Water damaged child care building closed for mold abatement

A UC Riverside child development center building will be closed for several months in order to clean up mold contamination. Air and surface testing will be performed to certify the building as safe after remediation efforts are completed, but the presumed cause of this is a leaking water source within the walls. Sustained wetting of surfaces can support fungal growth especially in buildings, and some of the dominant groups of fungi found include many Penicillium and Aspergillus species.

Russell Vernon, director of UCR’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety, said one of the mold types showing up in preliminary testing is Aspergillus. It is common in the environment and does not usually cause illness. However an individual with a weakened immune system may be susceptible to infection. “Basically, it is important to find the source of the water inside the walls and to get this fixed.”
A tentative reopening date is Dec. 1

The press release is available here http://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/25314