Chicago Tribune | Mold tied to trouble breathing, little else
Mold can contribute to respiratory problems--especially in people with asthma--but there is no evidence that a host of other maladies is spawned by the fungi that thrive in damp, dank quarters, a long-awaited report concluded Tuesday. The 281-page study by the National Academies of Science is the most definitive look to date at the national controversy over mold, which has prompted hundreds of lawsuits, millions of dollars in cleanup costs and claims that the fungi breed a variety of illnesses. The scientific review found no proof that mold causes memory loss, fatigue, seizures, inhalation fevers, skin outbreaks or other conditions that many people say they've experienced as some experts have hyped the fungi as a modern-day plague. "The consequences of being exposed to toxic mold have largely been overstated," said Dr. Karin Pacheco, assistant professor of occupational and allergic disease at National Jewish Medical Research Center in Denver. The National Academies' report did, however, confirm well-documented and generally accepted claims: that symptoms for people with asthma can be exacerbated and that healthy people can develop coughs, wheezing and upper respiratory symptoms because of mold. It also shined a spotlight on a wide range of health hazards associated with dampness in buildings, and recommended the need for prompt action when water or moisture is discovered.

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That sound of breaking glass you hear is plaintiffs' attorneys jumping out of windows all over the nation.