Mold Problems in School

melsb · **Mold Problems in School**

This is just awful! What would you do if your kid or if you worked at that school?

Indoor Air Pollution - Janitors Sick from Schools Toxic Chemical Fumes - thedailygreen.com
A northeast Houston middle school is set to open its doors today, according to the Houston Chronicle, despite objections from union officials representing teachers and custodial staff. The union maintains that the campus should remain closed until mold-related health concerns are thoroughly evaluated and, if necessary, alleviated.

In preparing the school for the start of the new year, seven janitors became sick, and were treated at a local hospital, after inhaling bleach fumes from cleaning. School officials say the cleaning was not related to the mold that was recently discovered in one area of the facility.

Texas officials have officially given Key Middle School a clean bill of health, but union officials argue that more testing is needed to ensure indoor air quality will not be a threat.

The story highlights both the importance of proper mold mitigation and testing — as molds can be extremely toxic, aggravate asthma and cause illness — as well as the need to switch to less toxic cleaning products for homes, schools and businesses. So many staff members being sickened by chemical fumes makes one wonder how safe it may be for young children, who have less developed immune systems and smaller body weights, to be breathing the residues of toxic chemicals.

desertmom · 02-19-2008, 11:36 AM

We've had mold problems in some of our schools here, and we are in the dry desert! The schools try to sue the contractors who built the school, who try to blame the A/C companies, and so on and so on. Bottom line is the kids get sick. Some schools, even 10 years old, have had to be torn down completely. What a waste of taxpayer's money. A few others were radically remodeled, and some were found to still have the issue. What is disgusting is that it's a proven medical fact that allergies pay a part in the huge ADHD population. Most people are allergic to mold, and we all know that allergies are just the tip of the iceberg of the problems that mold can cause.