
DATE: Sunday, June 1, 1997                  TAG: 9706030541

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  131 lines

HOUSES CAN HOLD HAZARDSHEALTH-ATTACKING SUBSTANCES LIKE MOLD OFTEN FIND A WARM WELCOME IN OUR HOMES.

Feeling a little under the weather lately?

It may be your house that's making you sick.

Molds that crop up in moisture-prone places, such as sinks and window sills, may be responsible for asthma or flulike symptoms that plague people.

Other common allergens include tobacco smoke, dust mites and cockroaches, but attention in northeast North Carolina has been focused on fungi after common and exotic forms were found inside the Currituck County High School under construction.

Some of the discovered microorganisms have been known to cause health problems; some people have called the facility a ``sick building.'' But these molds can be found in private dwellings, too, and they can cause a range of ailments, particularly asthma.

``The home actually is probably more of a source of triggering asthma than a school is likely to be,'' said Dr. Carl Shy, a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Public Health's Department of Epidemiology.

Shy recently conducted a six-month study of eighth-graders in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools and found 15 percent of the students had been diagnosed with asthma. Another 15 percent had undiagnosed asthma-like symptoms, such as night-time wheezing or breathing trouble during exercise.

``You put those two together, and you have 30 percent of children with some kind of breathing problem,'' Shy said.

Some 14.6 million Americans now suffer from asthma, a debilitating and sometimes deadly ailment of the lungs. Last year 5,000 people in the United States died from asthma attacks.

The number of asthma sufferers has increased by 60 percent nationwide in the past 15 years, according to The American Lung Association.

In 1995, the latest year available, 180 people died of asthma in North Carolina. Only three were in the seven-county Albemarle region from Dare to Chowan.

Two common factors among Shy's study subjects were children who lived with cigarette smokers or in damp or water-damaged homes.

Two other known allergens - cockroaches and dust mites - were not considered major factors in the study.

``Homes are usually more of a problem with dust mites, and cigarette smoking is usually not an issue inside schools,'' Shy said.

Dust mites live on our shed skin cells, which they find in bedding and carpeting. ``They particularly thrive in humid environments, such as we have on the eastern coast,'' Shy said.

Cockroaches also produce an antigen that stimulates allergic responses. The third most common allergen is molds, which also favor humid or wet conditions. Cigarette smoke ranks fourth nationally, Shy said.

All four factors are more common in homes than in schools.

``A lot of schools don't have much in the way of thick carpeting. Carpeting favors kind of an accumulation of these indoor allergens, because they stick in the carpet and stay there, and you can't get them up with the usual vacuuming.''

Medical experts believe molds may be a big part of the reason for the increasing number of asthma sufferers and asthma-related deaths in the country.

Molds form from spores that are everywhere in the environment and can consume organic materials like paper and fabric.

Homes that lack air conditioning to help dehumidify an area in hot weather, or have moisture problems from water leaks or poor ventilation, are particularly prone to mold infestations.

Currituck officials believe roof leaks contributed to the mold problem confirmed last month at the new high school being built in Barco. Fireproofing material remained wet for too long and was not allowed to cure properly, they said.

Among the molds found in two tests at the new Currituck County school are aspergillus and penecillium, which can cause infections that might be deadly.

The building's general contractor, Trafalgar House Construction, is conducting its own tests but had not made the results public as of Friday.

County officials plan to meet with attorneys at 5:30 p.m. on Monday to discuss the fungal issue.

Two separate environmental firms have suggested removing contaminated materials that cannot be completely cleaned. About 30,000 of the 165,000-square-foot facility is believed to be affected.

Payment for the abatement, if needed, is likely to be settled in a courtroom, one Currituck official said.

Tell-tale signs of a mold infestation in public and private buildings are musty odors and stains. Areas are especially suspectible to contamination when porous areas are kept wet for 48 hours or more. Some fungi do little more than leave stains; others may make people ill.

Most of those suffering from mold-related illnesses are either allergic to the fungi or are open to infection because of an impaired immune system.

``It's usually a result of individual susceptibility, rather than an exposure issue,'' said William S. Service, an industrial hygiene consultant with a state agency's Occupational & Environmental Epidemiology Section.

In the wake of last year's hurricanes Bertha and Fran, the state launched campaigns warning Carolinians of the dangers of household molds, particularly those spawned from flooding or backed-up sewage systems.

With warmer, humid weather and the new hurricane season upon us, the warnings are being renewed.

The rule of thumb: If it's noticeable, you've got a problem.

``If you see mold growing in the building, you don't need air samples. The building's contaminated, and you need to fix it,'' Service said.

The remedy includes fixing the moisture problem, thoroughly washing the area or removing moldy materials from the building. Then sanitize what remains with a bleach solution.

The air also should be kept dehumidified.

``The key is moisture control and cleanup,'' Service said. ``If you don't control moisture, it'll grow back.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

LOCALLY

In 1995, 180 people in North Carolina died of asthma, a lung ailment

sometimes aggravated by molds.

MOLD TROUBLES

Found in moisture-prone areas, molds can cause both asthma attacks

and flulike symptoms.

Where mold forms:

Homes without air conditioning or good ventilation.

Window sills

Areas near leaking or running water, such as sinks