Your house may be beautifully decorated. It is cozy and comfortable, so you may feel content in the home. However, if you see any sign of the hazards of mold, you must call in the professionals right away. There are many health hazards of mold. If you are continuously exposed to mold spores through inhalation, you can develop long-term serious respiratory problems, including lung disease. Prevention is better than cure, and in case of mold growth, it is imminent. Read what the hazards of mold are, so if you notice the microbes growing inside your house, you will make sure to clean and sanitize the area via a professional and licensed mold removal company.
What is Mold and Its Characteristics?
Molds are everywhere and have been on the earth long before your ancestors were born. Molds are different types of fungus that reproduce through spores in the air. Mildew is the kind of mold that usually manifests the homes. They are grey to black in color, appear in spots, and usually grow where the air is humid, such as kitchen cabinets, crawl spaces, shower curtains, and bathrooms.
Molds need dark, damp, and humid environment to grow a colony within 48 hours. The mold spores are around you, even in a dry environment. They are very hardy and can survive for ages without reproducing. The mold spores generally travel through the air. And when they settle on a moist surface, they start growing immediately.
While molds play a significant role outdoor, such as decomposing produce, such as dead trees, leaves, and compost, when they travel indoor and establish a settlement, they can cause serious health problems and damage the surface they grow on.
Health Risks of Mold
There are different kinds of molds. Some are non-toxic and some are highly toxic.
Usually the ones present inside the house are nontoxic mildews, unless they go unnoticed and contaminate the place quickly. Molds are invariably linked with allergic reactions and respiratory diseases in human beings, especially in elderly, children and people with weakened immune systems.
Mold growth in schools, workplaces, homes, and public areas should be addressed immediately.
Common types of indoor molds are:
- Aspergillus
- Cladosporium
- Alternaria
- Acremonium
- Epicoccum
- Penicillium
- Trichoderma
- Stachybotrys
- Dreschslera
Your mold damage restoration expert will inspect the area, followed by getting a sample test done to determine the type of mold growing and the required process to kill the fungus and restore the surface.
Although the presence of molds does not correlate with illness and diseases in humans, certain mycotoxin substances’ exposure, and not necessarily the duration of molds’ existence, can develop illnesses.
People who spend more time in damp indoor environments can often experience respiratory problems and allergic reactions.
Molds, in general, do not cause health problems, but just slight irritation and allergic reactions.
The greatest health risk to molds is allergic reaction. So, people who are already prone to allergy or have dermatitis may aggravate their symptoms if they inhale mold-contaminated air.
Common allergic symptoms include sneezing, runny eyes and nose, red eyes, cough, headache, sinus attack, nasal congestion, and skin irritation or rash.
However, in severe cases, molds can cause asthma attacks in asthmatic people and cause fatigue, sleepiness, and mood disturbances.
Severe Cases of the hazards of Mold Exposure
Mycotoxins that are released by certain molds are toxic and not the mold actually. Evidence and research studies still don’t explain under what circumstances molds release mycotoxins.
The only kind of mold that releases mycotoxin is black mold or Stachybotrys fungus. The black mold can cause serious skin irritation and respiratory problems even in non-allergic people.
Severe effects of black mold spore inhalation include hay fever symptoms, lung infection, shortness of breath, bronchitis, asthma, and chronic lung diseases. People with a weakened immune system, the elderly and the children stand a greater chance of developing mold borne diseases. However, these cases are quite uncommon and there is no conclusive evidence to prove the link between the two.
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