Many more students are experiencing mold in the Kostka showers than the handlful that have actually reported it to university housing officials,
“It was much easier for us to just grab bleach and detergent while we were at the store rather than wait for the housing office to come down to our room,” said Kostka resident Brian Gorman ’07.
Joe Pesce ’07, also a suite resident, agreed with Gorman.
“I don’t mind waiting for maintenance to come to my room for an electrical problem or a broken towel rack,” he said. “But I want the mold in my shower removed right away,”
Typically, there are four students to one shower stall in both Kostka and Claver Halls.
One possible reason for the excessive mold may be that the showers never get a chance to dry out because of their extensive use, Fairfield County health department official Sand Cleary suggests.
The students are frequently on different schedules and shower at many different times during the day in many college dormitories, which may be a factor.
“I think the problem with the showers is the uneven gravel-like texture of the shower floors that trap the water and moisture,” said Kostka resident Allison Barra ’07. “After the mold starts growing on the shower floor, it then grows up the caulking of the walls.”
According to Cleary, the mold in showers has the same effect of any other mold and isn’t safer than any other type of indoor or outdoor mold.
The problems tend to occur once the mold becomes airborne and gets into residents’ respiratory systems.
The people who need to be especially concerned are those prone to allergies and those who have symptoms of asthma, as they are much more sensitive.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, when moisture problems occur and mold growth results, building occupants may begin to report odors and a variety of health problems, such as headaches, breathing difficulties, skin irritation, allergic reactions and aggravation of asthma symptoms.
“The exhaust vents in the bathrooms were installed to help make sure the mold doesn’t become airborne,” said Gary Stephenson, director of housing operations.
However, the vents are located on the opposite side of the bathroom from the shower and do not seem to be alleviating the problem.
“Normal shower mold should be able to be eliminated with mild household detergents,” said Cleary.
“Our shower mold went away for a little while once we soaked our shower in bleach. That’s the only thing that worked,” said Ali Wilson ’07, a Kostka resident.
Mold has been an ongoing problem here at Fairfield. Two summers ago, 28 students were moved to the townhouses after a large amount of mold was found growing in the apartments.
Small mold problems were also found in two townhouse basements in 2003, according to Stephenson.
Because the mold problem in the apartments in 2003 could not be contained by university officials, an outside firm called EnviroMed was paid $200,000 by the university to get rid of the mold.
“If mold is found in any of the Fairfield University facilities, the housing department needs to be made aware of it,” Stephenson said. “We will then send maintenance to determine whether or not it really is mold and we then simply clean it.”
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