Airborne Mold and Endotoxin Concentrations in New Orleans, Louisiana after Flooding, October—November 2005
Gina M. Solomon, Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, and S. Katharine Hammond
< http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.9198 >
Environmental Health Perspectives, June 2006, online June 12, 2006

EHP site < http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2006/114-7/toc.html >

Article (full-text) < http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/9198/9198.pdf >

Abstract
Background: The hurricanes and flooding in New Orleans, Louisiana in October and November 2005, resulted in damp conditions favorable to the dispersion of bioaerosols such as mold spores and endotoxin.

Objectives: To assess potential human exposure to bioaerosols in New Orleans following the flooding of the city.

Methods: A team of investigators performed continuous airborne sampling for mold spores and endotoxin outdoors in flooded and non-flooded areas, and inside homes that had undergone various levels of remediation, for periods of 4-24 hours during the two months following the flooding

Results: The estimated 24-hour mold concentrations ranged from 21,000 to 102,000 spores m-3 of air outdoors, and from 11,000 to 645,000 spores m-3 indoors. The mean outdoor spore concentration in flooded areas was roughly double the concentration in non-flooded areas (66,167 vs 33,179 spores m-3; p<0.05). The highest concentrations were inside homes. The most common mold species were from the genera of Cladosporium, and Aspergillus/Penicillium; Stachybotrys was detected in some indoor samples. The airborne endotoxin concentrations ranged from 0.6 to 8.3 EU m-3, but did not vary with flooded status or between indoor and outdoor environments.

Conclusions: The high concentration of mold measured indoors and outdoors in the New Orleans area is likely to be a significant respiratory hazard that should be monitored over time. Workers and returning residents should use appropriate personal protective equipment and exposure mitigation techniques to prevent respiratory morbidity and long-term health effects.

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Louisiana's Wetlands: A Lesson in Nature Appreciation / John Tibbetts
Environmental Health Perspectives, January 2006, volume 114, no. 1, p A40-A43
< http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/114-1/spheres.html >

Hurricane Katrina’s disastrous flooding of the Gulf Coast confirmed three decades of warnings by scientists. Most of New Orleans is below sea level, and South Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, which once helped buffer the city from giant storms, have been disappearing at a spectacularly swift pace. Now some researchers are calling for restoration of wetlands and barrier islands to help protect New Orleans the next time a hurricane strikes.

An average of 34 square miles of South Louisiana land, mostly marsh, has disappeared each year for the past five decades, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). As much as 80% of the nation’s coastal wetland loss in this time occurred in Louisiana. From 1932 to 2000, the state lost 1,900 square miles of land to the Gulf of Mexico.

Article continues < http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/114-1/ehp0114-a00040.pdf >

Abstract < http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2006/114-1/spheres-abs.html >

Which I suppose answers the conundrum:why did the poor kids hang out with Aspergillus?

Because he was a really fun gi..............

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Fungus amoung us- oh not another Bush thread...

Bot- How long will it take the proper gov't agencies to get off their butts and do something? They were warned about the hurricanes... National Geographic did an article about 3 months ago on Chernobyl and their still studying the effects from that.