Moldy Claims - Sick Building Syndrome
Moldy Claims - Toxicity
“Sick Building Syndrome”
“Sick building syndrome” and “non-specific building-related illness” are terms applied when a variety of symptoms are alleged to be associated with occupancy in a building. Symptoms are reported to be reduced outside of the building. No specific illness can be diagnosed and symptoms reported often are sensory, such as dry or itching eyes, nose, or throat, disagreeable odors, or tightness of the chest and other breathing difficulties.
Careful investigation often finds no specific cause for the complaints, but mold growth is blamed if it is found.
See Croft, W.A. et al., Airborne outbreak of trichothecene toxicosis, Atmospheric Environment 20(3):549-552 (1986); Hodgson, M.J. et al., Building-associated pulmonary disease from exposure to Stachybotrys chartarumand Aspergillus versicolor, J. Occup. Environ. Med. 40(3):241-249 (1998); Jarvis, B.B., Mycotoxins and indoor air quality 201-14 in Biological contaminants in indoor environments(P.R. Morey et al., eds.) (ASTM, Philadelphia 1990); Johanning, E. et al., Health and immunology study following exposure to toxigenic fungi (Stachybotrys chartarum) in a water-damaged office environment, Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health 68(4):207-218 (1996); Johanning, E. et al., Clinical-epidemiological investigation of health effects caused by Stachybotrys atrabuilding contamination, Proceedings of Indoor Air '93 - Health effects 1:225-230 (1993). Numerous recent reviews of the scientific literature on sick building syndrome have concluded that levels of microorganisms in the indoor air are only weakly correlated with symptoms. See Burge, supra note 20; Fung, F. et al., Stachybotrys, a mycotoxin-producing fungus of increasing toxicologic importance, J. Toxicol. Clin. Toxicol. 36(1-2):79-86 (1998); Kuhn, D.M. and Ghannoum, M.A., Indoor mold, toxigenic fungi, and Stachybotrys chartarum: infectious disease perspective, Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 16(1):144-172 (2003); Menzies, D. and Bourbeau, J., Building-related illnesses, N. Engl. J. Med. 337(21):1524-1531 (1997); Page, E.H. and Trout, D.B., The role of Stachybotrys mycotoxins in buildings related illness, Am. Ind. Hyg. Assoc. J. 62(5):644-48 (2001) ; Robbins, C.A. et al., Health effects of mycotoxins in indoor air: a critical review, Appl. Occup. Environ. Hyg. 15(10):773-784 (2000); Terr, A.I., Stachybotrys: relevance to human disease, Ann. Allergy Asthma Immunol. 87(6 Suppl 3):57-63 (2001); Tobin et al.
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