ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — The Alamance-Burlington School System discovered toxic mold at Cummings High and Broadview Middle called Chaetomium.
To get rid of mold –you don't just have to kill it, you have to remove it. That mold at Cummings and Broadview developed into a toxic level.
Mold doesn't start as being toxic but instead, it transforms into it according to Brian Murphy, a mold expert.
He said people with pre-existing health conditions will experience bad side effects if they have long-term exposure to toxic mold.
"Some people are really allergic to dust dust, so dust pollen. These are not things that are normally considered toxic per se, but they can have a really undesirable effect on a person with a particular hypersensitivity," Murphy said.
It's important to take care of mold once you find it because situations can become worse as time goes on.
Murphy said mold needs three things to live: a food source, moisture, and oxygen. With all of that, mold thrives.
"A mold spore can change. It can actually join the other types of mold. Spore growth, mold, we generally see, mold, species, growing together," Murphy said.
The CDC said symptoms like irritated eyes, stuffy nose, skin irritation, or difficulty breathing are just a few to keep an eye out for when it comes to mold exposure.
The school district shared the amount of funding being used so far for some of the schools.
$1.2 million - Andrews & Newlin (mold remediation and HVAC Repairs)
$3.5 million - Cummings, Broadview, Williams (approved on Monday)
$5 million - Eastlawn Elementary, Haw River Elementary, Southern Middle School, Sylvan Elementary, Western High School, and Western Middle School (approved Wednesday)
So far this totals nearly $10 million approved.
The next meeting is planned for Friday at 3 p.m. to discuss funding.
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