All About Mold
What are the Different Types of Household Mold?
Mold will grow in a building in dark and moist locations including basements or crawl spaces. Additionally you may find this fungus in humid bathrooms near tile grout on walls or floors. There are several varieties of mold that appear as fuzzy or slimy growths in colors of black, green or yellow. I routinely inspect areas in my home where mold might begin to grow such as bathroom and kitchen cabinets near a sink’s water pipes.
When there is mold growing anywhere, it means there is a high level of moisture and humidity that requires attention. Mold often causes a foul odor in the air that we call mildew. You might see this type of mold growing on shower curtains or window drapes.
What is the Most Dangerous Type of Mold?
If an expert determines that the mold in your home is stachybotrys chartarum, then having a professional cleanup is necessary to avoid health risks from its mycotoxins. Unfortunately, this mold is quite common in buildings because it thrives on cellulose materials including drywall and wallpaper. This mold also grows in hidden spaces in your home such as ducts or insulation.
Stachybotrys chartarum is the toxic growth that often causes sick building syndrome requiring extensive mitigation by specialists to remove its growth to improve air quality. You are not able to live or work in a building that has this type of mold because it may cause detrimental long-term health problems to your lung tissue.
What are the Health Risks of Mold?
Early symptoms of mold floating in the air of a home include frequent sneezing, chronic coughing and itchy skin. Everyone in your family will have a different reaction to the mold spores such as experiencing sinus headaches or asthma attacks. You especially need to worry about how mold affects children and older individuals because they often have the worst symptoms.
There are studies indicating that exposure to particular species of mold causes permanent neurological damage in humans. Your family pets can also experience health symptoms from breathing mold or having spores settle on sensitive skin tissue.
What Should You Do if You Find Mold in Your Home?
When you find mold in a home, immediate action is required to prevent additional damage. I suggest you contact a company with an understanding of specialized mitigation techniques concerning mold. Using household cleaners such as bleach will actually make the mold species more resistant to chemicals in the future. If you are seeing mold growth on surfaces, there is a good possibility it is also growing inside walls.
Mold typically will not grow on clean surfaces, so we keep our home spotless. One of the most important things we did in our home was buy a dehumidifier to reduce moisture in the hot summer months. We also make sure to keep a constant airflow throughout our home to prevent mold spores from settling on surfaces.
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