Ty Pennington will lead his “Extreme Makeover” team of carpenters, contractors, designers and workers to Dudley to transform the Jakubowskis’ toxic mold-infested home into a new dream house, Peter and Ellen Blinn, Mr. Jakubowski’s stepfather and mother, are just thankful for the show of support.

“They said it was one of the better interviews, so we’re encouraged by that,” Mr. Blinn said. “They’re one of the 20 finalists, but we’re realistic that there’s going to be 19 disappointments. So we have to hold our breath and hope for the best.”

“From the past week and from the very beginning, the outpouring of support has just been tremendous from everyone,” Mrs. Blinn said. “It’s just such an encouragement when so much of a struggle is going on. It gives people hope and that hope keeps people going. Even if they are not chosen, they know that they are not alone. And that encouragement is there and that’s a blessing.”

Congressional reaction to problems revealed at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center has now taken the form of legislation.

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said he is co-sponsoring legislation introduced by Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., that is intended to remedy “unacceptable conditions” at the Washington, D.C., military hospital complex.

The complaints have centered on living conditions in buildings used as residential quarters by outpatients and not on conditions or treatment in the hospital itself.

Bayh said in a teleconference Tuesday that the legislation is gathering bipartisan support.

“When it comes to helping our servicemen and women, particularly those who have been injured, there are no Republicans or Democrats. We all want to do the right thing.”

Conditions in the hospital buildings were first reported by the Washington Post.

The situation also has drawn complaints from U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd, who recently toured the buildings in question.

In a letter to Army officials, Donnelly said two of the four buildings he toured are clean and well-maintained.

In the other two buildings, Donnelly said he found numerous problems, including mold, peeling paint, a leaky roof and rusted pipes.

Bayh’s list of the problems included black mold, rodent droppings and cockroach infestations.

He also said there is “way too much bureaucracy” at the facility, and that wounded military personnel have had to file up to 22 forms with eight different command posts just to enter and exit the medical processing system.

Bayh said conditions at the facility are “totally unacceptable” and should “spark outrage in all Americans.”

Bayh held the teleconference following a hearing before the Armed Services committee, of which he is a member.

He called the situation a “sad metaphor” for so much that has characterized the war in Iraq.

“Whether it’s a lack of body armor, a lack of up-armored vehicles, a lack of adequate troop strength and, now, a lack of adequate care for soldiers once they’ve come home. It’s just not right.”

Bayh said the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act would simplify the paperwork for veterans, add caseworkers, increase inspections at the facility and increase the repair budget.

More focus also would be placed on psychological counseling, according to Bayh, who said “a significant percentage” of soldiers are suffering from post-traumatic shock syndrome and brain trauma injuries.

“Injuries to the brain are no less serious than injuries to arms or legs or other parts of the anatomy,” Bayh said.

He also noted that 509 servicemen and women from Indiana have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and said the nation has a moral obligation to make sure military personnel get the care they deserve.