A coalition of groups has already submitted a petition to the Obama Administration and the labor committees of Congress, asking for a two-week review period before any changes to the ACOEM revisions are finalized.

Several activists are concerned that the new position paper will suggest that moldy workplaces are not harmful to employees, unless they have some preexisting condition that puts them at unusual risk.

"We believe that the added transparency" that has been requested "and will provide a balance that is needed for all stakeholders" in this matter, a December 21 position statement from IICRC says.

"IICRC has a broad range of expertise and feels it would be disruptive, after having expended such significant effort and expense, from commenting on this position paper," the statement continues.

"It is the IICRC's position that ACOEM should allow input from materially interested parties, including the IICRC, and that follow-up coverage be provided as this issue unfolds," the organization concluded.

The policies and guidelines that ACOEM writes establish treatment protocols that ACOEM and other physicians use when examining workers who have been exposed to microbial contaminants (mold, etc.) that are found in water damaged work environments, activists say.

In addition to being used to establish U.S. public health policy and teaching hospital protocols and practices, they are used to establish or deny workers' compensation insurance benefits for those workers claiming injury from water damaged workplaces, and to direct employers, building owners and others of the potential need to remediate damaged buildings.

Article Courtesy of Indoor Environment Connections Volume 12, Issue 3 – January 2011.

The New York State Toxic Mold Task Force Report to the Governor and Legislature, which IE Connections has reported in several previous issues, has been finalized. Here are some of its findings and recommendations:

(1) Evidence does not exist supporting clear distinctions between a category of "toxic mold" species versus other "non-toxic" mold species or between "toxic mold" health effects and health effects associated with other molds;

(2) Although some molds produce toxins, "their contribution to adverse health effects in damp buildings, based on existing scientific information, is uncertain," the panel found.  It added that molds produce volatile compounds, spores and other minute particles "that can cause irritant and allergic responses that range from annoying to serious;"

(3) Both New York State and New York City should continue to improve building code requirements so that they prevent or minimize the potential for mold and other moisture-related problems to occur.  They should both work within the framework of the International Code Council (ICC) code adoption process to monitor and develop proposals to prevent or minimize mold in new and existing buildings.

The full report, which runs about 150 pages, is one of the more comprehensive I've seen from a public entity.  You should check out the whole thing at http://www.nyhealth.gov/environmental/indoors/air/mold/task_force/

Article Courtesy of Indoor Environment Connections Volume 12, Issue 3 – January 2011.

For the study, which followed a group of asthmatic children in Baltimore, researchers from the Center for Childhood Asthma in the Urban Environment followed 150 asthmatic children, ages 2 to 6, for six months. Environmental monitoring equipment was used to measure the air in the child's bedroom over three-day intervals. Air measurements were taken at the beginning of the study, after three months and again after six months.

"We found that substantial increases in asthma symptoms were associated both with higher indoor concentrations of fine particles and with higher indoor concentrations of coarse particles," said Meredith C. McCormack, MD, MHS, lead author of the study.

For every 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air (ug/m3) increase in indoor coarse particle concentration, there was a 6 percent increase in the number of days of cough, wheeze, or chest tightness, after adjusting for a number of factors.

For every 10 ug/m3 increase in fine particles measured indoors, there was a 7 percent increase in days of wheezing severe enough to limit speech and after adjusting for various factors, a 4 percent increase in days on which rescue medication was needed. In many cases, the level of indoor fine particle pollution measured was twice as high as the accepted standard for outdoor pollution established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Children spend nearly 80 percent of their time indoors, which makes understanding the effects of indoor air very important," said co-author Gregory B. Diette.

EPA regulates outdoor levels of fine particle pollution, but does not have a standard for coars particle pollution. The study was published in February 2009 edition of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Article Courtesy of Scarlett, Tom. "Study Links Indoor Air Pollution, Asthma." Indoor Environment Connections Volume 10, Issue 5 – March 2009.