How Mold Affects Your Health
Mold produces irritants and allergens that can cause various reactions when inhaled or touched. Reactions to mold often display as allergic symptoms such as sneezing, red eyes, runny nose, and skin rashes.
Sensitive individuals may experience immediate reactions when in contact with mold. Others, on the other hand, might have delayed symptoms .
Individuals with asthma may have a tough time when in a room with mold. Mold can trigger asthma attacks while irritating the throat, lungs, nose, and eyes.
People who dont suffer from allergies or asthma may also experience irritation in the eyes, nose, lungs, and throat.
One mold species, in particular, can be more hazardous than others Stachybotrys chartarum. This species is generally called black mold or toxic mold. Despite the name, this mold is more greenish and is gooier in texture compared to other species.
Black mold can grow on surfaces high in cellulose and low in nitrogen. These include fiberboards, paper, dust, and lint. This mold requires constant moisture in order to grow, so its commonly found near water damage, leaks, and after floods.
While mold, in general, isnt toxic or poisonous, some species, such as black mold, can produce toxic byproducts. One of these is called mycotoxins. However, little research is available on how it affects peoples health .
When To Test For Mold
Beyond actually seeing mold, there are several clues that point to the presence of mold in a concealed area. If mold isnt visually apparent, you may still want to test for mold if you have any of these signs:
- There is a rotten or musty smell
- You experience allergy or asthma flare-ups
- Wall or floor surfaces are warping or bubbling
- You discover water damage that went untreated
How Do Molds Get In The Indoor Environment And How Do They Grow
Mold is found both indoors and outdoors. Mold can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, and heating and air conditioning systems. Mold in the air outside can also attach itself to clothing, shoes, and pets can and be carried indoors. When mold spores drop on places where there is excessive moisture, such as where leakage may have occurred in roofs, pipes, walls, plant pots, or where there has been flooding, they will grow. Many building materials provide suitable nutrients that encourage mold to grow. Wet cellulose materials, including paper and paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, wood, and wood products, are particularly conducive for the growth of some molds. Other materials such as dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation materials, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery, commonly support mold growth.
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Protect Others And The Building
If you decide to clean the mold yourself, it is important to protect yourself and the other people in the building. When cleaning a large amount of mold, consider the following:
- Remove furnishings and items from the work area.
- Enclose and seal mold material in plastic before carrying them through the home.
- Cover air supply and return vents in the work area.
- Use a fan to pull contaminated air out of the work area and exhaust it outdoors.
- Consider renting an air scrubber to operate in the area .
- Remove the outer layer of work clothing inside the work area and wash separately, or bag and discard the clothing.
Tips For Mold Prevention
Wondering how you can prevent mold from affecting your home? Here are a few tips that may help you prevent mold from forming altogether.
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Checking For Visible Mold
Can I Just Get Into The Wall And Use Bleach To Clean It
It may be tempting to get into the wall and spray everything with bleach by yourself. However, if you have never done this before, it is better to call someone licensed to deal with mold. This is especially true if you have never gone into the wall and dont know how to detect how extensive the mold damage is. Leaving the eradication of mold to professionals will save not only your health but also your sanity. A professional team will have all the protective gear, detection tools and methods necessary to get rid of all the mold in your home.
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Why Does Mold Form In Homes
Mold forms in homes because, in many cases, a home is the ideal place for mold to grow particularly in basements and other areas which may be dark and moist, and have a similar temperature all-year-round, due to furnaces and water heaters.
Essentially, there are mold spores in the air at all times and once they find a place thats hospitable to them, theyll start reproducing, causing a visible mold problem.
Safeguard Against Mold During The Fall
Individuals who experience mold allergy symptoms should take extra steps to safeguard against mold growth during the fall months. While mold allergy symptoms can mimic typical seasonal allergy symptoms, a mold allergy is specific to a type of mold called aspergillus and can cause allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Symptoms can include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and asthma-like symptoms.
Preventative measures can be taken within your home to prevent, treat, and clean up mold growth.
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Looking For Signs Of Mold In Your Home
Mold can occur anywhere it finds a damp location where it can feed upon the organic components in your building materials. When looking for mold in your home, its important to keep an eye out as well as a nose out for possible signs. Often times mold can hide behind furniture or appliances, making it more likely for you to smell the mold than see it for the first time.
Black mold will have a strong earthy, dirty, and musty smell and is the laymans term used for Stachybotrys mold. This type of mold can have a particularly strong smell making it more noticeable when starting to form. Unfortunately, mold only needs water, organic matter, a dark environment, and time to grow, meaning its often found in places that arent heavily trafficked in the home.
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Allergenic And Pathogenic Mold
Chaetomium is an allergenic and pathogenic mold most likely to develop after water damage or flooding. Because it thrives on humidity and darkness, Chaetomium spores often start growing within interior wall stud spaces and might not be noticeable until the mold spreads to the walls exterior.
Ulocladium is another type of mold that usually appears after flooding or water damage. Although some strains of the mold are pathogenic, others are allergenic. The mold is black and might grow alongside other types of mold, including Stachybotrys.
Some types of mold need warmth to survive, but Fusarium grows and spreads even in near-freezing temperatures. Strains of Fusarium can appear virtually anywhere. Most strains are allergenic, causing only hay fever-type symptoms, but a few strains can be highly toxic, leading to nervous system disorders and internal bleeding.
Penicillin is a valuable antibiotic, but one strain of Penicillium mold is both allergenic and pathogenic. It produces spores that can trigger allergy-type symptoms such as sinusitis, difficulty breathing, and asthma episodes. In people with immune system disorders, the symptoms can be more severe and can lead to chronic health issues.
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Using A Mold Exposure Test
A mold exposure test is often the best way for you to check for mold on your own. You can pick one up at any home improvement or home supply store.
Simply follow the instructions on the box. Usually, youll just brush the surface where you think mold may be present, and send the test strip or brush in for a laboratory analysis. If mold is present, youll be notified.
How Do You Stop Mold In Your House
Use a cloth soaked in a bleach solution to blot the moldy area, first spot testing on a hidden area. Use a dry cloth to absorb as much moisture as possible from the area, and a fan to help it dry quickly. Other types of flooring such as wood, linoleum, stone, or tile can be thoroughly mopped to remove mold.
Should I buy a house with mold?
However, buying a house with mold could be okay if youre getting a significant discount on the home and have the means to remove the mold. Mold is a type of fungus, and there are thousands of species of mold in houses, ranging from the mold that grows on bread and fruit to the mold that tends to populate humid spaces.
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Condensation And Persistent Moisture
Whether there is excess moisture on your windows, or condensation dripping from your pipes, a damp home is an ideal breeding ground for mold, and can be an indicator that mold is already present in your home. The best dehumidifiers serve as a good solution to reduce excess moisture as they will set the humidity in your home to the level you indicate on the dehumidifier. They aren’t a permanent solution, however, and you should consider getting your windows swapped for double-glazed panes, or having them re-sealed by a professional.
If you’re finding moisture on pipes, a plumber can help diagnose the problem here. In some instances, putting insulation around pipes can prevent moisture build-up, and in others you can consider running warm-water pipes away from cold ones, to avoid excess moisture build-up.
In The Shower And Bathtub
Showers and bathtubs are one of the most common places you may find bathroom mold. With repeated use, these areas tend to be damp most of the time. If you arent properly ventilating during and after your shower or bath, mold spores will thrive. But mold isnt always visible and obvious be sure to check for mold on your shampoo bottles, washcloths and loofahs, shower curtain, in and around the faucet and shower head, and in the tile grout.
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When To Call An Expert
If the moldy area is smallit’s growing in an area smaller than 3 feet by 3 feetyou can probably do a DIY cleanup. The CDC recommends wearing an N-95 respirator and protective eyewear and gloves while handling mold. After you’ve fixed any plumbing leaks and cleaned up the water, you can scrub off the mold with a bleach solution made from no more than 1 cup of laundry bleach in 1 gallon of water.
You could also call in a professional if the water-damaged or moldy area is larger than 3 feet by 3 feet. As there are no federal mold regulations, the CDC recommends finding a specialist who’s affiliated with or certified by the National Environmental Health Association, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification, or the American Council for Accredited Certification. If you don’t see or smell mold but suspect it’s hiddenyou know there has been water damage behind a wall or beneath a floor, for examplean experienced professional can also help find the source.
Because it can have a negative effect on health, it’s important to address mold if you see it, smell it or sense it in your home. Fortunately, and often with the help of a professional, you can clean it up and create a mold-free, safe home.
How Do I Get Rid Of Mold
It is impossible to get rid of all mold and mold spores indoors some mold spores will be found floating through the air and in house dust. The mold spores will not grow if moisture is not present. Indoor mold growth can and should be prevented or controlled by controlling moisture indoors. If there is mold growth in your home, you must clean up the mold and fix the water problem. If you clean up the mold, but don’t fix the water problem, then, most likely, the mold problem will come back.
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Does Mold Grow In The Fall
The fall weather shift poses a problem for mold growth indoors and outdoors. Mold growth requires four criteria: available mold spores, appropriate temperatures, available mold food, and considerable moisture.
Even in the fall months, when the prevalence of mold is high, removing any of these critical criteria will prohibit mold growth. Especially in the case of indoor environments such as homes, schools, or workplaces, eliminating mold growth criteria is essential for health.
All conditions required for mold growth are present in a typical indoor environment, except the needed moisture levels. On some level, indoor mold prevention is simple: proper moisture control prevents mold. When it comes to moisture control, there are two sources: water intrusion and water vapor .
Humidity issues are the number one cause of mold growth, especially in the fall months when the temperatures drop and individuals regularly adjust the thermostats in their homesresulting in suboptimal humidity levels. Humidity in the home can create moisture, which becomes a breeding ground for mold spores. If mold spores are in the air, they can multiply and grow as they land on moist surfaces. The ideal relative humidity level for your home is between 30% to 50%.
Different types of mold thrive in slightly different environments, but all of them have the presence of moisture in common. Types of mold include allergenic, pathogenic, toxic, and molds with both allergenic and pathogenic characteristics.
What To Do When Finding Mold In Your Home
Make sure to call the experts at ServiceMaster to properly remediate your mold problem.
Be alert of any of the aforementioned signs. Such things are likely indicators that your homes walls have mold growing behind them. Considering the damage that mold can have on not only your homes building materials but also yours and others health, it is important that you address any mold growth immediately.
With that being said, if you find your home has mold growth, then you should seek professional mold remediation services. Professionals can thoroughly tend to the damage, contain the mold, prevent further damage and spreading, conduct necessary repairs or replacements, and even treat your home in a manner that prevents mold from returning.
Restoration professionals should be IICRC-certified and experienced to remove mold growth of all sizes. Shortly after receiving your call, their experts will be on their way to inspect the area. They will then contain the affected area to prevent the mold from spreading.
Licensed restoration companies use only the latest products and equipment in order to completely remove mold at its source. After a thorough remediation service, we will ensure that all areas have been restored to their original conditions, giving you the peace of mind that your home is safe from unsafe living conditions.
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If You Use Bleach To Clean Up Mold
- Never mix bleach with ammonia or other household cleaners. Mixing bleach with ammonia or other cleaning products will produce a poisonous gas.
- Always follow the manufacturers instructions when you use bleach or any other cleaning product.
- Open windows and doors to provide fresh air.
- Wear rubber boots, rubber gloves, and goggles during cleanup of affected areas.
- If you need to clean more than 10 square feet, check the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guide titled Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings, which gives advice on all building types. You can get it by going to the EPA web site at .
