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Health department to probe Oak Ridge Elementary sickness

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Friday, May 22, 2009

(Updated 8:12 am)

By J. Brian Ewing
Staff Writer

Guilford County health officials say they are working to find what might be making students and staff at Oak Ridge Elementary School sick.

“Our plan is to determine an exact culprit, correct it, and then monitor to make sure the problem does not return. We aim to accomplish this while lessening panic or fear,” said Merle Green, director of the Guilford County public health department in a statement.

Green did not return calls for comment but wrote that her office is working on a plan based on science and facts.

The investigating team is reviewing engineering reports, case studies, medical information, consultant reports, and anecdotal information in an attempt to quickly drill down to the root of the problems, Green said in the statement sent by e-mail Thursday evening.

“We will maintain constant dialogue with those who are affected, and will address community based concerns in the public domain,” Green said.

Nora Carr, chief of staff with Guilford County Schools, said the health department requested records from
the school, including absences, and access to the school Thursday.

School officials told parents during Wedneday night’s meeting they’ve reached out to local and state health officials because they’ve found no problems currently at the school, despite reports from parents and faculty that illnesses still persist.

Parents and staff told of students whose noses and eyes bleed and who get migraines and suffer from sinus and respiratory infections. One teacher held up medical records showing that he tested positive for toxic mold exposure.
The complaints began in 2005 after renovations and additions were completed on the school.

Mold has been found at the school twice in the past four years.

The school system reports spending nearly $600,000 addressing mold and other issues at the school.

The system spent nearly $400,000 installing a dehumidification system four years ago. This month, carpet found to have mold was removed from several classrooms.

Leo Bobadilla, Guilford County Schools’ chief operations officer, said tests have been done and issues have been addressed.

Contact J. Brian Ewing at 373-7351 or brian.ewing@news-record.com

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NoMoreSchoolMold

May 21, 2009 - 11:37 pm EDT

"Ritchie Shoemaker, MD, a pioneering researcher and clinician, is a leading expert in biotoxin and mold related illnesses. In this ground-breaking presentation, he discusses how readily available laboratory blood tests and a new EPA approved mold environmental test (ERMI) can be used together to prove whether or not mold is at the root of your health issues." Watch Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker on YouTube. He is an esteemed Maryland physician who has won an award from the State of Maryland Health Dept., has treated 6,000 mold patients and conducted extensive scientific research, presented to Congress and many learned societies on the topic- a national expert. The symptoms described are typically seen in stachybotrys-infested schools. View Dr. Shoemaker and learn more at https://www.schoolmoldhelp.org/content/view/1636/65/ and www.biotoxin.info. Ask the health department if they have been trained in identifying toxic mold exposure, and if they will use an ERMI test. The EPA has not trained health departments as the gov't hasn't got its act together yet related to mold. They know, but they do very little that is practical to help suffering people in moldy buildings. Some buildings are impossible to remediate and must be torn down, with all the interior items that are contaminated disposed of. This school may be one of them.

NoMoreSchoolMold

May 21, 2009 - 11:59 pm EDT

The spores of stachybotrys (the most toxic black mold, often found in schools that experience longterm or extensive leaking) are heavy and large, and generally are not aerosolized. Therefore, they do not appear in air (spore trap) testing which is typically done by most mold testing companies, producing a typical false negative result (ie. no mold problem). This school, by conducting renovation vs. remediation in 2005, has likely stirred up toxic molds that were documented as having been there, and spread them, making matters worse. Also, the testing is not measuring mycotoxins which are the poisons that produce these effects. Trichothecene mycotoxins, produced by stachybotrys, makes mucous membranes bleed. Read about this in Chapter 34 of the US Army Military Manual https://www.schoolmoldhelp.org/content/view/998/65/. "Later signs and symptoms (8–24 h) would probably be similar (except for the degree of skin rash
and blisters) for both large-particle and deep respiratory aerosol exposure to trichothecene mycotoxins. They could include continued nausea and
vomiting, diarrhea, burning erythema, skin rash and blisters, confusion, ataxia, chills, fever, hypotension, and bleeding.

http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/published_volumes/chemBio/Ch34.pdf (Borden Institute, Textbooks of Military Medicine, Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare, TRICHOTHECENE MYCOTOXINS, Ch. 34."

mbowlin001

May 22, 2009 - 2:22 pm EDT

Dr. Shoemaker i feel is the only person that is willing to help other than our very on Dr. Freid. If they can open a are to test the children. I would be more than willing to come down and help out as much as possible.

shamel

May 22, 2009 - 7:08 am EDT

Oak Ridge school officials and parents may want to check out the remarkable research on toxic mold removal done by environmental expert Dr Ed Close. Simply diffusing a therapeutic-grade oil regularly in these school buildings would likely result in an environment very hostile to mold. Moreover, numerous studies have shown breathing natural oils improves classroom performance.
http://www.secretofthieves.com/mold.cfm/79544

It seems like this would make traditional remediation projects easier and more effective, as well as creating a healthier environment for the students to learn.

In one instance, 10,667 stachybotrys mold spores were identified in a per cubic meter area. After diffusing Thieves essential oil for forty-eight hours, Dr Close retested. Only thirteen stachybotrys remained. Similarly, 75,000 stachybotrys mold spores were identified in a sample of sheetrock. After seventy-two hours of diffusing, no stachybotrys mold spores remained. (Stachybotrys has a reputation for being the most toxic mold.)

mbowlin001

May 22, 2009 - 2:18 pm EDT

I can not believe how Mr. Green can say there is not an issue. Clearly, our students including my son was never sick until the new building was built and now he gets upper respiratory infections seems like every other month

NoMoreSchoolMold

May 24, 2009 - 6:22 pm EDT

I attended a training for school attorneys, by the National School Board Assn., and they were clearly on the side of denying the problem and attacking the evidence, "as with any other attack on the school district". The school attorneys were told, essentially, that mold doesn't really harm and that the people were after "money or special favors" from the school district. So the Superintendent and principals, school nurses, and teachers, are silenced because the attorneys and risk managers are in charge, fighting any future liability problems. That puts it in perspective, sadly, on why the local level cannot solve these problems - yet at the highest level, to date, there is little to no help (federal, etc.).
The snake oil salespeople come out of the woodwork when these districts have problems. The NYC DOH has a document that is found on our Remediation page on what to do for mold. www.schoolmoldhelp.org.