Conyers Says Toxic Mold a Real Health Threat to the Nation
Tells EPA Officials that Federal Action is Needed Immediately

Washington, DC - Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), spoke out for the first time yesterday on what he called the "silent national health problem" of toxic mold. Conyers called for federal action as he promoted legislation he has introduced to Congress, "The U.S. Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act."

"People are suffering," Conyers said a symposium with EPA officials. "We cannot wait for that suffering to rise to a boiling point. It is essential that we not only begin this national discussion over mold, but that we also start to relieve some of the suffering."

Conyers acknowledged that the health effects of mold remain an unsettled issue in the health community, but called on the EPA and other health agencies to ignore political pressures from special interests and the administration and conduct comprehensive studies that would address all dangers associated with mold toxins.

"First we must establish a causal connection before we decide what to do about it," he said. "It's not that no one knows about it, but it seems that a lot of people don't want to know about it."

Raising the issue into the public limelight remains one of Conyers' goals, he said. "Measures of this enormity are not just legislative issues. You have to have a movement. Without a movement, you're not going anywhere."

Conyers said that the issue first came to his attention when the affliction hit one of his employees in his Detroit office. The staffer, who was divorced with two young children, found herself living in a house that made her entire family sick due to the microtoxins released from mold. Her and her family's injuries and property were not covered by the traditional insurance she carried.

The bill represents one component of Conyers' recent overall plan for comprehensive health care for all Americans. Conyers said it was essential to come up with a long-term solution to an emerging health crisis.

"Our systems of health care are starting to fail the people who rely on them," he said. "We need to figure out how we can proceed, what the strategy will be and how we can get out of this together."

The legislation (H.R. 1269), which Conyers said was modeled after legislation that addressed the radon health crisis, provides for comprehensive mold studies, the creation of toxic mold regulations and guidelines and establishes mold clean-up grants and insurance programs that would provide aid for victims.

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