Mystery Of Mold: Is It A Hidden Hazard?

HOUSTON -- It's a growing problem -- growing in Houston homes, schools and libraries. But is mold really dangerous or just the subject of media hype?

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"Oh this is no hype. This is real. This is very real. And people get very ill from this," said Elena Walker, a mold victim.

Walker works at the Houston office of the Internal Revenue Service. She said her IRS job was taxing her health.

"Three months after I began working, I broke out with hives. It (swelled) up my eyes. I looked like I'd been in a fight with Mike Tyson," Walker said.

Dr. Andrew Campbell of Spring, Texas, is one of only three toxicologists in the nation who specialize in treating mold-related diseases.

"I have young people in their 20s with cancers," Campbell said.

Campbell told News2Houston that mycotoxins from mold can cause five types of cancer: kidney, liver, testicular, esophagus and leukemia.

He said there are more than 100,000 different kinds of mold. The vast majority is harmless. But 24 species are truly dangerous, emitting mycotoxins from their spores.

"So the ill effects that we feel, as humans, is the effects of these mycotoxins, not the molds," Campbell said.

"It's not an allergy. It's a toxin. It's a poison," Walker said.

Mold is not always visible to the eye. It may be hiding in the ceiling, which is the perfect breeding ground for mold, according to News2Houston. A leaking pipe provides the water, which triggers the mold growth. The cellulose in the ceiling tile is the perfect food for the mold, experts said. And the air conditioning ductwork is the perfect vehicle to spread spores around the building.

Several Houston-area schools have been shut down because of mold.

"And, of course, we see a lot of children, because unfortunately, school buildings are built by the lowest bidder," Campbell said.

Experts said that some behavioral problems in children, like agitation, could be directly linked to toxic mold in the classroom.

"That agitation is sometimes misinterpreted as attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," Campbell said.

So why has Houston seen such an outbreak recently? The spores were here all the time. They just needed moisture to grow, according to authorities.

A small leak or a major flood can trigger an outbreak, which is what happened right after Tropical Storm Allison.

"That increased people's awareness because they got sick after the flood whereas they were fine before," Campbell said.

Experts suggest the following tips to prevent mold from growing.

• Repair leaks immediately.
• Replace anything that gets wet.

"Unfortunately, that's all you can do for visible areas. The invisible areas can be just as lethal because it could be throughout your vents and you don't know it," Campbell said.

Only a test can tell for sure. But experts said to remember that only a small percentage of molds are toxic.

For instance, an infestation of white mold in a Pearland, Texas, library was a textbook case of relatively harmless mold.

"Consider this just like you would consider cancer: be afraid of it because it can do permanent danger to you," Walker said.

"Once you know what is wrong, then you can treat that instead of just treating symptoms. And yes, you get better," Campbell said.

More Information:

• Center For Immune, Environmental & Toxic Disorders
• Mold Information