Toxic Intruder: Black Mold Panic Has Families Fleeing Their Homes

ABCNEWS.com ^ | 11/29/02

[willyone]

I bet if it caused substantial increase in penis size and eliminated the need for Viagra no one would say a thing about the other alleged problems. Bring on the mold.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Not too long ago while living in Northern CA my daughter made friends with a girl who's family lived on a hill overlooking their 14 acre horse stables, arena, and 20 miles of trail for riding. It was a 40 or 50 year old house, and it smelled of damp mold. It was a nauseating, disgusting smell and it stayed on you after you left the house.

Clean they were not, reminding me of Ma and Pa Kettle and my daughter would not stay overnight, even if I would have let her do so. I liked the family, but that mold aeroma was too much for me. The girl spent a lot of time at our house and the smell was always around her like Pigpen. She had a immune system problem, (so they said). She would get an open sore and it would grow to epic proportions eating the skin around the open sore and getting bigger and bigger and deeper. Finally cortisone injections seemed to stop it.

She does not have this condition any more, but she left home at 17 and moved far away from the "Smell". I tell you, the smell was awfull.

Was this black mold?

[Restorer]

If it worked for you, I'm glad. Others who have tried similar approaches have mostly succeeded in spreading the microscopic spores into other areas.

The most important thing at this point is to make sure you have determined and corrrected the source of the moisture intrusion that caused the mold growth.

The best single source of info is from the EPA at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/molds/mold_remediation.html

[kstewskis]

Like lead paint in the seventies and asbestos in the eighties, mold is the cash crop of this decade.

Curious to know if homeowner's premiums around the country have gone significantly up w/in the last year. Talking to my Mom in California, hers nearly tripled, and she's been claimfree. She was told that her company has been getting a lot of claims for mold damage.

Or, like you said slimer, could all be just a racket.

[orfisher]

Can you say Tyvek. Sell your stock now!

[friendly]

Sorry guys and gals but this new "black mold plague" is a humongous piece of happy horsewaste fiction created by the corrupt lawyer industry. This is pure Junk Science but is of course a gold mine for these vermin.

[Restorer]

That sleazeball attorneys and contractors have a financial incentive to blow this out of proportion is not surprising.

It should not be overlooked, however, that insurance companies, property owners, realtors, builders, and lots of other groups have an exactly equal and opposite financial incentive to downplay the problem and/or to denigrate those who advocate further research.

As others have pointed out, the big problems have arisen because buildings in the last 25 years, for a host of reasons, have created an indoor ecology that has never existed before. It would not be beyond the realm of reason to expect previously rare organisms to thrive in such environments and create previously rare health effects as a result.

[Restorer]

Good points.

My dad tried to build and sell well-built homes and couldn't compete with the guys who could slam them up and sell for 5% less. People would look at all the features he would point out, agree that it made the house better, then ask if he could match the 5% less of the guy down the block.

If all you care about is what's on the surface, you're likely to get a building that is mostly surface.

[DCPatriot]

This is nothing more than a follow-up to the "Lead-Based Paint" scam, which was preceded by the "Radon Gas" scam.

God, how I hate lawyers.

[Restorer]

Curious to know if homeowner's premiums around the country have gone significantly up w/in the last year. Talking to my Mom in California, hers nearly tripled, and she's been claimfree. She was told that her company has been getting a lot of claims for mold damage.

Last year, the insurance industry as a whole spent 1.2 billion on mold claims. State Farm alone lost $4 billion in the same period.

Increasing rates and losses by insurers have little to do with mold. Mostly it's because they've lost their shirts in the stock market, like everybody else.

But mold makes a great excuse to raise rates and demand exclusions from the state insurance departments.

BTW, I don't remember seeing premium rates going down when they were making a killing in the market during the 90s.

[lonestar]

Melinda Ballard sounds like the same person who turned her "nightmare" into a "cottage industry" to teach people how to sue their insurance companies.

There have been several scams in Houston where people have bought two-story houses; flood the top floor with hoses or break pipes and collect big bucks.

I think it's the newest rip-off for lawyers. We have insurance companies who are choosing to no longer write home-owner's.

[Restorer]

Even here in mild climate San Diego the air tight house is mandated.

Excellent point. The biggest problems arise because structures are not designed around their climate.

Go to www.buildingscience.com for a lot of really great information about this topic.

[Eagle Eye]

I am not an expert on mold but the phrase *toxic* mold was invented by lawyers and passed on to the media.

I don't know about that, but many of mold's mycotoxins and endotoxins are toxic.

[Restorer]

That rip-off artists take advantage of a problem does not mean the problem does not exist.

People stage auto accidents all the time to defraud insurers. That doesn't mean real auto accidents don't also happen.

Some insurers routinely deny what they know are legitimate claims. This is just as much insurance fraud as the situations you describe. Both should be prosecuted to the max.

Ms. Ballard can be located at http://www.policyholdersofamerica.com/index2.html if you're interested in her story, rather than somebody else's version.

[independentmind]

Most of the changes made to buildings since the 70's have made them much more likely to develop serious mold problems. A colleague of mine refers to them as "self-composting buildings." And, unfortunately, he has a point.

I've also read that the more tightly constructed, well-insulated modern houses have also contributed to the increasing prevalence of asthma. Any thoughts?

[Restorer]

Just curious.

Do you think people who have legitimate claims denied by their insurer should NOT sue the company that violates a legal contract? If so, why do you believe this?

[doosee]

This is pure Junk Science but is of course a gold mine for these vermin.


I can tell you that in N. Litchfield Beach, south of Myrtle Beach a few miles, a complete complex that was built 3 years ago sits in litigation over mold. The sheetrock got wet while under construction. People moved in, some got sick. Legal costs are over 1 Million bucks now. It isnt resolved yet.

[Restorer]

I've also read that the more tightly constructed, well-insulated modern houses have also contributed to the increasing prevalence of asthma. Any thoughts?

It seems pretty clear that the increase in asthma and the increase in the number of these buildings occurred during the same time period. Evidence of a direct causal link is not yet available.

[Eagle Eye]

This is pure Junk Science but is of course a gold mine for these vermin.

I'll simply disagree with you as you probably don't have a clue about this. Of course, if you can kindly direct me to your info or sites that demostrate that mold endotoxins and mycotoxins are harmless to humans, then I'll read and possibly reconsider.

[RichardW]

This whole business is part of the lawyer's full employment act. The homeowners are being fleeced to pay for this non-existant problem. I'm paying four times what I paid in Missouri. This is the same old mold that has been around for decades. Mass hysteria and lawyers getting rich.