•Sick building syndrome »Remember the mysterious "sick building" problems of years past? We now understand that many of these illnesses were caused by mold.
•Homes »We spend so much time at home. Some people are sick at home for years, without knowing why.
•Schools »Because of budget cutbacks in the 1980's, schools are falling behind on repairs. Leaks have led to mold problems in schools all across the country.
•Office buildings »Commercial real estate owners are responsible for addressing leaks. Sometimes they don't--often because of cost-cutting. Don't let it affect your health.
•Stachybotrys »This is the most notorious of the toxic molds. Because of its high toxic production, its presence in an indoor environment is almost always accompanied by serious illness.
•Mycotoxins in Crude Building Materials from Water-Damaged Buildings Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH), Uusimaa Regional Institute, FIN-00370 Helsinki,1 City of Vantaa Environment Center, FIN-01300 Vantaa,2 City of Helsinki Environment Center, FIN-00530 Helsinki,3 and HUCH Diagnostics, Mycological Laboratory,4 and Department of Dermatology and Allergic Diseases,5 Helsinki University Central Hospital, FIN-00250 Helsinki, Finland Received 7 September 1999/Accepted 1 March 2000
•Study of Toxin Production by Isolates of Stachybotrys chartarum and
Memnoniella echinata Isolated during a Study of
Pulmonary Hemosiderosis in Infants BRUCE B. JARVIS,1 W. G. SORENSON,2 * EEVA-LIISA HINTIKKA,3 MARJO NIKULIN,4
YIHONG ZHOU,1 JIAN JIANG,1 SHENGUN WANG,1 SIMON HINKLEY,1 RUTH A. ETZEL,5 AND D. DEARBORN 6 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Joint Institute Food Safety and Nutrition, University of Maryland, College Park,
Maryland 20742 1 ; Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505 2 ; National Veterinary and Food Research Institute,3 and Department of Microbiology and Epizootology, College of Veterinary Medicine,4 Helsinki, Finland; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341 5 ; and Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital, Case Western
Reserve School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio 44106 6
Received 26 March 1998/Accepted 21 July 1998
•Q: As you mentioned, mycotoxins are very stable--they can remain chemically unchanged for years. Can I successfully clean my infected belongings of them?A: I suspect that nonporous hard surfaces can be cleaned of mycotoxins. It is probably much more difficult to clean porous materials such as fabrics.
•Q: After suffering from mycotoxin exposure, I react in environments with other toxins, such as formaldehyde. Will my hyper-sensitivity subside?A: You might be less sensitive to other types of chemicals after toxins elimination and return to normal immunological function.
•AMA - no antidote for stachybotrysThe AMA recently distributed to doctors by mail a black-cover quick reference guide for biological weapons, along with treatment plans and antidotes (if any). There are twelve disease agents listed. At the top of that list are anthrax, plague, etc. At the bottom of that list is good old stachybotrys under the heading of mycotoxins with "no effective medications" and "no antidote." Other toxins on the list are botulinum and ricin. The guide was printed by AMA in November 2001.