Indoor Air Quality Solutions, IAQS

By Denise-Marie Balona, Orlando Sentinel

Mold clung to the ceiling and left dark trails across the walls and floor. The teacher had already complained about the stench months before.

Stuff was even growing on desks.

Classroom 103 at Walker Middle School in Orlando had become a breeding ground for mold. When an inspector investigated last year, he found the humidity at about 86 percent.

And this was no isolated incident.

Moldy classrooms and other indoor-air-quality issues have sparked thousands of complaints from teachers and students during the past three years, an Orlando Sentinel investigation has found. Mold has infested walls and ceilings, ruined books and furniture and, in some cases, led to the wholesale evacuation of children from classrooms.

The Sentinel reviewed thousands of maintenance work orders, school district reports and e-mails as well as independent environmental studies in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties from August 2007 to August 2010. The key findings:

•A never-ending battle against mold — some of it the most potentially dangerous, toxin-producing varieties — infesting classrooms, cafeterias, locker rooms, media centers and even nurses’ quarters.

•Repeated complaints that cited students and teachers suffering from stinging eyes, breathing distress and other symptoms thought to be related to poor indoor air quality.

•Persistently leaky buildings and faulty air-conditioning systems, which let in the moisture that mold needs to thrive.

•Some schools making matters worse by shutting off the air-conditioning to save money during weekends and summers in one of the hottest, most humid states in the country.

•Different approaches to the problem from school district to school district with inconsistent record keeping. In some cases, maintenance workers were allowed to paint over water-damaged areas instead of removing them as recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

•Parents who are often kept in the dark about the problem.

For nine months a year, 2.6 million students and hundreds of thousands of teachers and other employees spend at least six hours a day in Florida’s public schools. Yet there are no state laws governing how schools should monitor, detect and handle mold buildup and other indoor air-quality issues.

School districts are not required to tell anyone about the problem — not even the local health department — despite a growing body of knowledge that mold can be especially harmful to children. Some people show no outward reaction to mold. In others, however, it can cause sneezing, runny noses, breathing problems and respiratory infections, health experts say.

Mold was one reason why Jessy Hamilton quit his job as a social-studies teacher at Walker Middle School in August. He said he fought mold and respiratory infections for most of the six years he worked there.

The gray-black fungi first appeared in his portable classroom after the hurricanes of 2004. At one point, the entire ceiling was covered in mold, yet he had to hold classes there for eight weeks before his class could move into the media center temporarily, he said.

When Hamilton returned to the portable, the mold seemed to be gone. But it reappeared. Again and again.

“They would look at it and say, ‘Ah, it is not as bad as it was,'” said Hamilton, who was eventually moved to another classroom, which he said also had mold. “They painted over it, which dumbfounds me to this day.”

The principal could not be reached for comment after repeated attempts. But a spokesperson for the school district said his records do not reflect any health concerns related to mold.

The state knows how widespread schools’ indoor air-quality problems are, records and interviews with school district officials show.

The Florida Department of Education has acknowledged that about half of schools are burdened with environmental issues. But it would be expensive to fix them — an estimated $70 million just to start, according to a legislative report written in 2004, the last time the state took a serious look at the issue.

Not only would repairs be pricey, Florida could be setting itself up for lawsuits if it identifies those problems, wrote the Senate analyst who compiled the report.

Central Florida school officials insist schools are safe. They said they urge their employees to report air-quality concerns immediately and that they respond as quickly and aggressively as they can.

Part of the problem, they said, is money. They need more of it — and more personnel — to make repairs, upgrade air-conditioning systems and search out water damage.

The state Legislature has slashed funding for such maintenance projects in the past several years.

A national study by the University of Central Florida found that extra funding alone, however, might not solve the problem.

School districts do not want it publicized that they have mold problems.

“There is often a greater desire to hide problems than have them resolved,” wrote the UCF researchers who, in 2006, found that schools in Florida, Texas, New York and three other states had chronic problems with mold, humidity and odors.

In Orange County, school officials investigated about 1,200 complaints about indoor-air quality during the past three years.

Officials received about 50 complaints from Little River Elementary alone. They have been called to check out buildings dozens of times each at Brookshire and Pine Hills elementary schools and Cypress Creek, Dr. Phillips and University high schools.

Other schools with high numbers of complaints are South Lake High in Lake County, Indian Trails Middle in Seminole County, Gateway High in Osceola County and Deltona High in Volusia County.

Some of the damage has been significant, the Sentinel found.

For example, at Cypress Creek High in Orlando during the 2008-09 school year, inspectors found a 50-square-foot patch of ceiling that had water damage and mold in the boy’s locker room. Older ceiling tiles infected with mold were being stored nearby.

In a neighboring mechanical room, there was standing water.

Brookshire Elementary in Winter Park reported late last year that a 32-square-foot section of ceiling in one of its portables had water damage and mold. Several days before, officials had visited to check out mold growing in patches in the media center and bleeding through the paint in a mechanical room. Two walls in a computer lab had blistering paint and mold.

Mold continually grows on the walls of a main interior hallway there — a problem the principal has complained about repeatedly.

The moisture and mold problems at Walker Middle, apparently caused by a leak that had gone unchecked, should have been reported sooner, said Zach Smith, an environmental coordinator for Orange schools. “Conditions inside classroom 103 likely did not develop over a short period of time,” Smith wrote in his report.

When independent experts have tested the air inside local schools, they have found high levels of mold in about 40 percent of the cases. In some instances, they have discovered toxin-producing molds such as aspergillus and penicillium (which prompted city officials to shut down an Orlando fire station several months ago), and stachybotrys (a “black mold” that has forced the closure of numerous schools nationwide).

An environmental report from 2008, for example, shows that “aspergillus-penicillium” was found at Mill Creek Elementary in Osceola County. That August, the district spent more than $21,000 for an emergency cleanup of 35 classrooms there.

District officials throughout Central Florida said the number of complaints found by the Sentinel make the problem seem worse than it is. Teachers and other employees, they said, are not qualified to determine what is and is not mold with any accuracy.

In fact, a number of reports of “mold” turn out to be simply dark smudges of dust or dirt, officials said.

A “moldy” smell might actually be the unpleasant mixture of too many air fresheners in a room or odors from hamsters and other class pets, said Michael Corr, maintenance director for Lake County schools.

Corr also explained that sneezing, runny noses and headaches — typical allergic reactions to mold — can also be caused by factors such as strong cologne or pollen brought in from the playground.

“There are a lot of things in our everyday lives that can cause us to believe we have an indoor air-quality issue,” he said.

Many of the complaints, however, prompted officials to take action — throwing out books, replacing ceiling tiles or cleaning air-conditioning systems and desks, tables and carpet. Some portable classrooms were recommended for permanent closure.

In some cases, however, districts did not perform cleanups as recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other experts. For instance, mold has been allowed to remain in place instead of being removed immediately. And workers do not always wear protective gear.

School employees said the situation might be worse than it appears on paper because some air-quality issues are never reported. A lot of teachers, in this poor economy, worry about losing their jobs or being retaliated against.

And employees are frustrated that some problems that are reported never seem to get resolved.

An Osceola County employee pleaded for help at Denn John Middle in Kissimmee in late 2008: “200 — whole building is molding. The classes, the halls. Please come and see for yourself. This is not a new problem. Only new students and parents to complain.”

In a few parts of Florida, parents have spoken out about schools that seemed to make their youngsters sick.

Many times those districts did not make a concerted effort to fix problems until lawyers and the media got involved, said some of the parents who sued the Broward County school district over mold in 2003.

The State Attorney’s Office in Broward investigated and brought its findings to a grand jury, which released a report criticizing school officials not only for dragging their feet on getting rid of mold but also for having schools so poorly constructed and maintained that they constantly leaked.

Broward spent millions of dollars on repairs, but a number of statewide changes the grand jury recommended never happened.

Richard J. Shaughnessy, director of The University of Tulsa Indoor Air Program and one of America’s foremost air-quality experts, said the situation might not change unless the public pushes the issue.

“It has to start,” Shaughnessy said, “with parents becoming involved and demanding that schools address these types of problems across the country.”

• John P. Lapotaire, CIEC
• Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
• Microshield Environmental Services, LLC
• www.Microshield-ES.com

By Denise-Marie Balona, Orlando Sentinel

Six-year-old Anthony Aliseo was miserable. He had headaches, pressure between his eyes, trouble breathing and, occasionally, suffered the indignity of vomiting in front of his classmates.

Over two years, the youngster was in and out of the doctor’s office for constant sinus and respiratory infections. Cara Aliseo watched her son endure 70-plus allergy injections, two CAT scans and then two surgeries to drain his clogged sinuses.

She could not figure out what was causing the boy to be so sick — until another mom at his elementary school mentioned the campus was being treated for mold.

Once she moved Anthony to another school, she said, his health problems vanished.

Aliseo and several other parents sued the Broward County school district, and she settled out of court in 2007.

Despite growing legal claims across the country involving indoor air quality, there is also no generally accepted standard for how much mold can be in a room before it becomes unsafe. That’s because sensitivity levels can vary widely from person to person.

If mold is growing on the ceiling or inside the wall of a classroom, some kids will not be affected at all. Others, however, might experience flu-like symptoms such as runny noses, coughing and breathing difficulties.

Some types of mold emit toxins that can elicit more severe responses.

For example, Aspergillus and Stachybotrys, which have forced the closure of homes and schools across the country, have been linked to lung and respiratory infections. Children are especially vulnerable, health experts say, because their organs are still developing and they take in more air relative to their body size than adults.

Because it is hard to predict how any one person will react, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Department of Environmental Protection suggest that all molds be treated the same and be removed immediately when found growing indoors.

But pediatricians and allergists urge parents not to panic if mold is discovered in schools. Instead, they said, parents should be asking questions about where the mold is located, how it got there and what school officials are doing to get rid of it.

“I don’t think they should be freaking out, but I think it’s definitely something they should be concerned about,” said Stephen Kimura, a Pensacola allergist who is immediate past president of the Florida Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Society.

He has seen a substantial increase in the number of children and teachers coming to him with symptoms they believe are related to mold in schools since Hurricane Ivan and then Hurricane Dennis ravaged the Florida Panhandle in 2004 and 2005.

Many schools were left with roof damage and water leaks, Kimura said.

“It’s a tough issue to remediate because mold is so pervasive,” he said. “Unless you strip the walls down to the studs and take out the insulation and redo that, you’re not going to completely get rid of it.”

Thanai Pongdee, an allergist with Mayo Clinic Florida in Jacksonville, also pointed out that children themselves bring allergens to school on their clothing. Schools may not realize they are harboring a variety of allergens in carpet, upholstered furniture, pillows and stuffed animals, Pongdee said.

“I know mold gets a lot of popular press,” he said, “but if you look at dust mites and animal dander, those are key players as well.”

Mold is a naturally occurring part of Florida’s warm, humid climate. Mold spores continually waft through the air indoors and outside.

What becomes problematic is when those spores come into contact with moisture – a roof leak, a liquid spill or high humidity, for example – and are allowed to multiply and form colonies inside buildings. Mold in classrooms can be especially concerning because these are small areas with limited air flow where children and school employees spend hours at a time.

If moms and dads think their kid’s’ school is making them sick, experts say they should keep a detailed log of children’s symptoms, including when they occur, and confer with their doctors.

Broward mom Cara Aliseo suggested parents educate themselves about mold and push officials to do any necessary repairs quickly and correctly.

Part of the problem at her son’s former school, she said, was that the mold clean-ups were not done the right way so mold kept coming back. In the end, most of the campus had to be rebuilt.

“I know if we didn’t fight the way we did — me and teachers and parents screaming and going to meetings and causing trouble — it never would have been fixed,” she said.

• John P. Lapotaire, CIEC
• Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
• Microshield Environmental Services, LLC
• www.Microshield-ES.com

By The Home Ventilating Institute (HVI)

To avoid common air quality problems within the home, follow ten simple steps:

1. Operate the exhaust fan when bathing and showering to limit moisture build up. Be sure to keep the shower curtain or bathtub sliding door open after bathing to increase air circulation. For tips on selecting the right exhaust fan, see HVI’s Bathroom Ventilation Guidelines and Product Directory.

2. Turn on range hood fans to expel contaminants released from food while cooking. Range hoods can also eliminate pollutants such as carbon monoxide which can be released during cooking. For help in selecting the right range hood fan, see HVI’s Product Directory.

3. Increase ventilation rates during family gatherings and parties. For tips on achieving the right ventilation rates, see HVI’s How Much Ventilation Do I Need? Also consider a whole-house comfort ventilator. HVI recommends that a whole-house comfort ventilator have a minimum capacity to provide approximately one complete air change every two minutes within the occupied area. This flow rate will be great enough to create a perceptible “breeze” through the house. The required flow rate can be calculated by multiplying the gross square footage of the entire house (including unoccupied areas like closets) by 3. Be sure to include the upstairs area of multilevel homes. This formula assumes an eight-foot ceiling and takes into account typical unoccupied areas.

4. Ensure that continuous ventilation is provided in addition to the intermittent ventilation systems. This can be achieved using a whole-house comfort ventilator, HRV or ERV, or other fan configurations. For tips on selecting the right ventilation systems, see HVI’s Fresh Ideas – The Guide to Home Ventilation & Indoor Air Quality and its Product Directory.

5. Plan routine maintenance for HVAC equipment to ensure all systems are working properly and performing as intended. Schedule a professional inspection, cleaning and “tune-up” by a qualified firm regularly.

6. Change HVAC filters as instructed. Check, clean, or replace furnace and air filters regularly as recommended. Consider installing a “high efficiency particulate” or HEPA filter for better performance.

7. Clean the home regularly to prevent dust, dirt, and pet-hair accumulation. Dust and dirt particles can become airborne, creating contaminants in the air. Regular cleaning can help to eliminate this potential hazard.

8. Use safe cleaning products to avoid emitting dangerous chemicals into the air. Many products can release toxic or irritating chemicals when used. Select cleaning products that are certified for low levels of chemical emissions. Increase ventilation during cleaning tasks.

9. Purchase low emitting finishes and materials. New or recently installed building materials and furnishings can emit dangerous toxins. Look for products that are certified for low chemical emissions. When outgassing is minimized ventilation systems don’t need to exchange the air as often.

10. Ensure that clothes dryers are exhausted directly to the outside and make sure that filters and hoods are cleaned regularly to maintain airflow.

• John P. Lapotaire, CIEC
• Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
• Microshield Environmental Services, LLC
• www.Microshield-ES.com

By The Home Ventilating Institute (HVI)

There are two primary reasons for ventilating houses: 1) to provide the necessary fresh air for the occupants to breathe and 2) to dilute indoor air pollutants and excess moisture. Complaints of stuffiness, unpleasant odors, and illness are common in houses that contain too little fresh air. Outdoor air pollution is bad enough, but we are now learning that indoor air pollution is almost always considerably worse—and this polluted air can make us sick.

To feel comfortable and healthy, people simply need clean, fresh air. Mechanical ventilation systems are specifically designed to exchange the air in a house—as well as circulate it.

A ventilation system should be as reliable and predictable as our own lungs. Houses without mechanical ventilation systems get their air quite by chance—the air moving into and out of them is totally uncontrolled. For example, air may infiltrate indoors only when the wind is blowing. We deserve to have control over the air we breathe, we deserve more than “ventilation-by-chance,” we deserve “ventilation-on-purpose.”

Without a doubt, each and every one of us could benefit from a mechanical ventilation system in our home. Ventilation is not a mysterious high-tech process; it is very simple once you understand the basics. Ventilation should be as important as air conditioning, electric lighting, closets, kitchen cabinets, and indoor plumbing which we take for granted as necessary components of our homes. The Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) recommends selecting equipment bearing the HVI-Certified Label which provides homeowners assurance that the products will perform as advertised.

Mechanical ventilation is generally regarded as being more important in today’s tighter houses than it was in the loosely built houses of the last century. Knowledge about how houses work has evolved considerably in the building-science community over the past few years. We now know that a house is more than the sum of its parts—it is a dynamic, ever-changing system.

When a house is viewed as a system, aspects of moisture control, infiltration, safe chimney operation, pollutant sources, duct leakage, pressure imbalances, and ventilation all become interconnected. Thus, we are concerned not only with ventilation per se, but also the various side issues that affect indoor air quality.

Indoor air pollution is responsible for symptoms ranging from sinus congestion to cancer, from depression to immune-system damage. It isn’t unusual for everyday symptoms such as headache, drowsiness, runny nose, lethargy and inability to concentrate to be related to poor indoor air quality.
Sources of pollutants

• Gaseous pollutants – Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are gases that are emitted, or outgassed, from a wide variety of modern materials; combustion gases from fireplaces or gas ranges; people and animals also release carbon dioxide (CO2) and other by-products of metabolism.
• Metals – Lead, mercury, or arsenic can chalk off from paint or treated lumber and be tracked indoors.
• Minerals – Minerals, such as calcium can also become air pollutants. Their particle size is so small that they can be inhaled deeply into the lungs.
• Radiation – Problems occur when radon seeps into houses and builds up to dangerous concentrations.
• Biological pollutants – Dust mites, mold, and mildew are irritating health hazards.
• Pesticides – When used indoors, pesticides can be serious indoor air pollutants.
• Smoking – The most effective way of reducing the danger associated with smoking is to ban smoking indoors.

While a human body is capable of tolerating a certain amount of contaminated air, evidence from a variety of sources tells us that we are being exposed to more pollution than our metabolism can adequately process—especially when we are indoors—and it is making us sick. But there is no reason for this trend to continue. After all, a variety of strategies can be used to build houses with minimal indoor air pollution. These low-pollution “healthy houses” have one thing in common: they all have mechanical ventilation systems.

The Home Ventilating Institute recommends the exclusive use of products which are HVI-Certified. The proven performance provided by HVI Certification is essential when selecting home ventilation products to control the air you breathe.

• John P. Lapotaire, CIEC
• Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
• Microshield Environmental Services, LLC
• www.Microshield-ES.com

By The Home Ventilating Institute (HVI)

When you think about it, ventilation really is a people consideration. The purpose of ventilation is to provide a home’s occupants with clean, healthy, and comfortable air.

Ventilation is used to dilute pollutants and supply occupants with oxygen. Ventilation also dilutes high indoor humidity levels to prevent moisture-related problems such as mold growth and rot. Controlling excess moisture protects both the health of occupants and the health of the house.

While air infiltrating a house will dilute the concentration of indoor contaminants, natural infiltration is unreliable when compared to mechanical ventilation. In fact, it has been determined that houses with mechanical ventilation systems have better indoor air quality and use less energy than houses that rely on natural infiltration alone.

Sick-building syndrome
The words “sick-building syndrome” imply that a building is ill, when in fact the phrase refers to conditions which make the occupants ill—generally as a result of poor indoor air quality. Complaints may be reported after a building is remodeled. Pollutants released from construction products or cleaning solutions, microbial contamination of wet materials, and inadequate ventilation, are often cited as causes of sick-building syndrome.

Incidences of sick-building syndrome are on the rise. Fortunately, however, as more and more people grasp that poor indoor air quality might be the cause of their illnesses, they are cleaning up their indoor environment and improving their ventilation.

Sensitive occupants
Some people, due to pre-existing conditions (e.g., health, age) are more sensitive to contaminants in the air. Sensitive people require air that is much cleaner than normal in order to minimize negative impacts on their health. Their condition is often referred to as chemical sensitivity or multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). Many of us are sensitive to “bad air” to a less debilitating degree – and all of us can derive a substantial benefit from breathing cleaner air.

Individuals with MCS generally exhibit a wide variety of symptoms. Eye and respiratory irritation are common, but headaches are also widely reported. Other symptoms can range from joint and muscle pain to seizures. Because the brain is very sensitive to some pollutants, MCS patients often report symptoms such as depression and anxiety that are related to poor indoor air quality.

Sensitive people’s bodies react to very low levels of a wide variety of pollutants. So, for sensitive occupants, it is imperative to clean up the indoor air through source control and separation, then use a mechanical ventilation system to keep the air clean.

Diluting high moisture levels
Although moisture itself isn’t a pollutant, with an accumulation over several days, it can contribute to a variety of pollution problems in a house. If there is excess moisture in a house in the form of high humidity, there can easily be a proliferation of biological pollutants. Mold, mildew, or dust mites will start to thrive as the humidity rises, and the occupants may start experiencing allergy or asthma symptoms. Inside the living space, moisture can be released from both people and their activities. Spot ventilation in the kitchen and bath, along with a whole-house ventilation system will help to expel excess moisture from a house.

People need fresh air
Those who are at greatest risk for sensitivity to contaminated indoor air are children, the elderly, and the sick. But we all need fresh air. We spend between 80–90% of our time indoors, so we must ensure that the air is comfortable and healthy. Properly installed ventilation products that have been certified by the Home Ventilating Institute (HVI) will ensure that you receive proper ventilation to maximize indoor air quality.

John P. Lapotaire, CIEC

• Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant
• Indoor Air Quality Solutions, IAQS
• Microshield Environmental Services, LLC
• www.Microshield-ES.com  www.CFL-IAQ.com
• www.FloridaIAQ.com
• http://www.microshield-es.com/moldinspectiontesting.html
• http://www.orlandomoldinspection.us/
• http://www.microshield-es.com/nuisanceodor.html
• http://www.floridaiaq.com/moldremediationprotocol.html
• http://www.floridaiaq.com/moldclearancetesting.html

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There are a few main factors that determine whether a person will be prone to developing mold spore allergies:

1.Hereditary: If members of your family currently have or had problems with allergies, you are more likely to have allergies as well. If both of your parents are allergic to mold (or anything else for that matter), you have a 75% chance of developing mold allergies as well. If only one parent – or relatives on only one side of your family-has allergies, your chances of being allergic to mold drops to 50%. Individuals with asthma are also more likely to be allergic to mold, especially if they are also allergic to other allergens, like dust mites or animal dander.

2.Exposure: People who live in humid climates or areas prone to flooding are more likely to find mold growing in their homes. Depending on the age of the house, layout, ventilation and cleaning habits, one house may have a far higher amount of mold spores in the air than another. The higher the concentration of mold spores indoors, the better the chances of developing allergic sensitivity from exposure. Outdoor mold can also be a problem, but it is the year-round indoor mold that causes the most trouble when it comes to developing allergies. Occupations with high mold exposure are: farming, dairy work, logging, baking, millwork, carpentry, greenhouse work, winemaking and furniture repair.

3.Age: Mold allergies and prevalent in all age groups, but young children with a family history of allergies or mold exposure are more likely to develop mold allergies.