Mold Risk And College Students

The unequal exposure risks faced by students

Introduction:

Many factors combine to make college students uniquely vulnerable to their living situation being infiltrated by mold, including rotting food, shared bathrooms, and poorly managed housing. Factors that predispose individuals to mold sickness include immunocompromization, allergies, and being in close contact with mold, including renting or living in poorly ventilated housing (Soloway 2014; Lanthier-Veilleux et al. 2016; National Center For Environmental Health 2022). 

Exposure to mold has been proven to have numerous long and short term health consequences including exacerbated allergies, asthma like symptoms, and allergic rhinitis (Lanthier-Veilleux et al. 2016; National Center For Environmental Health 2022). As the majority of students live in dorms and rented buildings with shared community spaces, the likelihood and severity of mold exposure is distributed unnecessarily high on college students. Furthermore, limited time, mobility, and advocacy connections cause difficulty for students to both prove that mold exposure has occurred, and to seek justice for damages.

Map from the US Department of Education showing concentration of public (blue), private nonprofit (green), and private for-profit (yellow) universities in the United States. There are clusters along the East and West coasts and the Gulf of Mexico.

Precipitation map by county via the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association. It overlaps considerably with the concentration of universities, having higher annual rainfall on the coasts and along the Gulf of Mexico.


Advocacy:

As described by Hankivsky (2014), the experience and social standing of individuals relies on a complex web of interactions between identities, privileges, and oppressions. Many students sit in a unique intersection of socioeconomic and societal structures which work together to reduce access to living environments free of mold. Students at universities spend time and money on education before anything else, leaving little material and immaterial resources for the upkeep of their environment and health. As time and focus are monopolized by classes and any extracurricular employment, students are less able to advocate for themselves. The lack of money leaves students vulnerable to unsafe living conditions, and limited ability to seek change in their environment. 

Exposure:

In many studies, it has been found that the majority of students do not own the living spaces they are in, and rent in large apartment complexes and campus dormitories where owners do not reside (Lanthier-Veilleux et al. 2016). These types of housing have been strongly associated with the growth of injurious mold colonies due to poor ventilation, dampness, and lack of upkeep (Soloway 2014; Lanthier-Veilleux et al. 2016). The National Center for Environmental Health (2022) via the CDC, in their list of possible measures for reducing mold infestation, propose changes to building ventilation structure, performing regular maintenance on roofs, pipes, and windows, and the removal of carpet in high risk areas- all of which are difficult or impossible to achieve for renters. 

Connectivity:

In addition to limited housing opportunities and funds, college students often hold very little social capital. Many students are attending universities far from their hometowns, and sometimes even states or countries, meaning they lack social and political connection to find resources for harmful mold exposure. Since mold infestations are frequently invisible to residents and often detected by smell alone (Soloway 2014; National Center For Environmental Health 2022), specialized equipment and professional intervention is required to prove harmful exposure has occurred. Following evidence of mold exposure, the burden of proof of which lies exclusively on the students, responsibility for pursuing reparations also falls exclusively onto the harmed party. Students, who are often at the financial mercy of their academic institutions, have little pull to accomplish these outside of the influence of their parents. It’s no coincidence that many mold-primers for university life are targeted at parents over the future residents of these universities (Wolf 2020; Rubino 2024).


Case Studies:

Map of local level case studies created by Yuri Sokolov

1: Howard University

Map of universities near Howard University overlaid with the percent of housing occupied by renters who moved in 2019 or later. Created by Yuri Sokolov using EJScreen.

In October of 2021 in Washington DC, following many concerns raised about the living conditions on campus, students began a nine day occupation of administrative buildings on the Howard University campus. Residents of the dorms described extensive and harmful mold growths damaging the structural integrity of the walls in their rooms, causing many to become ill and require hospitalization (Morris 2021). After the occupation, the university met with student leaders and agreed on the following changes on campus: a revision to the school’s sexual assault policy, a reassessment of campus officers carrying guns, and the creation of a campus food bank (Franklin 2021).

Howard is a historically black college, and its response to the presence of mold shows a concerning lack of action towards making student housing safe. Even though mold was acknowledged to be in 41 dorm rooms across campus, no plans to address it were made public. This failure to address a significant health concern for students could reflect on the difficulty to prove environmental exposure, and the infrastructure changes that would be necessary to give students housing free of mold contaminants.

2: Dartmouth College

Photo of one of the affected dorms at Dartmouth taken by Hannah Li

In October of 2021 in New Hampshire, a student at Dartmouth College raised concerns of illness experienced in the dorms, including sore throat, a cough, and breathing difficulties. After the school inspected the room and declared it free of mold, an independent party audited the investigation and found signs of 5 different mold species (James-Rodil 2021). These specific species, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Acrodontium, Aspergillus, and Ulocladium, are common in indoor environments, but have been connected to serious health issues. (Soloway 2014; National Center For Environmental Health 2022; Lanthier-Veilleux et al. 2016).

Following the third-party discovery of mold in the HVAC systems of multiple dormitories on campus, residents were given an opportunity to temporarily relocate to a nearby hotel while the HVAC system was vacuum cleaned (Burg 2021). While this can remove active mold colonies, it doesn't prevent mold from forming in the future. This response from Dartmouth College, a predominantly white Ivy League school, can be contrasted with Howard University, showing the different sway affluent white students might have on persuading universities to take action.

3: University of Oklahoma

Photo taken by Sarah Melton of the ceiling of her dorm, showing extensive black mold coverage.

In March of 2021, Sarah Melton, a student at the University of Oklahoma, was forced to drop out due to serious health complications from mold exposure which took place in 2018. She then sued the school for interference of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the Fair Housing Act (Case no. CIV-20-608-G). She experienced sore throat, headaches, coughing, physical disruptions, and other neurological symptoms, prompting medical testing which revealed heavy metal poisoning and mycotoxins from the species Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Monascus in her tissues, which persisted in high levels up to a year later (Olivas 2022).

Despite visual evidence of mold in her dorm, and recorded mycotoxins in her blood, the university legal team successfully had the case dismissed (Case No. CIV-20-608-G). The dismissal of this case exemplifies the difficulties that students face in getting procedural justice for unsafe living conditions. Even with multiple doctors corroborating her illness, there were no legal protections that this student could rely on to protect her from the university's negligence.


Future Solutions:

Because mold exposure risks, the burden of proof of harm, and responsibility to seek justice fall unequally on the already vulnerable population of college students, solutions to this issue would need to focus on shifting responsibility from the harmed party to the institutions responsible for providing housing. A fundamental part of environmental justice is a focus on the harmed party, and support of this party (Walker 2012). This would include:

  • Stricter maintenance and upkeep requirements for landlords
  • Required frequent third-party mold tests in rented housing
  • Legislation to make housing providers responsible for mold removal
  • Creation of advocacy groups to provide students with legal resources

Mold poisoning can be an extremely debilitating, long term condition (Lanthier-Veilleux et al. 2016; National Center For Environmental Health 2022; Rubino 2024; Soloway 2014), and should not be the burden of students and renters. By creating structural protections for students, requiring they be provided a living space safe from environmental toxins, some of the responsibility can be shifted from them to the institutions they should be able to trust.

Precipitation map by county via the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association. It overlaps considerably with the concentration of universities, having higher annual rainfall on the coasts and along the Gulf of Mexico.

Map of universities near Howard University overlaid with the percent of housing occupied by renters who moved in 2019 or later. Created by Yuri Sokolov using EJScreen.

Photo of one of the affected dorms at Dartmouth taken by Hannah Li

Photo taken by Sarah Melton of the ceiling of her dorm, showing extensive black mold coverage.

Map from the US Department of Education showing concentration of public (blue), private nonprofit (green), and private for-profit (yellow) universities in the United States. There are clusters along the East and West coasts and the Gulf of Mexico.