Mold issue at local school lingers
Mold is there, but whether it’s dangerous is another question
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 10:30 AM PST
ONTARIO — Culture results for mold spores came back positive in all but two of the areas tested at Ontario Middle School prior to Christmas break, but what more can be done to address the issue or how serious of a problem there actually is remains unclear.
That’s because there appear to be no firm guidelines regarding a mold “threshold” by the Environmental Protection Agency and even the method used to test for mold at the school may not be conclusive, an outside expert said.
The school district was informed in a letter Dec. 18, a complaint was filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration about mold growing in different rooms at OMS.
The agency gave the school district five days to respond to the allegations.
Ontario School District Operations Manager Duke Clinton said Monday, a number of cultures secured in various rooms of OMS did reveal mold spores, but he is still waiting to hear back from OSHA officials about a report submitted to the agency.
Clinton said the OSHA complaint stated black mold was growing in different rooms of the Enterprise, Odyssey and Challenger buildings and causing safety and health problems such as burning eyes, running noses and “unexplained infections.”
Clinton said the OSHA letter said, since the work environment can’t positively be identified as the source, an inspection was unlikely at the moment, but the agency instructed the school district to take steps to address the allegations anyway.
After the mold spore results came back, Clinton said he contacted Dr. Maureen Lichtveld, professor and chairman of the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, New Orleans, whom the Argus Observer interviewed regarding mold Dec. 19, about the test results as well as a Malheur County Health Department official. Clinton said Lichtveld expressed doubts about the type of petri dish culture test used as providing an accurate measure for testing. He said, Lichtveld has specialized equipment, but she is based in Louisiana, and, so far, he has not found out if there are any agencies regionally that perform more advanced testing.
“So, I don’t know if I’d put a lot of weight in those results even,” Clinton said.
Based on what Lichtveld and the county official said, however, Clinton said he isn’t sure what more can be done about mold spores growing because “we are surrounded in a world of mold.” He said, Lichtveld stated it is nearly impossible to eradicate mold entirely.
“You’re never, ever going to have an area that has zero mold spores in it,” Clinton said.
Clinton said, what he has been trying to find out, and hopes to hear from OSHA, is what, if any threshold or guideline for mold levels exist.
However, there are currently no standards or threshold limit values to airborne mold or mold spores, according to the EPA’s Web site on mold.
“It seems like this is kind of a gray area,” Clinton said.
Clinton said he was told a measure of success regarding mold is ensuring no active mold is growing and the inside mold spore counts are significantly less than those outside, both of which the OMS buildings meet. He said, despite the reports of mold spores present, no actively growing mold was found and only one classroom revealed mold spots on a ceiling tile that came from a past leak.
“We have some guys taking care of it right now,” he said. “What they’re doing is following EPA guidelines for mold remediation.”
For surface mold, EPA guidelines state the affected areas should be wiped off using a solution of one gallon of water to one cup of bleach. For mold that has penetrated into materials past the surface, the affected areas have to be removed. Clinton said he told the school district maintenance manager to pick a few likely spots in the affected areas for mold and drill small holes in the walls to see if there is any penetration.
“That’s what maintenance is doing right now,” he said.
Until Clinton hears back from OSHA, he said he is not sure if an outside inspection will take place, which he said he would welcome.
“From what I’ve seen, we don’t have a mold problem,” he said.
According to Lichtveld, mold can exacerbate asthma or other respiratory problems, but it’s difficult to trace the trigger of the attacks to one specific source because of the number of allergens people are exposed to on a daily basis, indoors and out, such as pet dander, dust mites, pollen, second-hand smoke or air pollution.
