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Where Can I Get Tested For Mold Exposure

How To Know If You Have Black Mold In Your House

How To Test For Black Mold In 5 Minutes

Mold isnt always visible. If you can see mold, its only a sign of the real potential health risk, which is the harmful types of unhealthy levels of mold in the air of your home or workplace.

Airborne mold is all around us in both the outdoors and indoors. The types and amount of mold is what determines the potential health risk. Most of us are typically accustomed to the varieties and amounts of mold present in our outdoor environments.

Healthy indoor environments will have mold conditions similar to or better than those in the surrounding outdoors. Over time, because of moisture , many indoor spaces develop unhealthy types and/or unhealthy levels of airborne mold that can be harmful to you or your pets.

These signs will help you know if you possibly have unhealthy mold conditions in your house:

  • Allergic symptoms
  • A damp or musty odor in one or more places
  • Frequent headaches
  • The air in the home feels different
  • Your house has been flooded or currently has leaks
  • You previously tried removing mold yourself

Take note of how you feel in and out of the house. If the symptoms disappear or decrease when youre out and about, then you might have a mold problem, yes, even if you cant see mold.

How Common Is Mold In Buildings

Molds are very common in buildings and homes. Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around leaks in roofs, windows, or pipes, or where there has been flooding. Mold grows well on paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, and wood products. Mold can also grow in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery.

The most common indoor molds are Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus. We do not have precise information about how often different molds are found in buildings and homes.

Removing Mold From Your Home

Resolve any issues causing mold growth, and throw away anything affected by mold or contributing to mold growth that you cant clean.

  • Wear protective gear. As youre dealing with the moldy area, cover yourself with a mask, gloves, goggles, and rubber boots. If youre cleaning a lot of mold, you can also wear disposable clothing or a mold-resistant suit.
  • Ventilate the room. Open all doors and windows to increase ventilation.
  • Sort and discard. Remove any objects from the area that havent been touched by mold growth. Throw away any items that cant be cleaned.
  • Replace moldy housing materials. Cut away and replace mold-damaged drywall, ceiling tiles, and carpet.
  • Scrub and disinfect. Cover and scrub nonporous surfaces affected by mold with bleach, a fungicide, or detergent and water, then dry them. Dont mix cleaning products together.
  • Address any water issues. Make sure any water problems are fixed and the area is dry before you renovate the room.

You cant prevent all mold, but you can reduce the amount in your home. Here are some dos and donts for managing mold and keeping it from growing indoors.

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How Do You Know If You Have Mold Poisoning

Mold not only looks bad but can also be harmful to your health when you are exposed to its spores. It can appear in many forms and grows in areas that experience constant moisture and high levels of humidity. For instance, you may notice some white patches on your floor, slimy black spots on your shower curtain or a slick orange film on your kitchen drain. Regardless of the appearance, mold can make you sick especially if you have a low immune system or suffering from asthma and allergies. People who are very sensitive to mold can experience allergic reactions when they accidentally inhale the spores or when it encounters their skin. This article looks at how to know if you have mold poisoning.

  • Allergic Reactions to Mold

The longer you are exposed to mold, the more your body will be sensitive to it causing severe allergic reactions. When you inhale or ingest mold spores, your immune system defense will react against the foreign particles through sneezing, wheezing, or coughing. The more you are exposed, you tend to develop other symptoms such as shortness of breath, itchy skin, watery eyes, and persistent irritation along your respiratory tract.

  • Physical Examination

How To Prevent Black Mold From Growing

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It hides in plain sight. Mold loves damp, humid conditions. It will thrive and multiply at a tremendous rate in perfect conditions. But when those conditions change the spores can stay dormant in arid conditions, for very long periods. This is when you may not know the mold is present. As soon as damp returns you will be able to see exactly where the mold is.

Start by inspecting your home. Look in the kitchen around the sink area, where the tiles meet the sink. Mold loves to grow under the silicone that seals the cracks between wall and sink. Over time water gets trapped behind the silicone and mold will appear.

Look in all your cupboards, in the dark corners, both bottom, and top. If a room is not well ventilated and the climate is humid, no doubt, mold will be growing.

Air ducts of aircon systems gather moisture and condensation, perfect breeding grounds for mold. Surfaces with a high cellulose content are also favored by mold colonies.

Check the bathrooms, around the sink and bath and in the shower. Check for mold and check for damp.

Prevention is always better than cure so if you find damp areas, a leaking tap or an outlet pipe, on the outside of the house, sort it out fast.

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How Mold Testing Works

There are two different kinds of professional-grade tests that experts tend to utilize to look for mold infestations. Both of them involve taking a small sample of material, which is then analyzed in a lab for traces of mold spores or the presence of mycotoxins. Urine test kits, as their name implies, require a small volume of urine from a human . These kits are used to determine if a person has a mold infestation in their body.

Meanwhile, home test kits require a small amount of dust or detritus from a buildings air conditioning or heating unit filters. Its not uncommon for professional environmental inspectors or mold remediators to use both kits in tandem after experiencing water damage, as they provide differentbut equally crucialinformation.

There is a third type of mold testing kit on the market its the kind that folks frequently see in hardware and big-box stores. These kits are designed to detect mold spores in the air, and they usually consist of a petri dish filled with microbial growth medium. The dish is exposed to the air for a set period of time in order to collect samples, and then its sealed and allowed to incubate. The idea is that any mold spores captured by the dish will then grow, allowing them to be seen and studied.

What Are Symptoms And Signs Of Mold Exposure

Molds produce irritating substances that may act as allergy-causing substances in sensitive individuals. Furthermore, some molds produce toxic substances known as mycotoxins, but mold itself is not poisonous or toxic. The term toxic mold, therefore, refers to the fact that certain kinds of mold can produce mycotoxins. The conditions under which some molds produce toxins are not understood, and the presence of mold, even a mold that is capable of producing toxins, does not always imply that toxins are being produced or that a health risk or problem is present. Mold may not cause any health problems, or it may lead to allergy or other symptoms in people, including adults and children, who are sensitive to molds.

Allergic reactions to mold are the most common health effects of mold and are therefore the greatest health risk related to mold. Allergic reactions may happen immediately or develop after a period following exposure. Both growing mold and mold spores may lead to allergic reactions. Symptoms and signs of mold allergy may include

  • skin irritation, or rash.
  • Mold or mold spores may cause asthma attacks in people who have asthma and are allergic to mold. Even in some non-allergic individuals, mold can cause symptoms of irritation in the eyes, skin, and airways. For example, the black moldStachybotrys, along with some other types of mold, produces toxins known as mycotoxins that can cause irritation of the skin and airways in susceptible individuals.

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    Is Sampling For Mold Needed

    In most cases, if visible mold growth is present, sampling is unnecessary. Since no EPA or other federal limits have been set for mold or mold spores, sampling cannot be used to check a building’s compliance with federal mold standards. Surface sampling may be useful to determine if an area has been adequately cleaned or remediated. Sampling for mold should be conducted by professionals who have specific experience in designing mold sampling protocols, sampling methods and interpreting results. Sample analysis should follow analytical methods recommended by the American Industrial Hygiene Association , the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists , or other professional organizations.

    Proper Testing For Mold Illness

    How You Can Test Yourself for Mold Poisoning RIGHT NOW!

    Physicians that specialize in mold illness have narrowed in on tests that are most effective in determining if mold is an underlying cause of someones symptoms. Before considering laboratory tests, there is often a clinical suspicion someone may be suffering from symptoms of mold exposure.

    When someone is experiencing any of the above symptoms and no other diagnosis has been made that explains these symptoms mold illness should be considered. There is also the circumstance when someone has another diagnosis such as Lyme disease, but treatments have not been effective in resolving symptoms.

    There is no one perfect test to diagnose mold toxicity. I use the two testing methods below to determine if mold and mycotoxins are undermining someones health.

    Urine Mycotoxin Test

    A urine mycotoxin test indicates whether or not a person is excreting mycotoxins from mold exposure. However, our bodies should excrete mycotoxins after exposure to mold and this does not necessarily mean someone has mold illness. The degree of elevation of mycotoxins in the urine suggests the severity of mold toxicity.

    Great Plains Laboratory and Real Time Laboratory are the labs most commonly used by physicians treating mold toxicity. The two labs use different testing methodologies and test for different mycotoxins, so it is hard to compare results between the labs.

    Preparation for urine mycotoxin testing

    Mycotoxin Antibody Test

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    How Can I Prevent A Relapse

    Mold spores can be found just about anywhere, whether inside or outside. However, you can take preventative measures to ensure they dont breed into larger, toxic colonies. If there are water leaks in or around the house, have them repaired immediately. Dark, wet environments and plenty of organic material create the perfect home for mold growth. Keep your attic and basement or crawl space dry and free of moisture. Consider bringing in an environmental professional and having an ERMI mold test done every so often to evaluate your home for the presence of mold. There are DIY kits that can be purchased, but these results arent always accurate.

    If you suspect that you have been exposed to mold, either because you have found mold in your home or you have had nagging symptoms similar to the ones discussed, make an appointment with your healthcare provider. As you make a plan to remove mold from your home and prevent future relapses, team to have the mold problem removed.

    A Qualified Environmental Lab Took Samples Of The Mold In My Home And Gave Me The Results Can Cdc Interpret These Results

    Standards for judging what is an acceptable, tolerable or normal quantity of mold have not been established. Sampling for mold can be expensive, and standards for judging what is and what is not an acceptable quantity of mold have not been set. The best practice is to remove the mold and work to prevent future growth. If you do decide to pay for environmental sampling for molds, before the work starts, you should ask the consultants who will do the work to establish criteria for interpreting the test results. They should tell you in advance what they will do or what recommendations they will make based on the sampling results. The results of samples taken in your unique situation cannot be interpreted without physical inspection of the contaminated area or without considering the buildings characteristics and the factors that led to the present condition.

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    What Happens If You Eat Food With Mold

    The thought of eating something moldy likely makes you want to gag. Most of the time, this is the only symptom youd get after eating moldy food. If somethings not right with your immune system and you eat something moldy, you might experience symptoms like:

    • If you are allergic to mold, those allergy symptoms may be triggered also

    If you notice mold on your food that you dont want to throw away, consult the USDAs guide on handling moldy food.

    Healthy Home Myths Debunked

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    Common areas to test for black mold are basements, crawlspaces, bathrooms and kitchens where moisture and condensation may gather regularly. A water source is the first requirement for mold growth, so any damp, humid areas of the home are often susceptible.

    Sight and smell may give you a good indication of whether or not you have a black mold problem black mold tends to have a strong, musty smell, and of course it displays a trademark black color. If you believe you have black mold growth in an area of your home after these initial inspections, you have two options: professional mold testing or do-it-yourself testing.

    Professional mold testing companies will take samples of the air and any areas of mold growth, identify precisely what type of mold is present, and recommend next steps for remediation.

    If you go the DIY route while testing for black mold, you will need to purchase a mold testing kit from a hardware or home repair store, take samples of the air and affected areas yourself, and then send these in to a testing facility, which will report back as to which type of mold is present.

    Black mold can be an expensive and potentially unhealthy problem for homeowners, but by testing for black mold, you can know for sure if youll need to take steps to eradicate black mold from your home.

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    When To See A Doctor For Mold Exposure

    Are you worried youve been exposed to mold?

    Not sure of the signs and symptoms to look for and when should you see a Doctor?

    In this article, you will learn:

    • The dangers of mold exposure and what symptoms to watch out for,
    • When to see a doctor and what they can do to help,
    • Treatments and prevention of mold exposure.

    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.

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    How Quickly Can Mold Make You Sick

    There are several types of fungi that can be found in your house, down in the basement, or in the attic. Mold develops when the perfect environment is created, which is usually a combination of moisture, humidity, and organic material. Spores can migrate away from thriving colonies through the air, landing on shoes, blankets, showerheads, or your HVAC ductwork. As it spreads, it releases toxic chemicals called mycotoxins. These are the molecules that lead to illness.

    Mold toxicity is considered a biotoxin illness, also called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. In this severe condition, there is a systemic inflammatory response that occurs after an individual has had intense exposure to toxigenic organisms. These organisms can include bacteria, mycobacterium, fungi, actinomycetes, and other inflammagens. It is common for people to suffer from an illness brought on by living conditions where water damage has occurred, and many of these individuals are unable to develop an antibody or immune response to mold toxins.

    Almost everyone will experience some form of illness or response when their bodies are exposed to high enough levels of biotoxins, though each individual has a unique threshold or tolerance. There is no exact timeline for how soon a person will develop symptoms of mold exposure, but as mold spores rapidly multiply, individuals may experience certain discomforts within just a few hours of entering a mold-laden environment.

    How To Test For Black Mold

    Mold Testing: Finding an IEP

    Do you keep getting a whiff of something musty in your bathroom or basement? Afraid it might be mold? Learn about three of the most popular kits to test for mold at home.

    Its no secret that damp areas of the home provide the perfect conditions for mold and mildew to grow. Whether your nose knows, or your eyes spy dark spots in strategic locations, you want to make sure.

    Mold doesnt just eat away at your wood, wallpaper, or grout. Its spores get airborne and cause all kinds of health problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says enough evidence exists to link mold to upper respiratory tract symptoms like itchy eyes and runny nose to cough and wheeze in otherwise healthy people.

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