Dr. Dean Edell On Toxic Mold Spores
From web page: http://www.nobhillgazette.com/whatsupdocmar06.html
Q: First, I read about the real Erin Brockovich testifying before a California state senate committee about toxic mold dangers. Then I got a notice from my insurance company that my policy no longer covers mold claims. How can I protect myself from this?
A: Erin Brockovich became famous because of a toxic-waste case, but I don’t know how she became an infectious diseases expert.
Unfortunately, toxic mold may be the next new health panic that’s not supported by evidence. The toxic mold story is the following: There’s a very unusual species of mold, stachybotrus, that one study claimed might have the ability to release spores in high amounts that could be toxic in the lungs of young children and infants.
That study’s since been discredited, but not before the next great American health freak-out was launched.
People become easily confused on this subject, especially if they’ve ever gone to an allergist and been tested for molds, spores and fungi, etc. There are people who are allergic to mold, but it’s not a toxic thing — it’s an allergy. And those people have hay fever and other more commonly known maladies. They respond to household mold the way they might respond to dust.
If you have a moldy house, it’s because dampness exists — you have a water leak, or your basement doesn’t have a proper vapor barrier, or your house was built incorrectly. Or you may be living on the side of a cliff where there’s a spring or other source of water. That’s a problem that should be fixed; dampness isn’t a good thing. But the idea that your fatigue, concentration problems, and lumbago are due to mold, and you deserve millions of dollars, is preposterous.
To lawyers, mold is gold, and millions have already been paid out. That’s why, if you’re a homeowner, your insurance company may have already sent you a special notice that mold is no longer covered by your policy.
This reminds me of the days when women with breast implants were in court making claims about a disease that never existed. Billions of dollars were paid out during that panic. I put mold in the same category as multiple chemical sensitivity (see previous question), which has already been proven to be a psychosomatic illness. The “research” behind the mold “epidemic” is junk science at its best. There’s no hard evidence that mold causes the problems you hear about. But lawyers will keep this ball rolling as long as they can.