Public Health

What Home Owners Need To Know About Exposure To Toxic Mold

Kristina Baehr apparently had it all: a successful career as a lawyer and a charming family with newborn twins. They lived together in a beautiful house that they considered to be their “forever” home. But a mysterious and insidious enemy slowly undermined their health, career, marriage and family.

The unsuspecting Baehrs’ nine-year-old home from Austin, Texas, has been attacked by a common American enemy: toxic mold. The mycotoxins produced by the mold caused health problems that were difficult to diagnose.

“I felt as if I had been hit by a truck,” said Kristina Baehr. “I got migraines that I didn’t understand. I felt drunk in the middle of the day. I felt dizzy and lost. I lose and forget things. “

In the United States, thousands of people are struggling with mold growth in their homes. It is often hidden behind walls, buried under floors, or lurking in air ducts. Although the exact number of cases is difficult to pinpoint, mold has been found in all types of apartment buildings, from the military and public housing to college dormitories across the country. Social media groups devoted to mold exposure have drawn tens of thousands of people to discuss how mold changed their lives.

It took the Baehrs several years to figure out what was causing Kristina’s symptoms. But now she hopes to be able to use the knowledge she has gained to help others in similar situations.

At first, Evan Baehr attributed his wife’s complaints to the difficulties involved in reconciling a demanding career with raising four children.

The Baehr family had to leave their apartment and their belongings after exposure to poisonous mold.

With kind permission: The Baehr family

“I wasn’t very personable,” admitted Evan Baehr. “I said, ‘Hey, we run hard, we have careers, we have young kids at home. Just get on with it,’ which isn’t a huge response.”

But then the children got sick too. Their eldest son Cooper developed a sinus problem. Seven-year-old Madeleine complained of frequent headaches, stomach problems and severe anxiety and behavior problems. Her youngest son, Scott, showed signs of developmental disorders that got so severe that teachers asked if he could have a serious autism spectrum disorder.

“[Scott] melted for at least an hour a day, every day. And they just couldn’t calm him down, and I thought something’s going to happen, “said Kristina Baehr.

A hunt for answers

Then Kristina Baehr passed out and the doctors found a benign tumor. “I broke down, I broke down physically,” she said. “I have made a commitment to get better.”

Desperate for answers, Kristina Baehr quits her job as a partner in a law firm to take care of the family’s health. After nearly three years of testing and visits to various doctors, she found that the entire family had mycotoxins, which are produced by certain types of mold and fungus.

“Scott’s mycotoxin level just went through the roof. The limit is said to be eight. It was 108,” she said.

The Baehrs commissioned construction and mold construction experts to search their apartment and examine their living space. The experts concluded that improper roof repairs and improper construction allowed moisture in, and poorly installed heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems exacerbated the problem. It was a perfect environment for microbial growth.

“The whole time the Baehrs lived here, there was a small leak that leaked water into the wall of their daughter Madeleine’s … room that no one could see,” Joshua Rachal, CEO of Texas Mold Exposure, told the company with the Baehr family.

Mold found in Baehr’s kitchen.

With kind permission: The Baehr family

The Baehrs lived, breathed and ate mold, he said. It grew behind walls and blew through the air ducts. Mold has even been found on fruit in a bowl in the kitchen and in its drinking water.

“If we look back on all of our health symptoms, there was an elephant in the room that was the source of all these different manifestations of strange health issues,” said Evan Baehr.

Health problems can persist after exposure

In 2007, the US Department of Energy’s Bureau of Scientific and Technical Information reported that 4.64 million cases of asthma in the US were due to moisture and mold exposure. Other studies have shown that chronic mold exposure can have far-reaching effects on multiple organ systems, including the respiratory and nervous systems, as well as cardiovascular and reproductive health.

Researchers also note that there is strong evidence that exposure to humid environments, mold, and mycotoxins in infancy and childhood can lead to developmental delays, decreased cognitive function, and immune dysfunction. Children who live in damp houses as infants or toddlers are twice as likely to develop adenoid hypertrophy, an enlarged tissue that often leads to ear, nose and throat problems.

In fact, health struggles can last long after someone leaves a moldy area.

“Chronic exposure can lead to long-term sensitization, especially in sensitive people,” says Jamie Lichtenstein, biologist and professor who studies Schimmel at Emerson College.

Kristina Baehr said she still develops a severe full body rash from even the slightest exposure, but her biggest concern is how exposure to mold will affect her children’s long-term health.

For example, her son Scott continues to struggle with significant developmental delays. “Maybe he’s not the same anymore. Because that’s how he grew into the world. He was in my room, in this house. And I looked after him in this house. “

Cooper hugs his young brother Scott after receiving medical tests for toxic mold in their home.

Courtesy: Kristina and Evan Baehr

‘It’s all gone’

And this house, said Kristina Baehr, was slowly killing her. The family left it and everything in to escape the mold. All of her clothes, toys, and personal effects – even the family Bible – are totaled. They also stay on a strict regime of drugs and therapies to detoxify their bodies.

On the financial side, the mold nightmare wiped out the family’s savings, said Evan Baehr. He estimated they spent more than $ 1 million on demolition, repair, and rebuilding, along with out-of-pocket moving expenses, medical co-payments, and medical expenses.

“You did everything to prepare yourself financially for your family – and then suddenly a year later and everything is gone,” he told Baehr.

The family has filed lawsuits against the companies that designed and built their home to make up for their losses. Kristina said it has been a long and arduous legal process, but she believes it will be worth it.

“I will go to the end of the world and back to recover, so that our children can be safe in the future and we can rebuild their lives and have the resources for their medical care,” said Kristina Baehr.

Mold is usually not covered by home insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute, which views the problem as a “home maintenance problem”.

There are exceptions when mold growth is the result of a covered hazard, such as B. a fire, hurricane or similar event. Experts expected mold cases to spike after widespread flooding from Hurricane Ida and its remains – or from broken pipes from the crippling Texas winter storm last February.

“We might expect that as flooding from climate change increases, there could be increased incidences of water damage to homes and mold growth,” said Lichtenstein, mold expert at Emerson College.

Kristina Baehr left the whole experience on a new mission to help others who are trying to recover from the mold load. She recently started a new law firm, Just Well Law, to offer the kind of representation she couldn’t find for her own family.

“Many families like us have seen this problem across the United States and we want to help people recover from the people who made them sick,” she said.

Related Articles