What Are Black Molds
The fungus type Stachybotrys Chartarum is intimately related to the phrase black mold or toxic black mold. Many mold species, on the other hand, can turn black.
Stachybotrys is water-loving spores hence it needs highly humid places. In fact, Stachybotrys love those places- where light is so dim, lacks nitrogen and is full of dirt products.
Black mold is a kind of fungus with a coloration of dark green or black. It has unique complex surfaces.
Toilet Black Molds grow in under rim jets, toilet Bowl, tank, behind the tank wall, and hinge areas. It creates black rings or spots which can easily remove.
Treatment For Mold Exposure
The most important treatment for indoor mold exposure is to fix and remove the source of the mold. Limiting your exposure to mold is the most effective way to eliminate symptoms. If you remove the mold yourself, you need to take appropriate precautions to prevent exposure. You can also contact a mold remediation company to remove it for you.
Nasal sprays
These sprays, which contain corticosteroids or decongestants, are generally well tolerated and effective. They work by reducing the inflammation caused by allergies. Some can be bought over-the-counter, and some are only available by prescription.
Allergy medications
Over-the-counter allergy medications such as cetirizine or loratadine are often used to treat allergies. These are antihistamines that work by blocking histamine, a chemical released by your immune system in response to allergens.
Montelukast is a prescription allergy medication that works by blocking another chemical released by your immune system, leukotrienes.
Sinus rinses
Rinsing your sinuses with saline water can help flush away allergens and mucus from your sinus cavities. This will help keep your nose free of irritating substances that can cause bothersome symptoms. These kits are widely available over the counter.
Allergy shots
Allergy shots, also called immunotherapy, expose you to a small amount of an allergen to build up your immunity over time. These can be effective for certain types of mold allergy.
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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What Are The Common Positions For Molds In The Toilet
Those parts and tools that barely come to your contact are highly vulnerable to the growth of black molds. Because regular contact to the surface causes damage to the mold and resists the spores there to propagate. The places like a toilet bowl, lower regions of any type of toilet seat if lowered for long, basin sink, flash tank, bathtub, and congested places are the best places for black molds.
Flash Tank
In terms of flash tanks, they barely let any sunlight to penetrate. There remains adequate moisture always and continuous water flow assures uninterrupted nutrient supply too. For these reasons, black mold is seen to grow more often in the flash tank of your toilet and also check the toilet flappers are working fine.
Toilet Bowl
Though the toilet bowl is not so covered as the flash tank, it doesnt have so intense sunlight supply to restrict the growth. Abandoned nutrients from your urine and stools remain to supply the nutrient particles to the black mold colony. Moreover, a high level of moisture and water supply ensures proper weather for black mold.
Sink
Your basin sink comes at the regular contact of water that is enough to supply nutrients to these types of funguses. If your water reservoir catches black mold anyhow, it will remain to spread these spores through the running water. As a result of this, these spores are spread to your bathroom basin and propagate there. How to unclog your sink? Read here.
Bathtub/Shower
What Are Black Mold Health Symptoms
We all know mold isnt welcomed in the home, but did you know too that breathing in the presence of mold can harm your health? There are over 2,000 different species of mold and the most dangerous of all is called Stachybotrys Chartarum, also known as black mold or the invisible killer.
Why is black mold so dangerous? Black mold releases toxic spores that linger in the air and attack your respiratory health. The potency of these toxic spores has proved to be the most detrimental to human health.
Black mold often appears as slimy and greenish-black. If its water source runs out, it can also appear as dry and powdery. Black mold is also dangerous because its sometimes difficult to distinguish from other species of mold.
The following are health symptoms associated with black mold exposure:
- Eye irritation
In severe cases, symptoms caused by inhaling black mold can lead to the following health troubles:
- Vomiting
- Asthma
- Respiratory complications
Sometimes mold invades spaces that are hard to see and reach. It spreads fast, burrowing into walls and ceilings and hiding in cupboards and under carpets. Quite often, people are exposed to black mold without even knowing it. If you or anyone in your home is experiencing any of the aforementioned symptoms without knowing why, you may be exposed to mold.
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Wet And Damp Clothing
Black mold prefers a fibrous-rich environment so it wont just grow in your homes structure. Clothing is a fiber-rich environment, and damp clothing is an easy target. If youve only done a load of washing and then not put it in the dryer or hung up to dry, the clothing may sit for a day or more. Black mold only needs 24 hours to grow and start spreading. This is especially problematic if you leave wet and damp clothing lying around the house. Ensure that you dont leave clothing in the washer and deal with wet clothing within a few hours for the best results.
Black Mold In A Rental Apartment
In fact, apartments are just like any other type of residence and can become infested with spores that easily take root, spread and thrive in the right conditions. Even more, your landlord may not even be aware of the problem until you bring it to his or her attention.
Regardless, you have rights as a tenant to expect this type of problem to be addressed right away. If you did not cause the problem to start in the first place, you may be entitled by law to have your landlord have the place tested and treated for it at his or her own expense.
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Best Method To Get Rid Of Black Mold
The removal process to getting rid of black mold can be a difficult task. The first step is to have a professional mold remediation specialist come out to properly remove the source of the mold from the infected surface area in your home. Although many may feel this is the only necessary step you must take to remove mold completely from your home, this is not the case. After a mold remediation specialists come and remove the mold, they can cause mold spores to get released into the air after removing the source of the mold itself. Once mold spores get into your environment and more importantly your air, it can be difficult to remove. An effective air purifier such as the EnviroKlenz Mobile UV System is the ultimate mold spore removal air purification system. This system has a two-stage filtration process with a patented earth mineral technology air cartridge that removes odors and chemicals at the source, as well as a hospital grade HEPA filter that removes small particulates such as mold spores up to .3 microns in size. Within this purification system, you can also find ultraviolet germicidal radiation lights that shine above the HEPA, killing any mold spores, bacteria, and viruses collected by the HEPA with a high efficiency of kill.
How To Remove Mold From Walls
To help remove mold from a wall, shower, bath, or toilet, mix no more than 1 cup of household laundry bleach per 1 gallon of water in a bucket. Never mix bleach with ammonia or other household cleaners. Mixing can produce poisonous gas. Make sure you are in a well-ventilated area with open windows and a fan running. Wearing gloves, goggles, and a respirator , use a scrub brush to vigorously scrub the affected area with the bleach/water solution. Keep doing this until the spots are gone. Do not paint or caulk moldy surfaces directly as the paint is likely to peel. The area needs to be cleaned first.
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How To Treat Black Mold Poisoning
Black mold, scientifically referred to as Stachybotrys atra or Stachybotrys chartarum, is typically black or dark green and often linked to serious health problems.
In fact, black mold exposure can lead to poisoning, or stachybotryotoxicosis a condition thats dangerous, particularly for young children and the elderly.
Even though black mold poisoning typically affects horses, cows, and pigs, humans can become infected if they inhale or ingest the spores.
Symptoms of stachybotryotoxicosis include skin rashes , throat and sinus irritation, burning eyes, and a decrease in the production of white blood cells.
Dangers Of Black Mold
Black mold dangers vary from person to person and depend on the length and amount of exposure. People with compromised immune systems or existing respiratory illnesses are at greater risk of developing serious symptoms like lung infections.
Any level of black mold exposure is considered undesirable. Healthcare professionals agree that even small amounts of mold should be removed as precaution, even if everyone in the home is healthy. Additionally, black mold spores are allergens to some people, and these individuals develop more severe allergic reactions than others when exposed.
A black mold allergy can cause health issues like:
- Skin rash
- Changes in mood
- Nose bleeds
The poisonous effects of black mold are due to its mycotoxinsa group of toxic substances known to lead to cancer and immune deficiency. It takes quite a bit of exposure to result in black mold poisoning, so this illness is quite rare.
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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.
Bonus: How To Prevent Mold In The Closet
Youve probably realized by now what a power couple mold and moisture make. That is exactly what you should worry about when it comes to mold in the closet and how it can affect not only the clothes inside, but your health too. Since you wear clothes every day, wearing mold-affected ones can lead directly to health issues such as skin allergies. It is therefore very important to prevent mold on your clothes in the first place, in order to prevent any further skin allergies.
Mold on clothes is often a result of damp clothes being folded and stored without a proper drying session. With enough moisture and food , its just a matter of time before your clothes receive unwelcome guests. Thats why its very important to ensure that each piece in your wardrobe is well dried before its folded and stored in the closet. If the weather permits, dry your clothes outside as much as possible. Fresh air and sunlight are your best weapon against mold in the closet.
If you have a dressing room, then you should give it a full check-over for mold at least once a month, which includes checking walls behind the clothes, checking the ceiling and carpet. Ensure that there are no moist spots from a leaky roof, and if you have a window, keep it open as much as possible or install an air vent.
In any case, keep the closet clean and avoid overfilling it at all costs. Wipe away any dust, and vacuum regularly, as well as checking the clothes that you do not wear often for any signs of mold.
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Growth Spots Of Varying Colors
Black mold, as the name implies, is often dark in color. When searching for black mold, look for circular-shaped spots that are black, dark green or dark brown. Some black mold can also take on shades of orange or have flecks of white within it.
Most of the time, black mold has a slightly furry appearance. Larger growths of mold may appear as a black stain that stretches along your wall, floor or ceiling.
Moisture In Your Basement
If you have a full, in-ground basement, youve got a good breeding place for mold. Most basements are dark, fairly warm, poorly ventilated and quite humid. They also have food sources and abundant oxygen.
Basements also contain plumbing parts like pressurized hot and cold supply lines, drain pipes, floor drains, sumps and sometimes wells. Consider these basement sources of moisture:
Flooding from natural or plumbing causes
Clogged or faulty perimeter drains
Poor or lack of exterior damp-proofing
Sump pump failure
Improper drainage of exterior water from bad grading
Cracks in foundation walls
Dirt and dust accumulations over time
Broken or leaky gutters and downspouts
Poor air circulation
Drain lines from high-efficiency furnaces
Hot water tank overflows
Water condensation on cold surfaces
Rain or melting snow on windows causing ingress or condensation
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Black Mold Symptoms: What Happens When Youre Exposed
Dr. Lauren Tessier is a naturopathic physician practicing in Waterbury, VT, and New York, NY. She specializes in treating mold-related, biotoxin and other complicating illnesses and is CIRS-certified. Learn more about her practice Life After Mold by visiting www.lifeaftermold.com. You can also find her on , and .
Stachybotrys chartarum, more commonly known as black mold, was first identified in Prague in 1837. A Czech mycologist discovered the mold growing on an indoor wall of a home. Despite an early discovery, the term black mold only became part of the normal lexicon of the average homeowner in the 1990s, when the nightly news brought the phrase black mold into homes across America. Though black mold is considered harmful, the details are still in question. This article is meant to help inform those who are worried about being exposed to black mold.
What Causes Black Mold In Your Toilet Bowl
The existence of a high level of water in the air, lower accessibility of sunlight with the assurance of necessary nutrients set a bathroom as the best place for the growth of black molds. There is another point too, that is your ignorance. If you dont wash your bathroom properly and regularly, black mold can rise incredibly.
As far as toilet bowl is, specifically, concerned, it can be an indication of early-stage diabetes not necessarily true every time. When your body overshoots its glucose or sugar level, urine, and other body fluids try taking them out. This, when dumped into the toilet bowl, serves a great source of habitat for molds to grow and assists the growth manifold.
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How Do I Prevent Calcium Build Up In My Toilet
Turn the water supply to the toilet back on and flush it several times to make sure any dirt is removed. Cleaning your toilet bowl on a regular basis will prevent calcium deposits and other stains from settling in. And if the problem involves high content of calcium, then it is best to use a soft scrub cleaner.
Where Does Black Mold Come From
Black Mold can originate from many different sources. It thrives in damp areas with a lot of cellulose, such as cardboard or paper items. Black mold is also present in some foods that are high in cellulose and low acidity .
However, mold can grow in any warm, wet areas of the house such as basements, showers, crawlspaces, and especially on windows. It can form as the result of your ventilation not working properly or if you have leaky pipes.
If you suspect you have leaky pipes in your house, you should check your basement thoroughly for mold. You should also check showers, corners, and crawlspaces if you think your ventilation is not working properly.
If left unchecked it will cause serious damage to your home.
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Identifying Mold In Your Home
- Appearance or dark spots or clusters. Look for spots or clustered growths, especially in warm, moist rooms.
- Musty smell. You may be able to identify mold by a musty smell.
- Allergies or asthma. If you experience asthma attacks or allergy symptoms in your home, that may also indicate theres mold.
- Potential causes. Look for causes of mold growth, like a leak, water damage, lack of ventilation, or old food, papers, or wood.
