| Nearly
7 million Americans, including more than 2
million school age children, suffer from food allergies.
Severe food allergy reactions account for an estimated 30,000
emergency room visits, 2,000 hospitalizations and 200 deaths each year, according to Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, or FAAN." The Harvard Medical School - InteliHealth, Parents Learn To Cope
With Serious Food Allergies May 23, 2002 |
| I
once read of a girl who died from eating chili in a restaurant.
It was later discovered that the girl had a severe allergy to
peanuts and the restaurant used a secret ingredient as a thickening
agent - peanut butter. |
Who
would have thought that peanut butter could be a hidden killer.
And like peanut butter, mold may be harmless to the overwhelming vast
majority of people but a few strains of mold are now being considered
as possibly being "toxic". It was explained to me by Gary Jones
(Director/Indoor Air Lead Branch Division of Community Environmental
Protection, State of Alabama Department of Public Health) that a few
strains are being viewed as the culprits and in combination with a
person's individual reaction to a particular mold a health problem may
occur.
A lot of what ifs and unproved allegations and great material for
all sorts of litigation. But, I prefaced this discussion
with peanut butter just to point out that what seems entirely harmless
to some may in fact be of great concern to others. Just how great
a concern - the jury is still out!
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Toxic Mold in the NEWS
Erin Brockovich Crusades Against Mold San Francisco Chronicle Mar 8, 2001
Ed McMahon law suit over toxic mold in L.A. home LA Times May 9, 2003
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Sites with meaningful information on toxic mold
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