> In the state of Washington, there are no guidelines or laws, which
> force home inspectors to report findings of mold. Due to this Teresa
> McCormick who is a microbiologist for the United States Army has
> suffered immense financial losses not to mention becoming very ill due
> to the amount of mold, which went intentionally unreported when she
> purchased her home. To this day home inspectors (except for a few)
> argue and lobby against the reporting of mold infestation. Below is
> what Teresa authored and proposed to her state legislators.
> Unfortunately the corporate interests and inspector organizations
> lobbied effectively against this proposal and to this date, no one
> purchasing a house will be told if it contains mold.

> ARGUMENTS FOR HOME INSPECTORS REPORTING OF VISIBLE MOLD

> Large amounts of mold in homes have been associated with infection,
> irritation, allergy and toxic reactions amongst residents.  This has
> been recognized by both the EPA and OSHA.  EPA has long recognized the
> phenomenon of Sick Building Syndrome.
> The percentage of the population possessing the HLA DR gene which is
> associated with diminished ability to clear toxins from the body is
> approximately 25 percent.  The variants in the MET gene which doubles
> the risk of Autism are found in 47 percent of the population.  This
> gene modulates the nervous system, gut and immune system.  The
> activity of the MET gene is affected by oxidative stress- the damage
> one sees with excessive exposure to toxins. Environmental toxins and
> the inability to clear them are associated with the 1000 percent
> increase in autism.  The steep rise in autism parallels the use of
> Oriented Strand Board in homes beginning in 1979.  OSB is tested for
> off gassing of Volatile Organic Compounds when dry but not when
> moist.   Moisture almost always results in the growth of mold even in
> the most expensive OSB used in homes.
> CDC has delineated persons who are known to be more susceptible to
> mold in their 2005 Post Katrina Report.  These include adults over 65,
> children under 12, pregnant females, immunosuppressed patients
> including those with cancer, transplant patients, arthritis patients,
> asthmatics and HIV patients.  This growing portion of the population
> would be unaware of large amounts of mold in their attics and
> crawlspaces of the homes they purchase or rent unless reported by the
> home inspector.  The risk management idea that mold need not be
> reported because it only affects a few sensitive people and the costs
> to our major industries would be too great reeks of Social Darwinism
> where we should not care about the minority or disabled.   It is wrong
> on the basic principles our nation is founded on and it is wrong that
> it is only a few sensitive people.  In some cases we do not know when
> or if we might fall into one these groups, but surely we all realize
> we will be, with any luck, 65 some day.  RISK MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE
> CENTERED ON PREVENTION THROUGH REPORTING VISIBLE MOLD WHEN FOUND NOT
> COVERING UP THE FACT THAT IT EXISTS WITH THE IDEA THAT IT DOES NOT
> CAUSE STRUCTURAL CONCERNS.
> The WSDA mold guidance document for home inspectors is false.  The
> statement that mold and mildew do not cause structural concerns may
> have been taken as a simple typographical error omitting the word
> “surface” before mold except that the WSDA official overseeing home
> inspections is currently teaching home inspectors along with Jeff
> Morrell, who is also paid by the Wood Products Association, that mold
> need not be reported on home inspections as there are no structural
> concerns.  The same WSDA agent overseeing home inspections is then
> attending meetings of the American Lung Association and stating that
> mold and mildew rots everything it grows on and is a hazard and needs
> to be removed.  These efforts to lessen the importance of mold by our
> State match nationwide efforts.  It is no coincidence that
> Weyerhaeuser the largest builder in the Western States is located in
> Washington and is the subject of a mold class action lawsuit. Their
> concerns with mold first began in 2002 when many of their newly
> constructed homes were found to fill rapidly with mold.
>  Physicians treating asthmatic or neurologically impacted patients are
> fearful of speaking openly about the issue of mold and health for fear
> of loosing grants, their medical licenses and their employment at
> Universities funded by big industries.  Most publications showing
> associations between mold and health are published in Europe and
> Brazil.   These peer reviewed publications showing the dangers of
> molds and mycotoxins exceed the publications by the PhD and MD group
> associated with Veritox by a thousand fold or more, yet the Veritox or
> ACOEM papers are flaunted nationwide where mold concerns are raised.
> While the CEO of Weyerhaeuser was amassing huge amounts of personal
> wealth to the tune of 13 million a year during the sub prime fiasco
> enabling the sale of thousands of Weyerhaeuser shoddily constructed
> homes to be sold, the cover up went on with the assistance of many
> high powered legislators and governors, while others were apparently
> kept in the dark.  IT IS TIME FOR THIS COVER UP TO END.  Our future is
> at stake.
> The Kingdom of Fungi consists of three basic groups the mushrooms or
> basidiomycetes, yeasts and molds.  Yeasts are single celled fungi that
> reproduce by budding and molds are mycelia producing fungi that
> reproduce both sexually by fruiting bodies and asexually by means of
> conidia.  Some fungi are dimorphic and produce both yeasts phases and
> mycelial growth patterns depending on environmental factors.  There
> are many mycelia producing Fungi or molds that cause soft rot in
> wood.  One of the most common is Chaetomium.  It was the most common
> genus found in New Orleans both above and below the water level in
> damaged homes after Katrina.  There is no way a home inspector has the
> means of telling this soft rot fungi or mold or other soft rot fungi
> or molds from surface growing molds on a visual inspection.  The
> differentiation of these molds is performed by trained mycologists
> using microscopic means.  These organisms often grow totally through a
> sheet of OSB, destroying the internal structure and strength long
> before the white softened areas appear.
> No proven causation and no standard does not equate with No Harm.
> Many toxic and carcinogenic agents including alcohol and tobacco only
> have an association with illnesses such as lung cancer, COPD, Asthma
> and fetal alcohol syndrome.  There is no minimum standard or LD50
> associated with tobacco smoke, yet the precautionary principle has led
> us to regulate tobacco out of public places and warn against alcohol
> during pregnancy because of an association.  Mold is a known trigger
> for asthma.  From the American Lung Association of
> Washington:

>  More than 5,000 people are hospitalized every year- more than 100
> every                       week- as a direct result of asthma; more
> than half the hospitalizations are paid for by Medicare or Medicaid.
> About 48,000 adults with asthma make at least one emergency department
> visit per year.  100,000 make at least one urgent visit to see their
> doctors for worsening asthma symptoms each year.  Direct medical costs
> for asthma in Washington are about $240 million per each year.  Youth
> with asthma miss school because of their condition, and those with
> more severe asthma symptoms are less likely to have high academic
> achievement than youth with few symptoms or those without asthma.
> About 120,000 Washington youth are currently affected by asthma.
> Between 1995 through 2002, more than a thousand claims were paid by
> state worker compensation funds for work-related asthma totaling $12
> million.  In total, asthma costs more than $400 million every year in
> medical expenditures and lost productivity for the state.
> Washington’s asthma prevalence has been identified by CDC as one of
> the highest in the nation- both youth and adult prevalence are
> significantly greater than national averages.

> The chronic inflammation resulting from long term inhalation of mold
> spores has an association with many other chronic conditions such as
> thyroid, heart, liver, joint and kidney disease.  Cytokine release by
> macrophages which results from fungal exposure can cause goiter.
> Chaetomium and Stachybotyrus are both associated with demylination of
> the nerves and development of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Many
> molds produce neurotoxins.  The rate of Multiple Sclerosis is very
> high in the northwest and Canada.  Washington also sports the dubious
> distinction of highest rate of death by Alzheimer’s disease another
> neurological disorder. Toxicicological studies have demonstrated that
> inhalation versus other routes of entry with trichothene exposure
> tends to have greater toxicity at lower doses.

> There are existing standards for reporting the amounts of visible mold
> given by OSHA.  These parallel reporting by New York City Standards.
> Why is it that the standards exist for the workplace where mainly
> adult brains exist for 8 hour periods while ignoring the homes where
> the most vulnerable of neurological damage can occur in the developing
> brains of children under 5 years of age exist for 24 hours per day?
> Autism syndrome has been reported in approximately 25% of children
> examined by Dr. Kaye Kilburn for toxic mold