To: vocalist
Date sent: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 11:08:40 -0500 (EST)
From: "Sharon Mech"
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Someone asked about the stachybotrys mold. (Sorry, don't remember who..Digest
subscriber. ;-) )

Stachybotrys got lots of press a couple years ago when a cluster of babies
in the eastern Cleveland (Ohio) area developed a rare and deadly condition
called hemosiderosis. This condition (among other things) caused the babies to
bleed from their lungs. Several died. This is supposed to be a very, very rare
condition, so when a doc realized that he'd seen 5 or 6 cases in a very short
time, and all the babies came from a particular area, he smelled a rat, and
called CDC. (For non-US folks: CDC is the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. CDC is the premier agency in the world for
investigating outbreaks of unknown diseses, etc. They do lots more, too.)

Upon investigation (and a couple of chance happenings) they found that the
babies' homes had stachybotrys growing. Stachybotrys is a black mold. It
likes damp places, specifically damp wood or cellulose. Most of these homes
had chronic water damage from flooding. Stachybotrys produces a toxin which
has been found in the mold spores as well.

Stachybotrys was blamed for the outbreaks, based on epidemiological evidence.
There's a difference between epidemiological evidence and proven
cause & effect, which was largely lost in the press coverage. Epidemiological
evidence says more or less, "this population group has disease/condition 'X'.
They also have circumstance/environment/condition "Y" in common." The
_assumption_ in most minds is that there is causation, but that causation
has yet to be proved.

The theory is that the stachybotrys growing in the basement released
spores which were picked up by the furnace air intake, and blown through
the residence, to be inhaled by the babies. The babies' immature lungs were
more sensitive to the toxins, and almost all had parents who smoked, so
they were already subject to respiratory irritation, and they developed
the hemosiderosis. (In fact, the babies who recovered did seem to do
better when the mold was eradicated from their homes.)

Because the link seemed clear, and more importantly, because babies were
dying, they announced in the press, and cleanup efforts were initiated
throughout the eastern Cleveland area.

They're still trying to find out exactly what happened. There are still
cases popping up in eastern Cleveland. Not everybody buys the stachybotrys
theory. There were significant problems in the sampling techniques employed
in the original investigation, and there were some other issues as well.
Problem now is that there isn't a lot of money forthcoming for further
investigation, altough one of the original docs has secured funding for
a study to test the stachybotrys-->hemosideriosis link in rat pups.

Although the causative link is not proven, NOBODY would argue that
stachybotrys is something you want in your house. If you have it, you
probably have chronic water damage to your house as well. It is not a
common mold like the stuff that turns your bread into a furry blue
science project. There are a bazillion other molds far more likely to
be blowing around in your house, unless you've been flooded lately, or
live in a chronically damp location without sufficient ventilation.

Cheers,


Sharon Mech, MHSA
Cantor, mezzo, sinner (& health educator)
sharon-at-cmhc.com