Preventing Black Mold Illness
The only way to prevent illness from black mold is to keep it out of your home. Like all types of mold, black mold requires a fair amount of moisture in order to grow. You can use dehumidifiers to reduce the amount of humidity, which is just moisture in the air, in your home. Experts generally recommend keeping your home at no more than 50 percent humidity you can purchase a hygrometer to measure the humidity in your home if you want to make sure its not high enough to cause any more mold to grow.
Youll also need to identify the source of any excess moisture. Check for leaks in your roof and under sinks, and make sure the bathroom has adequate ventilation so the room can dry out after someone showers.
If black mold does develop in your home despite your best efforts to prevent it, youll need to clean it up thoroughly. As we mentioned above, if youre experiencing symptoms of mold-related illness, you should not handle mold or attempt to clean it up yourself you should arrange for someone else to do it for you. You can hire a professional if you like.
Coughing And Shortness Of Breath
The irritation and inflammation caused by mold often lead to frequent coughing that is otherwise unexplained.
The throat and lungs are irritated continuously when repeatedly exposed to mycotoxins. If the issue isnt addressed, this coughing can develop into more severe conditions such as pneumonia and bronchitis.
The same inflammation that causes irritated, constricted airways that lead to wheezing and coughing can eventually lead to shortness of breath.
This gives a feeling of tightness in the chest. It may feel like you are unable to take in a full breath.
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How To Test For Mold
The workup for CIRS includes tests that are widely available via LabCorp and Quest, although they are somewhat esoteric tests, including MMP9, TGF beta 1, MSH, VEGF, and others. Urine testing for actual mold toxins circulating in the body can also be utilized, however, these results are questioned by some in the field of CIRS treatment.
Brain toxicity due to mold or other toxins and the psychiatric and cognitive health issues associated with it cant wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to normal is likely to make your symptoms worsen over time.
At Amen Clinics, were here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834or visit our contact page here.
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How Is Black Mold Exposure Diagnosed
If you havent been feeling well and believe youve been exposed to black mold or any other type of mold, schedule a visit with your doctor. Theyll try to determine your level of sensitivity to mold and its effects on your health.
Your doctor will first perform a physical exam. Theyll pay special attention to how your lungs sound when you breathe.
Theyll then take your medical history and perform an allergy test. This is done by scratching or pricking the skin with extracts of different types of mold. If theres swelling or a reaction to black mold, its likely you have an allergy to it.
Your doctor may also run a blood test that measures your immune systems response to certain types of mold. This is called a radioallergosorbent test.
Some things can increase your risk for a reaction to black mold.
risk factors for illness from black mold exposure
Treatment depends on your reaction and how long youve been exposed. If black mold has made you sick, see a doctor for continued care until your body heals from exposure to black mold spores.
The most common reason for a reaction to black mold is a black mold allergy.
If youre dealing with an allergy, you can take steps to limit your exposure and manage your symptoms. While theres no current cure for mold allergies, there are medications you can take to reduce your symptoms.
Talk to your doctor about taking the following medications:
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What Are The Mental & Neurological Symptoms Associated With Black Mold Exposure
Black mold produces toxins that can kill neurons in the brain and can impair a persons mental faculties. Exposure to black mold toxins may cause mental & neurological conditions, like nervous disorders. Symptoms of mental & neurological effects of black mold exposure include altered behavior, mood swings, and irritability.
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Prevent Molds From Coming Back By Doing These:
- Regularly check your home for water leaks. Perform extra inspection before and winter, storms, earthquakes, and flooding. Repair the leaks right away.
- Replace the filters and vacuum the ducts of your HVAC system to eliminate fungal spores.
- Keep your home well-ventilated by opening doors and windows to stabilize the humidity level. If this is not possible at all times, invest in a high-quality dehumidifier.
Sneezing And Nasal Congestion
While many things can trigger sneezing, its also a symptom of mold toxicity that should get your attention. If youve never had allergies or hay fever symptoms and youre positive you dont have a cold, those sneezes could be indicative of mold exposure.
Sneezing is the immune systems standard response to allergens. It could also be a warning sign that your home has a mold problem.
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Where Is Mold Found In A Home
A research study found that Stachybotrys preferred a very high relative humidity within wallsapproximately 97%which indicates that relative humidity could be an important risk factor . For black mold, you may consider smaller microclimates that may harbor such humidity levels: sweating pipes, under sink cabinets, front loading washing machines, standing water, roof leaks, damp cars, windows with condensation, etc. Generally, common places to check for mold growth include the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room.
However, humidity alone is not the only requirement for mold growthmold requires nutrients to grow. Any environment that has nutrients like cellulose or other organic matter can harbor mold if the humidity level is right. To further enable mold growth, an environment that has poor air flow and minimal disruption is ideal. For example, you can find mold on wallpaper, furniture, drywall, overly-packed bookshelves or overstuffed closets.
What Causes Black Mold
Molds are an important part of our environment. They decompose dead plants and animals. All types of mold will grow if the conditions are right. Mold grows and spreads quickly in the right conditions, which include:
- Moisture level at or over 70%
- Adequate food source
- Temperatures that range from 40 to 100 degrees F
Mold can grow anywhere in your house that provides these conditions. The most likely places mold will grow are:
- Anywhere that there has been a water leak.
- Damp rooms without adequate ventilation, such as bathrooms.
- Basements where humidity tends to be higher.
- Any areas with a lot of water condensation.
- Any areas where flooding has occurred.
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Symptoms Of Mold Exposure
Mold spores can easily be brought into your home on your shoes or clothing or through open windows or doors. If these spores can find a warm, damp, humid environment, they can begin to multiply. Soon, your home can be filled with toxic mold. If you think mold has invaded your home, look for various symptoms of mold exposure.
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The most difficult challenge for many homeowners is identifying first that mold is present in the home and second what type of mold they are dealing with as well as the best plan of attack for each type. We are gonna break down the most common types of household molds and the how best to identify each varying type.
Mold in your home, especially black mold is something to take very seriously. Having knowledge of the effects of black mold and the health effects it can have on you, can help you become better prepared in defense against black mold in your home.
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Common Black Mold Health Issues
Keep in mind that not everyone exposed to black mold will get sick and those that do become ill as a result of exposure to mold may not develop all of these symptoms. You should also know that black mold is not the only type of mold that can cause health problems. Exposure to any type of mold can make you sick.
Common health problems caused by exposure to black mold include:
- Asthma attacks or the development of asthma in people not previously diagnosed with the disease
- Itchy rash or hives
Some of these health problems may become chronic, not going away even after youve gotten medical treatment and are no longer exposed to mold in your home. Most of the time, mold-related health problems resolve when those two things happen, but occasionally they do not. Here you can read more about long-term health problems caused by exposure to mold.
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Rental Properties With Mould Issues
When a rental property has mould, the owner should fix any mould caused by faults in gutters or other fixtures, but the tenant should ensure that extractor fans are used when available and the home is aired regularly where possible.
Sometimes, the cause of the mould growth may be due to a building fault that may not be easily rectified.
If as a tenant, you have taken measures to make sure the building is properly ventilated and mould is still growing, you should raise the issue with the owner.
Information on mould in rental properties is available on Consumer Affairs Victorias website.
Tenants seeking further advice on their rights can also contact the Tenants Union of Victoria on .
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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.
Black Mold Exposure Can Damage Your Circulatory System
Black mold spores can be inhaled, consumed, or absorbed through a persons skin or eyes. When mycotoxins find their way into the bloodstream, mycotoxins have the potential to cause serious damage.
Symptoms of circulatory system damage from black mold include:
- Irregular heartbeat
- Bleeding in the brain
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Could Your Symptoms Be From A General Mold Allergy
Regardless of the species of mold in question, symptoms of a mold allergy can appear very similar, especially when looking at many individuals. So if you see black-colored mold and experience allergic symptoms, it could be Stachybotrys, or it could be another species of mold. That said, the same person can react differently to different molds. For example, one person may have severe dry eyes in response to a Cladosporium exposure, while Aspergillus exposure may cause wheezing and asthma-like symptoms.
How Did I Get Mold
Like any other living thing, mold needs food and water to thrive. Mold problems start when a mold spore thats floating in the air lands on a wet piece of organic material , takes root and starts to multiply. Mold spores are everywhere in the air, including in the cleanest of homes.
In fact, every breath you take likely has some mold spores in it at low levels! In the home, mold usually grows wherever there is dampness and moisture, like basements, attics, kitchens and bathrooms, or areas that have experienced flooding.
With over 100,000 species, mold comes in about any size, shape, and color you can think of, making it impossible to tell what type of mold you have without testing by a certified mold inspection professional.
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Final Word From The Experts
Toxic Black Mold may look like a simple stain on your wall or ceiling, but it can cause a lot of damage to your quality of life. Mold toxicity is a stealthy condition, so it is best to have you checked for this alongside other tests and understand how mold affects the human body with prolonged toxic black mold exposure.
If exposure to black mold is confirmed, go to an expert on this field to obtain the best treatment possible. Sponaugle Wellness Institute has changed the lives of thousands of people who had been suffering for years due to undetected mold toxicity.
But Theres One More Thing That Is Making You Sick
Exposure to black mold is probably one of the most disregarded health hazards of the modern age, with black mold being commonly found in residential and commercial structures in all climates. This is due to the fact that fungi are ubiquitous organisms that can get into buildings by attaching on the surface of structural materials or on fabrics. The spores that cause black mold can also be transported via active and passive ventilation due to their diminutive size, then silently cause signs of mold sickness or exposure to black mold.
Once indoors, black toxic mold finds a presence of moisture and nutrients and grows.
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Black Mold Symptoms And Health Effects
Learn about black mold symptoms and health effects so that you can identify indicators of black mold exposure and black mold poisoning.
A mold infested room of an old building.
Dariusz Majgier
Mold in homes can be a costly and dangerous problem, particularly when infestations of toxic black mold occur. The symptoms and health effects of black mold exposure and black mold poisoning cover a wide range of health problems, but understanding the indicators can help keep you and your family safe.
Toxic black mold, or Stachybotrys chartarum, as it’s known to scientists, can release spores as it feeds on organic materials in common household materials like drywall, carpet, insulation or sub-flooring that have been exposed to moisture. These spores, if ingested or inhaled, can cause a range of unpleasant and even dangerous symptoms in humans.
Why You Should Contact A Mold Removal Specialist For A Free Consultation:
- A specialist can help you determine why you have mold growing in your home and how to rectify the situation. Cleaning up mold is a waste of time if you dont correct the conditions that allowed it to grow in the first place, because it will just grow back.
- A specialist knows how to locate mold that the average homeowner might miss, including mold inside air ducts, under carpeting, inside furniture and inside walls.
- A specialist can draw up a detailed treatment plan, including the best methods for cleaning up different types of mold and mold in different locations.
- The information you get from a specialist will benefit you even if you decide to handle the cleanup job yourself.
Just follow this link to locate a Mold Removal Specialist near you.
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Prevent Mold Growth With Routine Maintenance
To prevent mold growth, we suggest using a dehumidifier during the warm months and providing your home or business with the proper ventilation. Use exhaust fans in bathrooms and kitchens. Clean surfaces with mold-killing products.
Keep your humidity levels below 50 percent. Humidity levels shift throughout the day. Inspecting your structure for mold growth is an important part of routine building maintenance.
Seek treatment from a doctor soon as you notice any eye irritation, skin irritation or other common symptoms after exposure to mold, especially when symptoms persist. Its better to be safe than sorry. ECOS Environmental is happy to step in and test your home or business for mold and assist with the cleanup and renovation.
It Worsens Asthma Attacks
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 1 out of 12 adults and 1 out of 11 children in the United States are asthmatic. More than 50% of them are allergic to molds. If your family member has sensitive asthma, he/she might experience re-occurring attacks if there is continuous exposure to black mold.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Black Mold Exposure
Black mold, also known as toxic black mold or Stachybotrys, can cause many serious health problems if found inside a home. There are numerous negative health effects from mold exposure, such as mental impairment, breathing problems, internal organ damage, and in some cases, even death. The symptoms of black mold exposure can be separated into different groups depending upon the area affected by mold presence.
What Illnesses Does Black Mold Cause
The presence of toxic indoor black mold is clearly a detriment to human health. Researchers have done extensive studies on the links between some health conditions and exposure to black mold. In a study conducted, researchers found a group of nine family members that were living in a home with mold had a more elevated prevalence of autoimmune conditions than people who were not exposed to mold. Another group found that they experienced a plethora of mucosal irritation, neurological, skin, and allergic symptoms. The reality of the situation is that when you are exposed to black mold you have the heightened potential to develop certain health conditions that can be quite damaging to your health.
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