Health – Medical – Science

 
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Symptoms of Mold Poisoning

Though no two people are ever exactly the same, certain things seem to happen on a rather regular basis.  Below is a list of the most common symptons of mold illness.  There are many more, but this is a partial list.  Mycotoxins can also cause immune dysfunction and are even carcogenic.

Severe abdominal pain (often sudden onset)

Muscle aches and chronic pain

Tightness, pain in chest wall

Very dry eyes

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

Hoarseness

Loss of concentration

Short term memory loss

Low (or high) blood pressure

Low Body Temperature

Nosebleeds

Mouth Sores

Out of norm headaches

Hair Loss

Hearing Loss

Restless Leg (spasms of feet, toes as well)

chronic fatigue

Vertigo

Red or bloodshot eyes

Nail infections

Sudden weight gain or loss

Painless tiny blood-like blisters on skin

Respiratory infections

Shortness of breath

Sinus infections, excessive mucous production

Tooth decay near the gum area

Blurred or distorted vision

Tingling or burning sensation in hands or feet

Sleeping for long periods

Seizure-like episodes

Pinhole size pupils

Edema

 

Cancer & Mold

The opinions of an MD and oncologist

After spending billions of dollars over many decades, the medical establishment claims not to know the cause of cancer, not to understand its nature, and can only offer expensive and invasive treatments like radiation and highly toxic drugs to treat it.

This strikes me as willful stupidity that conveniently happens to generate many billions of dollars each year that is spread out annually among many tens of thousands of employees of the cancer industry.

brasschecktv.com

 

Lawsuit: Health District mold that killed inspector also sickened others

By Jeff German
April 22, 2009

The family of a Southern Nevada Health District inspector who died in 2007 after being exposed to toxic mold at the district’s main office has opened a new front in its legal battle with health officials.

Dan Pauluk’s wife, one of his daughters and his caregiver filed a lawsuit in District Court this week, alleging they were “cross-contaminated” from the mold in Pauluk’s body and have become seriously ill. Laurie Boswell, a co-worker of Pauluk’s, also joined the suit, alleging she has become ill from exposure to mold while working at the health district.

Pauluk’s family is also suing the health district in federal court. It filed a wrongful death lawsuit in August 2007 after an autopsy showed the 57-year-old Pauluk died of mold poisoning. The suit was originally filed in District Court, but later moved to federal court.

The allegations at the center of the legal battle are ironic in light of the fact that the Health District defines its mission as protecting the health and well-being of Southern Nevadans.

In its latest suit, Pauluk’s family contends health district officials’ “despicable misconduct” included conspiring to cover up the extent of the mold problem at the 625 Shadow Lane headquarters.

The suit also alleges that the health district was “fully aware of the high rate of sickness” at the health district building and fraudulently presented the building as a safe work environment.

This was done with “malice” and “recklessness,” the suit alleges.

As a result of the misrepresentations, Pauluk’s wife, Wendy, his daughter Chrissy and the former caregiver, Dean Zachrison, all have been contaminated themselves and have suffered “severe, serious, disabling and deadly personal injuries,” the suit says. And the family has had to move out of its home, which has become inhabitable.

Dan Pauluk, the suit adds, “wasted away” in front of his family “through the experience of protracted, extremely outrageous, severely painful and debilitating disease directly due to knowing exposure of toxic mold substances by the defendants.”

Tracy Eglet, managing partner of Mainer Eglet Cottle, the law firm that prepared the suit, said in a statement that other employees might also be at risk to serious illness from mold poisoning.

“There is a high probability that many other employees and their family members have been affected by the mold presence in the health district building,” Eglet said. “We are considering the viability of a class-action lawsuit.”

Jennifer Sizemore, a spokeswoman for the health district, declined to comment.

“Unfortunately, we can’t comment on it because it involves ongoing litigation,” she said.

Besides the health district, Glenn Savage, director of the district’s Environmental Health Division, where Pauluk worked, and one of Pauluk’s former bosses, Edward Wojcik, who is now retired, are also named as defendants in the suit. So is Jerry Boyd, the district’s facilities manager.

In the federal suit, Pauluk’s family alleged that most of his exposure to the deadly mold occurred after February 2003, when Pauluk was transferred back to the main Shadow Lane office. The mold was attributed to water leaks in the ceiling above his desk.

His health slowly began to deteriorate, and in August 2005 he was diagnosed with a chronic lung disease, the suit alleges. All the while his bosses denied his requests to be transferred out of the main office.

In September, in response to concerns he voiced about his health, a health district human resources executive showed him a study that indicated the building was safe, the suit says. But later that month, Pauluk learned that his blood contained high levels of toxic mold. Even then, he was not allowed to move out of the building.

In October, following a confrontation with one of his supervisors, Pauluk finally got his wish. He was moved. But by that time, it was too late to save his life. He died less than two years later.

lasvegassun.com

Sun archives – Public health inspector says toxic mold made him sick (3-26-07)

 

Video – Mold Inside the Health District – Death – Toxic Mold – Aspergillus & Stachybotrys

From from article –

The Health District recently failed in its effort to get the Pauluk’s federal lawsuit thrown out of court.

“He was literally eaten alive from the inside out by toxic mold, aspergillus and stachybotrys.”

“In paperwork year after year dating back to 1998, the Health District’s own studies show the presence of mold in the building and the need for remediation.”

Video

Full Article

 

Overwhelmed by Mold – Sinus & Tear-Duct Surgery

Sacramento Business Journal
September 26, 2008

Wendy Schroeder began working at the California State Board of Equalization headquarters on April 1, 1996 — April Fool’s Day. It was no laughing matter.

She’s been on disability leave since March. Now, recovering from sinus and tear-duct surgery, she says toxic mold and other hazardous substances in the building made her sick. Even working on files that have been stored in the building makes her break out in a rash.

Although state officials took steps last month to relocate dozens more workers to new offices, more than 2,300 people still work at BOE headquarters at 450 N St. in downtown Sacramento, despite overcrowded conditions and ongoing problems with water damage and mold. The problems raise questions about whether staying in the building over the long term is viable as costs climb.

“(That’s) my question daily,” said Bill Leonard, a Republican who served in the state Legislature for 24 years before he was first elected to the board in 2002. “If we weren’t in a budget crisis, I’d be looking for a legislative sponsor to buy us a new campus.”

Management has already closed three floors, six break/conference rooms and a security station in the lobby for cleanup. More than 50 square feet of “visible mold growth” was discovered on three walls of an elevator shaft last month, a consultant’s report shows.

Legal action has mushroomed, from a lawsuit filed in February on behalf of 23 workers to a total of 40 plaintiffs in three cases today. At least 57 new workers’ compensation claims have been filed, BOE said in August, though the dates weren’t specified.

The building, designed to hold no more than 2,200 people, is overcrowded even though 121 workers were moved out this year and 50 are slated to move to West Sacramento by the end of the month.

Faced with these issues, the board has approved a management request for $9.6 million in new funding in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 for space needs and ongoing repairs. Board members also approved a stop-gap plan last month to move 520 employees to space outside the headquarters while a long-term plan is developed.

“The mental, physical and emotional health and safety of BOE employees is our primary concern,” states an internal executive memo issued last month. “BOE is diverting significant resources to protect our employees, which causes a large drain on BOE’s resources and productivity.”

BOE has spent about $3 million so far on consultants and expenses, agency spokeswoman Anita Gore said. The Department of General Services, which manages the state-owned building and is in charge of fixing it, has spent $16.3 million.

Some say it’s time the state cuts its losses.

Workers angry, scared

Three-quarters of the 164 employees who attended group meetings this year on mold and other problems at the headquarters cited health problems they felt were related to something in the building. Symptoms reported included headaches, itchy eyes, sinus and lung problems, skin lesions, difficulty concentrating and one case of cancer.

Symptoms seemed to increase with longer exposure. Files removed from exposed floors of the building and opened elsewhere prompted a return of physical problems.

“Overall, employees indicated a lack of confidence that the problem is being addressed adequately,” facilitator Karen Howell wrote in her final report. “In addition to physical ailments, employees overwhelmingly reported feeling angry, stressed, depressed and frightened.”

Schroeder, 45, used to work on the now-closed 24th floor. She sat on plastic because her chair was wet from leaks in the ceiling, she said this week. Co-workers dubbed a plastic chute installed to channel the water “Wendy’s waterfall.”

Off work on disability, she worries about her friends who remain on the job.

“Every time they go in the elevator, into the break room or the bathroom, they’re exposed,” she said. “Who knows what the long-term effects will be?”

Schroeder was a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in February and also has filed a worker’s comp claim.

“This building is very unsafe … yet people continue to work there,” said Anthony Perez, a Sacramento attorney who filed the February lawsuit for 23 plaintiffs and another in July on behalf of eight more. “Remediation and analysis is going on with people in there. It needs to be evacuated.”

A third lawsuit was filed by a Los Angeles firm in June on behalf of nine other workers. “It’s sad that BOE has permitted employees to work in an environment with toxic mold and other problems,” said Anthony Patchett, one of the lawyers on that case.

Plaintiffs allege management fraudulently concealed the dangerous condition of the property for years. They demand medical expenses, compensatory damages for lost wages and other employment benefits, punitive damages, legal fees and court costs. The lawsuits name BOE and its executive director, the state and DGS as defendants.

The state negotiated out-of-court settlements with the architects and builder in 2000, according to court documents.

Gore said she can’t talk about pending litigation or workers’ comp claims. A Web site has been set up to provide updates about work on the building, notices of employee meetings and other information, she said.

Court documents filed on behalf of DGS allege that employees were informed about damage to the building and that the plaintiffs’ own actions contributed to any damages they might have suffered.

Spokesman Jeffrey Young declined comment on the lawsuit but said the condition of the building is a top priority at DGS. “This is a big deal for us.”

DGS spent $13 million on exterior windows this year and $3.3 million more on cleanup and repair on the three closed floors, break rooms and in the lobby, Young said. Most of that work is done or close to it, he said, though the discovery of mold in the elevator shafts means more work to come.

Numerous air quality tests conducted so far have shown no remarkable results, Young said.

“From our point of view, with remediation, the building is occupiable,” he added. “We’re doing everything we can to take care of any issues we discover — and we are working hard to discover them.”

Alternatives

The $9.6 million approved by BOE would be spent on six new positions to enable the agency to deal with overcrowding and health problems at the headquarters.

Some of the options under consideration are to:

• Remain in the current headquarters while DGS continues to investigate and make necessary repairs, but relocate staff in excess of 2,200 workers

• Permanently relocate all staff to a single-site headquarters other than 450 N St.

• Permanently relocate all staff to multiple decentralized locations, or

• Permanently relocate all staff to a complex of buildings that would comprise a new headquarters campus.

“My preference is to acknowledge that our building is actually several hundred people overcrowded today,” Leonard said. “Not quite as bad as state prisons, but we are overcrowded.”

“I’d just as soon get out of the building,” he added. “I don’t believe it’s a current health hazard — with the caveat that there’s always somebody who is allergic to something — but I want to do something right on the rehab, not have employees moving their desks around while we tear out ceilings and carpet.”

Bobbi Smith, a district council president for Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which represents some workers in the building, wants workers out now.

“It’s been a construction zone for a couple of years,” she said. “The feeling of most of the employees in the building is, ‘Get us out of here.’ ”

California State Board of Equalization, by the numbers

– 1993: Opening date for 24-story headquarters building at 450 N St., Sacramento

– 2,200 workers: Designed capacity of building; now has 2,300, and headquarters staff is projected to grow to 2,650 by 2011

– 1995: First written report of water damage from rain and wind, blamed on construction defects

– Late 1990s: Employees begin complaining about health problems

– 121: Employees moved this year from 450 N St. to offices at the Franchise Tax Board

– 50: Additional employees moving to warehouse space in West Sacramento this month

– 57: New workers’ comp claims filed by BOE employees

– 40: Plaintiffs in three pending lawsuits over building conditions

– $3.9 million: New funding approved for fiscal 2009-2010 to address space needs and problems with the building; the figure rises to $5.7 million for 2010-2011

bizjournals.com

 

Occupation, Lifestyle, Diet, and Invasive Fungal Infections – Risk in the General Population

Published online – 11-8-2008

(1)  Infectious Diseases Unit, Dept. of Pathophysiology, Laikon General Hospital and Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

(2)  Dept. of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, Unit 402, The University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030

Abstract

Background – Although the risk factors for invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in immunocompromised hosts are well described and associated with the net state of immunosuppression, much less is written on the effects of lifestyle on the risk of IFIs in the general population.

Methods – We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Current Contents databases for all reports on IFIs associated with occupation, lifestyle, and diet.

Results and Conclusions –  Many professions, especially those involving outdoor activities, are associated with increased environmental exposure to pathogenic fungi and, subsequently, increased risk of IFIs. Inhalation and direct inoculation through minor skin lesions are the most common mechanisms of fungal infection. In addition, different lifestyle practices, such as smoking tobacco or marijuana, body piercing, tattooing, use of illicit intravenous drugs, and pet ownership, various outdoor leisure activities, such as gardening, camping, spelunking, and hunting, and traveling to endemic areas are associated with an increased risk of IFIs. Finally, some modern diet habits dictate the consumption of food or herbal products harboring pathogenic fungi or fungal toxins, which may cause IFIs in susceptible individuals. 

springerlink.com