Unveiling a silent threat, the concerns over mold in our public schools and elsewhere following the aftermath of Typhoon Mawar lingers. KUAM News spoke to an expert who is shedding light on the potential dangers of mold, amid what appears to be mold growth thriving behind new ceiling tiles at a local high school.

What could possibly be lingering above the heads of students, faculty, and staff at George Washington High School?  Education oversight chair Senator Chris Barnett shared a photo of what appears to be mold growing behind new ceiling tiles at the school on his social media profiles. 

The Guam Department of Education announcing GW High students are set to return to campus on a traditional schedule by the 23rd, amid the results of mold remediation remaining in limbo.  Chris Rhodes, a certified industrial hygienist through the American Board of Hygiene with over 20 years of mold remediation under his belt, broke down what we’re looking at in the picture. 

"From what I can see, I would definitely address that as mold," he said of a suspect patch of an unsightly substance our cameras caught. "I don’t know the entire backstory of it or where it is, but anything I see like that would be something I would want to sample. I would want to identify what’s growing there and why because certain types of mold will only grow when there’s a constant source of water." 

It’s investigative sampling that Rhodes says is critical for determining potential health risks, as high concentrations of mold are worrisome.   The industrial hygienist adding reactions when exposed to mold vary amongst each person.   “Mold is individual," he explained. "People are going to have individual reactions to levels of mold based on allergies and stuff like that, what we’re worried about is high concentrations of mold.” 

 “We don’t want to see high growth of visual mold, and it can be destructive if the concentrations are high - sneezing/runny noses - it’s distracting.” 

 

And as Rhodes says, mold needs a food and water source to help it thrive; we can only hope the water damage at schools post-Mawar has already been solved.   “When we talk about mold, we worry about water and the food source. Never want standing water, and if we keep seeing the mold, we know we have a leak somewhere in there that has to be addressed. So, mold is systemic," he stated.

Though Rhodes says that investigative sampling must be done to identify the mold species, its lifecycle, and if it has fruiting bodies finding new places to grow. He weighed-in on whether or not gw students should be concerned about going back to school come next week. 

“If it’s not on the actual drop-down ceiling tiles, then I wouldn’t consider it an immediate concern," he shared. "But the long-term concern is the fact that it's growing above there. It could get into the air units and things like that. It needs to be addressed at some point.” 

Now only time will tell when the mold will get cleaned up and if certain students will or won’t react negatively to the growth.