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Mold Facts |
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Mold (fungi) is present everywhere-indoors and outdoors. There are more than 100,000 species of mold.
Did you know?
Molds can trigger asthma and allergies in sensitive individuals.
What is Mold?
There are literally hundreds of thousands of kinds of molds in existence today. Found in every ecological niche, mold can serve a very useful purpose. While it is estimated that about 50-100 common indoor mold types have the potential for creating health problems, most are harmless to us. Some fungi, like mushrooms, we eat. Others add flavor to our stinky cheeses. And, of course, natural antibiotics are derived from molds.
Molds are simple microscopic organisms present virtually everywhere indoors and outdoors. Molds produce tiny spores to reproduce, and these spores float through the indoor and outdoor air continually. When mold spores land on a damp spot indoors, they may begin growing and digesting whatever they are growing on to survive. Because molds grow by digesting the organic material, they gradually destroy whatever they grow on.
There are molds that can grow on wood, paper, carpet and foods. When excessive water or moisture accumulates indoors, mold growth will often occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or un-addressed.
Mold growth on surfaces can often be seen in the form of discoloration: frequently green, gray, brown, or black but also white or other colors. While there is no way to eliminate all molds and mold spores indoors, the way to control indoor mold growth is to control moisture.
How long has mold been around?
Mold has been around for a very long time. In fact, the very first recorded mention of mold is in the Bible: Leviticus 13 and 14. If someone told the priest that they had seen something that looked like mildew, the priest would act like a modern day home inspector and order the house to be emptied and then examine the walls. If mildew was found, he ordered the contaminated stones to be torn out and the inside walls were scraped clean. The old stones were replaced with new ones, the house re-plastered and monitored for re-growth: not extremely different from the process today.
Interestingly, mold may also have been responsible for other historic events such as the Salem witch trials, the Irish potato famine, and the curse of the mummy's tombs. How could something as old and as common as mold, mildew and fungus suddenly explode onto the scene like some sort of nightmare plague?
What does mold mean in today's world?
One reason that we're seeing the problem these days is that, unlike in Moses' times, today's houses are constructed air tight, with insulation and gypsum board. Throw in wall-to-wall carpeting, and you have an environment to make any mold happy--always adding water, of course.
Since WWII, houses have been designed and built faster and cheaper. Where once stone, brick, mortar and solid wood were the common construction materials, today's cellulose-based products are the norm. These paper-based products are unforgiving when it comes to moisture. Fungi thrive on porous, nitrogen rich material like wallboard, and the glues used for building materials and carpets.
Mold also has a fondness for HVAC systems, particularly those that are not operating properly or are poorly maintained. All that is needed is a bit of moisture and mold growth is off and running. Twenty mold spores sitting side by side would fit into the period at the end of this sentence. One square foot of moldy drywall can harbor more than 300 million mold spores.
How can mold affect my health?
The most common indoor molds are Cladosporiam, Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Alternaria. Among the molds thought to be potentially harmful to humans because of the potent mycotoxins they can produce are species of Statchybotrys, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarim, Trichoderma, and Memnoniella.
Health effects from mold exposure fall into four general categories: allergy, infection, irritation, and toxicity. Common symptoms from exposure include runny noses, congestion, eye irritation, and aggravation of asthma, dizziness, headache and fatigue.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises that prudence is indeed the watchword when it comes to any type of mold and human exposure. The AAP has advised that, "This is a newly recognized problem and knowledge is expected to be evolving rapidly. In view of the severity of the problem, environmental controls to eliminate the water problems and to reduce the growth of indoor molds are wise. Until more is known about the etiology of idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage, prudence dictates that pediatricians try to insure that infants under 1 year of age are not exposed to chronically moldy, water-damaged environments."
With respect to Stachybotrys in particular, the AAP has further cautioned that "this is not your common household mold" and is capable of producing toxins that can be absorbed through an infant's airways. "Because infants' lungs are growing so quickly, they may be especially susceptible to these toxins."
How can I protect my family's health?
Schedule a home mold inspection with Mold Rover Inspection Services. We will perform a thorough inspection that will alert you to the presence of mold, and, if mold is located, to the site of the problem.
» Click here to schedule a complete mold inspection with Mold Rover Inspection Services
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