POSTED: 5:46 p.m. PDT April 28, 2003

Bebe Emerman
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Consumer Investigator

More women than ever are getting breast implants -- more than 235,000 this year alone. A KIRO 7 Consumer Investigation uncovers a shocking new health risk you need to know about.

Saline implants are supposed to be super-safe. But a lot can go wrong: leaking, hardening, scarring, deflation. These problems are bad, but now, our investigation uncovers a truly horrifying complication: implants black with toxic mold.

"I started thinking about suicide," said Kathryn Gordon.

It's a shocking confession from a woman who seemed to have it all. Kathryn Gordon was young, beautiful and, at age 21, decided to enhance that beauty with saline breast implants.

"I lived in a beach town," she said. "Literally, if you didn't have them, you bought them."

For seven years, she was fine. But then, she began noticing a series of troubling health problems.

"A little bit of joint pain, my hair started thinning," she said.

When she breastfed her baby, the child developed a mouth infection.

"My daughter's mouth was bleeding."

Meanwhile, Gordon got sicker and sicker. She felt exhausted all the time, had severe breast pain, chills, and began slurring her words.

"They'd run a couple of blood tests, but there was nothing they could detect," she said. "After a while, I started thinking I was crazy."

"I went to bed and I prayed. I said 'God, please forgive me for what I'm going to do, but take me out of my misery. I'm useless.'"

Finally, in desperation, Gordon went to see plastic surgeon Susan Kolb.

Kolb urged Gordon to have the implants removed right away. What she found inside Kathryn's chest was horrifying.

"This implant has discoloration inside consistent with fungus." "They were black."

Question: "This was in your body for 11 years?"
Answer: "Uh huh. So of course it would make me sick."

When Kathryn finally got around to having her saline implants tested, she couldn't believe the lab report.

The implants were full of dead organisms identified as aspergillus niger and aspergillius fumigates -- in other words, mold. There was also a strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

How did it get there? Implants are shipped to a surgeon deflated, and filled with saline in the operating room. If conditions are not completely sterile, germs could be introduced.

That's why Seattle cosmetic surgeon Tony Mangubat always makes sure he uses what's called a "closed system" to fill implants.

"Where we hang an IV bag, and then draw from the syringe through a one-way valve," he said. "Once the tubing is connected to the implant, there's no exposure to air."

Kathryn Gordon's doctor says she's seen close to 300 cases of contaminated implants. Still, some experts insist it's a rare occurrence and argue it's never been proven that implants like this can actually make women sick.

MORE ON THIS STORY Information from the FDA American Society of Plastic Surgeons Implant Information Project

But other complications are more common: like wrinkling, sagging, scarring, changes in nipple sensation and the need to have additional surgery.

Despite these problems the FDA and implant manufacturers insist the devices are safe.

Dr. Tony Mangubat says he's always warns patients of the risks.

"The incidence of implants failing or deflating is about three percent," he said.

But overall, he thinks the procedure is safe.

"I personally believe that it's much more risky to drive your car on Interstate 5 than to have breast implants," he said.

As for Kathryn Gordon, she's recovering from her ordeal, but she thinks women need to be warned, and doctors need to be aware.

"They think it has nothing to do with implants and a lot of times it does, that's the scary part," she said. "I really think I would have died. I really do!"

There's debate as to how long saline implants actually last. Although some women have had their implants for decades, some experts say they're only designed to last from 11 to 14 years.

Surgeons say replacing them is an easy, 15-minute procedure. Even so, it usually requires general anesthesia and some recovery time.

And finally, keep in mind implants can make it more difficult to detect breast cancer.