Pink Glow Throughout the House
Meant Misery for Florida Family

By Robert Horowitz
For the Branstetter family of Ft. Myers, Florida, pink is anything but pretty. It conjures up images of asthma attacks, bronchial infections, skin rashes, sinus problems, headaches and always being tired. It recalls visits to doctors and a regimen of inhalers, antibiotics and other medications which turned their life upside down.

It is particularly painful for Cheryl Branstetter to recall the changes in her youngest daughter, Kimberly: from a vivacious 12-year-old cheerleader to an asthmatic and chemically sensitive young woman who was asked politely to leave her high school flag squad because the coach was worried she would pass out somewhere on the road, like she did so many times at practice.

The ordeal started in 1991, when the Branstetters replaced their aging air conditioning system. Soon after, they noticed dustiness in the house. When the family noticed the house was "sweating" and that water was collecting in some spots, they called the contractor back in. The problem was that they needed more insulation, said the contractor, so Owens Corning pink fiberglass insulation was blown into the attic, on top of the insulation which had been there for years.

"Well, after that was done, we started noticing a pink glow to everything in the house," said Mrs. Branstetter.

The problems intensified. Cheryl had to change the air filters in the system every two weeks, they were always completely clogged. Kimberly's room was very cold and very dusty when the air conditioning ran. And their power bill doubled, to $350-400 a month.

In January, 1992, Kimberly started passing out in school. She passed out in CPR class. She passed out during gym. She passed out when she practiced with the flag squad. She had to quit playing the flute in the school band because her lungs lacked sufficient power. Her asthmatic episodes were very severe; turning her lips blue.

"She says it feels like somebody just squishes all of the air out of her lungs," said her mother. "Her throat just swells together like somebody is literally choking her."

The Branstetters took Kimberly to doctors. They had no idea the dustiness in their house was linked to the family's deteriorating medical health.

"They sent this child through every test you could think of and couldn't figure out what was wrong with her," said Cheryl. "They had her on amoxicillin because she had respiratory and sinus infections all the time."

Kimberly's respiratory infections persisted, so she continued to take antibiotics. Just walking from her bedroom to the living room triggered an asthmatic attack. She slept all of the time. The older daughter was experiencing severe skin rashes; doctors recommended Cheryl change to a hypoallergenic detergent. The health of the entire family was in decline.

"At the time we didn't know what was wrong with us, we all had nosebleeds, we all had fatigue problems and headaches, said Cheryl. "My husband wound up going into the hospital with severe upper respiratory infection. We all had bronchitis."

The family and their doctors were baffled. What was making the Branstetters so ill?

Florida Power & Light was baffled, too, by the family's outrageous power bills. Upon finding out about the new and supposedly efficient system the Branstetters had installed, FPL sent an energy auditor to test the house. He was shocked at how badly the system leaked, and the amount of insulation in the home. It was the fall of 1992.

"He said, you need to turn this system off," Cheryl recalled. "It can't possibly be good for you."

"The system would actually lift up in the air," she said. "It acted like a vacuum cleaner. Basically, what it was doing was chopping up the fiberglass, rolling it around inside, and then throwing it out into the house."

The Branstetters were dissatisfied with the system from the beginning: with the terrible odor when the heater ran, with the condensation and with the dustiness. They discussed these problems with the company's owner. The Branstetters wanted the system replaced. The contractor wanted to be paid for the work already done. There was no agreement. The contractor slapped a lien on the Branstetter's house, forcing them to pay off the faulty air conditioner.

The Branstetters hired a new contractor to replace the air conditioner, and when the duct system was opened up, contractor and homeowner alike were shocked to find the air-return duct leading back to the air handler, and the air handler itself, packed with fiberglass.

"It was literally packed full," Branstetter said.

The family's insurer told Mrs. Branstetter that since the damage was caused by an outside contractor, she would have to sue the contractor to get satisfaction. Cheryl called environmental remediation companies to find out about getting the house cleaned, but it was more expensive that what her insurance would cover.

"They've put me in a Catch 22 position and I'm stuck here," she remarked.

Young Kimberly's room bore the brunt of the assault, but the whole house was contaminated. The Branstetters had to throw out their furniture, carpeting, bedding and clothes. They cleaned up as best as they could and painted. They lived without heating and air conditioning for three years in scorching south Florida. Cheryl hoped the family's health problems would go away, but they didn't.

"It just got to the point where we-especially Kimberly, who was having the majority of the problems-couldn't breathe," she said.

The whole family suffered from respiratory infections, and the older daughter, a diabetic, endured some nasty skin rashes. Colds and infections came ever more frequently and lasted longer. The whole family had spent so much time on antibiotics, they wound up on stomach medication as well.

When Cheryl told Kimberly's doctor about the fiberglass, the doctor admitted to knowing little about the subject. Subsequent doctors shed little light on Kimberly's reaction to the fiberglass. A pediatric pulmonologist diagnosed Kimberly with restrictive lung disease, which she definitely did not have before the home was contaminated. Her lung function tests show a steady decline, according to attorney Allan Parvey.

The problem, said Cheryl Branstetter, is getting a doctor who is not afraid to say Kimberly's problems were caused by exposure to fiberglass. The facts of the case are not in dispute.

"We have the county inspectors, we have everybody saying they screwed up. There's no question of that." said Cheryl Branstetter. "The air conditioning company admits: 'We did put in the system. We did incorrectly install it. It is true that we did have fiberglass coming up in the air handler.' What they're saying is there is no connection between our physical condition and the fiberglass."

The Branstetter's legal action sought medical damages and reimbursement for their economic losses.