Carpet Monsters and Killer Spores: a Natural History of Toxic Mold

Carpet Monsters and Killer Spores: A Natural History of Toxic Mold Nicholas P. Money OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Carpet Monsters and Killer Spores This page intentionally left blank CARPET MONSTERS AND KILLER SPORES A NATURAL HISTORY OF TOXIC MOLD Nicholas P. Money 1 2004 1 Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Saõ Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Copyright � 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Money, Nicholas P. Carpet Monsters and killer spores : a natural history of toxic mold / Nicholas P. Money. p. cm. ISBN 0-19-517227-2 1. Molds (Fungi)—Control. 2. Molds (Fungi)—Health aspects. 3. Indoor air pollution. 4. Dampness in buildings. 5. Dwellings—Maintenance and repair. I. Title. TH9035.M65 2004 648'.7—dc22 2003064709 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Allison, my stepdaughter This page intentionally left blank Preface My colleague Jerry McClure was featured in the preface to my first book, Mr. Bloomfield’s Orchard, but I didn’t expect he’d make his way into this one. Jerry has a knack, however, for saying the right thing at the right time. Passing me in the hallway outside my lab last year, he greeted me by saying, “You’re in the wrong business.” This was a little unsettling, because I’d always thought of him as a supporter. Then he explained, “You could be making millions from black mold.” I didn’t think much about this pearl of Texas wisdom at the time, but it festered in my subconscious until my publisher asked me if I knew anything about indoor molds. Bowing to the lobbyists, I put aside my research for a bestseller on the organisms that squirm in the foul pond in my backyard and set off in search of indoor molds. Few Americans can be unaware of the toxic mold crisis and the crisis of toxic mold lawsuits. The ravages of the mold Stachybotrys, and the ensuing legal battles between residents of sick houses, par- ents with sick children, building contractors, landlords, and insurance companies, are regularly showcased in newspapers and on tele- vision programs. As a mycologist, I had read about cases of mold-related illness long before Jerry McClure’s interjection, and had even earned a few car payments by consulting on mold prob- lems, but none of this had captured my interest until a black mold attacked my wife. I had bought Diana a gift box of hand lotion, soap, and lip balm that trumpeted an all-natural, no-preservative pedigree. She loved the lip balm and took the little jar of the stuff with us to Norway in the summer of 2002 and used it every day. And then her head exploded in the bathroom, blackening the mirror with soot— not quite. First, her lips tingled; then, a few days later, they became inflamed every time she applied the gel. She stopped using the balm but packed it back to Ohio. Getting ready for work one morning, she opened the jar and was alarmed by the discovery that the balm had turned jet black. Being a science nerd, she guessed what had happened. A microscopic mold was eating the fat molecules in the cosmetic. Looking at the black stuff under the microscope, the identity of the fungus was clear: Aspergillus niger. This is a common micro- organism that forms masses of spores at the tips of stalks. Each stalk looks like a brush, which gives the fungus its name: An aspergillum is a special brush used to sprinkle holy water. Aspergillus niger can cause serious infections, particularly in patients whose immune de- fenses have been compromised by viral infections such as HIV, by cancer therapy, or by the anti-rejection drug regimens after an organ transplant. A few strains of this mold also produce toxins, but Diana survived the encounter with nothing worse than the knowledge that she had been smearing allergenic spores on her lips. Like the media darling Stachybotrys, Aspergillus niger qualifies as a black mold because it is a microscopic fungus whose spores are painted with melanin. There are a few thousand species of these fungi and, in all likelihood, millions of distinct varieties or strains, each with their own genetic and biochemical character. They con- sume almost every kind of substance produced by plants and ani- mals, which, if you think about it, includes most of the stuff we eat and many of the things used to construct a building. The diet of molds evolved over hundreds of millions of years, and far from evicting fungi, humans have only succeeded in broadening the range of food materials available for fungi by developing crops, transform- ing trees into paper products, and creating synthetic materials such as plastics, lubricants in machines, and fabrics. Any attempt to com- Preface viii pletely oust fungi from the indoor environment, or from any other place, is futile. Negative consequences of interactions between molds and humans—as well as all of the positive ones—have been recognized for a long time. For instance, Stachybotrys was first identified in 1837. But widespread fears about black-mold toxins are a product of the new millennium and deserve a critical, balanced, scientific inquiry. Though I cannot promise anything that boring, I do hope I can dispel some of the media myths about these microorganisms while identifying the real threat that can be posed by a few of these fungi. Beyond black molds, other fungi are lurking in our basements, species that may someday replace Stachybotrys & Company as the new menace, a cash cow for the legal profession and a bane of insurers. These beasts will be featured in the final chapter. The target audience for this book includes three groups of potential readers. First and foremost, I hope that anyone interested in the safety of their homes will find this book helpful in understanding the science behind the hysteria. Those in the legal profession and insurance industry are a second audience. Whether you are arguing for or against those who claim to have been victimized by mold, you will find some useful quotes. Finally, as a scientist, I enjoy writing for other scientists and shall use this book project to further explore the biology of the fungi. For the reader(s) who enjoyed Mr. Bloomfield’s Orchard,I should mention that I’m back in my writing shed, a couple of years older, definitively no wiser. This is a genuine preface, in the sense that it was written in advance of any of the chapters. This done, all that remains is to indulge in serious caffeine abuse for a few months and get the rest into my computer before the molds, or their attor- neys, get to me. Now that the book is written, I wish to thank everyone who responded to my barrage of e-mails and phone calls. The following people deserve special mention for indulging my queries: Luis De La Cruz, Dorr Dearborn, Richard Haugland, Steve Moss, Ian Ross, Steve Vesper, and Mike Vincent. I also thank my editors Diana Da- vis, Kirk Jensen, and Niko Pfund. Nicholas P. Money Oxford, Ohio October 2003 Preface ix This page intentionally left blank Contents 1 Stachybotrys versus Superpower 3 2 Uninvited Guests 23 3 Carpet Monsters 41 4 Mycological Warfare 58 5 Cleveland Revisited 77 6 Your Verdict, Please 94 7 Everlasting Strife 112 8 A Plague upon Your House 127 Notes 143 Appendix: Mold Resources on the Internet 167 Glossary 169 Index 173 This page intentionally left blank Carpet Monsters and Killer Spores This page intentionally left blank If you have found where you were exposed to toxic mold, you will need to find the responsible parties (if any) who are capable of paying. —http://www.toxic-mold-stachybotrys.com (2002) Stachybotrys versus Superpower am deeply in love with fungi, enough to Icloister myself in a backyard shed for an en- tire year, through freeze and broil, to publicize their charms in Mr. Bloomfield’s Orchard. So just as someone must be very bad if their mother says so, my opening statement should carry some weight. Some molds can be our enemies. Black-colored ones have been in the news a lot lately. They invade our homes, provoke allergies in millions of people, are implicated in a lethal respiratory illness in babies, and are a potential source of biological warfare agents. This is their story. Go make some tea. This will take a while. Once upon a time, hundreds of millions of years ago, microscopic fungi figured out how to decompose plant and animal tissues. Hundreds of millions of years later, Homo sapiens evolved and learned how to construct shelters from leaves, branches, and animal hides. The fungi grew on the first midden assembled by very proud and very hairy Adam and Eve, but this didn’t concern the newly- weds because the roofing and walls were easily replaced once they began to rot. The rare asthmatic child in those days was severely challenged by this intimate association with the fungi, but with 3 thousands of years to go before the invention of bronchodilating inhalers, the little chap wheezed himself to death before he could reproduce, preventing the spread of his asthmatic genes.

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