Tag: Mold Growing Allergic Reactions

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What to do If You Have Mold in Your Home

What to do If You Have Mold in Your Home

Mold can look like spots. It can be many different colors, and it can smell musty. If you see or smell mold, you should remove it. You do not need to know the type of mold.

If mold is growing in your home, you need to clean up the mold and fix the moisture problem. Mold can be removed from hard surfaces with household products, soap, and water, or a bleach solution of no more than 1 cup of household laundry bleach in 1 gallon of water.

If You Use Bleach to Clean up Mold

  • Never mix bleach with ammonia or other household cleaners. Mixing bleach with ammonia or other cleaning products will produce poisonous gas.
  • Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when you use bleach or any other cleaning product.
  • Open windows and doors to provide fresh air.
  • Wear rubber boots, rubber gloves, and goggles during cleanup of affected areas.
  • If you need to clean more than 10 square feet, check the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guide titled Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings, which gives advice on all building types. You can get it by going to the EPA web site at https://www.epa.gov/mold/mold-remediation-schools-and-commercial-buildings-guideexternal icon.

To Prevent Mold Growth in Your Home

  • Keep humidity levels in your home as low as you can—no higher than 50%–all day long. An air conditioner or dehumidifier will help you keep the level low. You can buy a meter to check your home’s humidity at a home improvement store. Humidity levels change over the course of a day so you will need to check the humidity levels more than once a day.
  • Be sure the air in your home flows freely. Use exhaust fans that vent outside your home in the kitchen and bathroom. Make sure your clothes dryer vents outside your home.
  • Fix any leaks in your home’s roof, walls, or plumbing so mold does not have moisture to grow.
  • Clean up and dry out your home fully and quickly (within 24–48 hours) after a flood.
  • Add mold inhibitors to paints before painting. You can buy mold inhibitors at paint and home improvement stores.
  • Clean bathrooms with mold-killing products.
  • Remove or replace carpets and upholstery that have been soaked and cannot be dried right away. Think about not using carpet in places like bathrooms or basements that may have a lot of moisture.
health problems associated with exposure to mold

Who is most at risk for health problems associated with exposure to mold?

People with allergies may be more sensitive to molds. People with immune suppression or underlying lung disease are more susceptible to fungal infections. Individuals with chronic respiratory disease (e.g., a chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, asthma) may experience difficulty breathing. Individuals with immune suppression are at increased risk for infection from molds. If you or your family members have these conditions, a qualified medical clinician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment.

How do you keep mold out of buildings and homes?

Inspect buildings for evidence of water damage and visible mold as part of routine building maintenance, Correct conditions causing mold growth (e.g., water leaks, condensation, infiltration, or flooding) to prevent mold growth.

Inside your home, you can control mold growth by:

  • Controlling humidity levels;
  • Promptly fixing leaky roofs, windows, and pipes;
  • Thoroughly cleaning and drying after flooding;
  • Ventilating shower, laundry, and cooking areas.

Specific Recommendations:

  • Keep humidity levels as low as you can—between 30% and 50%–all day long. An air conditioner or dehumidifier will help you keep the level low. Bear in mind that humidity levels change over the course of a day with changes in the moisture in the air and the air temperature, so you will need to check the humidity levels more than once a day.
  • Use an air conditioner or a dehumidifier during humid months.
  • Be sure your home has enough ventilation. Use exhaust fans which vent outside your home in the kitchen and bathroom. Make sure your clothes dryer vents outside your home.
  • Fix any leaks in your home’s roof, walls, or plumbing so mold does not have moisture to grow.
  • Consider not using carpet in rooms or areas like bathrooms or basements that may have a lot of moisture.

Should I be concerned about a serious health risk to me and my family?

There is always a little mold everywhere – in the air and on many surfaces.

Certain molds are toxigenic, meaning they can produce toxins (specifically “mycotoxins”). Hazards presented by molds that may produce mycotoxins should be considered the same as other common molds that can grow in your house. Not all fungi produce mycotoxins and even those that do will not do so under all surface or environmental conditions.

Mold growth, which often looks like spots, can be many different colors and can smell musty.  Color is not an indication of how dangerous a mold may be.  Any mold should be removed and the moisture source that helped it grow should be removed.

There are very few reports that toxigenic molds found inside homes can cause unique or rare health conditions such as pulmonary hemorrhage or memory loss. These case reports are rare, and a causal link between the presence of the toxigenic mold and these conditions has not been proven.

Basic Facts about Mold

Basic Facts about 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.

How do molds get in the indoor environment and how do they grow?

Mold is found both indoors and outdoors. Mold can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, and heating and air conditioning systems. Mold in the air outside can also attach itself to clothing, shoes, and pets can and be carried indoors. When mold spores drop on places where there is excessive moisture, such as where leakage may have occurred in roofs, pipes, walls, plant pots, or where there has been flooding, they will grow. Many building materials provide suitable nutrients that encourage mold to grow. Wet cellulose materials, including paper and paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, wood, and wood products, are particularly conducive for the growth of some molds. Other materials such as dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation materials, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery, commonly support mold growth.

How do you know if you have a mold problem?

Large mold infestations can usually be seen or smelled.

How do molds affect people?

Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health effects or none at all. Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, exposure to molds can lead to symptoms such as stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes, or skin. Some people, such as those with allergies to molds or with asthma, may have more intense reactions. Severe reactions may occur among workers exposed to large amounts of molds in occupational settings, such as farmers working around moldy hay. Severe reactions may include fever and shortness of breath.

In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition.

In 2009, the World Health Organization issued additional guidance, the WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Dampness and Mould pdf icon[PDF – 2.65 MB]external icon. Other recent studies have suggested a potential link of early mold exposure to the development of asthma in some children, particularly among children who may be genetically susceptible to asthma development, and that selected interventions that improve housing conditions can reduce morbidity from asthma and respiratory allergies.

A link between other adverse health effects, such as acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage among infants, memory loss, or lethargy, and molds, including the mold Stachybotrys chartarum  has not been proven. Further studies are needed to find out what causes acute idiopathic hemorrhage and other adverse health effects.

There is no blood test for mold.  Some physicians can do allergy testing for possible allergies to mold, but no clinically proven tests can pinpoint when or where a particular mold exposure took place.

Mold Growing Can Cause Allergic Reactions

Did you Know Mold Growing Can Cause Allergic Reactions?

For anyone who has dealt with a flooded basement — a not infrequent occurrence in the Washington area, even before Hurricane Sandy — pumping the water out is just the beginning. The lingering problem can have serious health repercussions: mold.

“Even with one inch of water, there’s enough humidity inside that mold spores can attach to surfaces and begin to grow. Drywall, carpeting, almost anything indoors can have mold growing on it,” says Cristina Schulingkamp, director of the indoor air quality program at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Philadelphia office. That office has been dealing with the aftereffects of Sandy, which caused billions of dollars in damage along the East Coast in October.

Mold can harm health, most commonly by affecting people who are allergic to it. Mold spores can irritate eyes, nose, skin and airways. The way it happens is this: Mold starts to grow in a damp corner and eventually releases loads of spores tiny enough to float in the air. A person with mold allergies inhales the spores and is soon rubbing itchy eyes and sneezing. If that person is predisposed to asthma, he may start wheezing or have a full-blown asthma attack.

In people with compromised respiratory function — such as those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or cystic fibrosis — or immune systems that have been compromised by chemotherapy or AIDS, mold may cause more-severe symptoms, such as a pneumonia-like inflammation of the lungs.

About 10 to 20 percent of the population worldwide is allergic to mold. “So it’s relatively common,” says Robert Wood, chief of pediatric allergy and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. By comparison, he says, the percentages affected by tree pollen and dust mite allergies are more like 25 to 35 percent.

Perhaps a musty smell in your basement conjures up memories of news reports about toxic molds that force people to move out of their homes.

It’s true that molds can produce mycotoxins that include a hugely diverse group of chemicals, including penicillin and the poisons in some mushrooms. And those toxins can be life-threatening when ingested, such as by eating moldy food or poisonous mushrooms. But there’s no strong evidence for severely toxic effects in humans from inhaling or touching mold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mold may be the quintessential “usual suspect” when things get wet, but other perpetrators of sneeze, wheeze and cough may be to blame. “Other indoor allergens, such as dust mites, also thrive in humid environments,” Wood says — as do a host of potential bacterial villians.

What can you do to avoid mold problems? If your basement floods, the most important thing is quick action — drying out damp areas in 24 to 48 hours, according the EPA’s mold guide. The longer mold gets warm, humid conditions , the more real estate it can take over — and the more spores it can eventually release into your home.

Clean up any visible mold by scrubbing it off surfaces with detergent and water, and keep your home dry with a dehumidifier to prevent it from coming back. It’s a good idea to wear protective gloves and safety glasses while tackling mold.

For anyone who has dealt with a flooded basement — a not infrequent occurrence in the Washington area, even before Hurricane Sandy — pumping the water out is just the beginning. The lingering problem can have serious health repercussions: mold.“Even with one inch of water, there’s enough humidity inside that mold spores can attach to surfaces and begin to grow. Drywall, carpeting, almost anything indoors can have mold growing on it,” says Cristina Schulingkamp, director of the indoor air quality program at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Philadelphia office. That office has been dealing with the aftereffects of Sandy, which caused billions of dollars in damage along the East Coast in October.

Mold can harm health, most commonly by affecting people who are allergic to it. Mold spores can irritate eyes, nose, skin, and airways. The way it happens is this: Mold starts to grow in a damp corner and eventually releases loads of spores tiny enough to float in the air. A person with mold allergies inhales the spores and is soon rubbing itchy eyes and sneezing. If that person is predisposed to asthma, he may start wheezing or have a full-blown asthma attack.

In people with compromised respiratory function — such as those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or cystic fibrosis — or immune systems that have been compromised by chemotherapy or AIDS, mold may cause more-severe symptoms, such as a pneumonia-like inflammation of the lungs.

About 10 to 20 percent of the population worldwide is allergic to mold. “So it’s relatively common,” says Robert Wood, chief of pediatric allergy and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. By comparison, he says, the percentages affected by tree pollen and dust mite allergies are more like 25 to 35 percent.

Perhaps a musty smell in your basement conjures up memories of news reports about toxic molds that force people to move out of their homes.

It’s true that molds can produce mycotoxins that include a hugely diverse group of chemicals, including penicillin and the poisons in some mushrooms. And those toxins can be life-threatening when ingested, such as by eating moldy food or poisonous mushrooms. But there’s no strong evidence for severely toxic effects in humans from inhaling or touching mold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In the early 1990s, reports of infants who were bleeding from their lungs were linked to housing contaminated with a toxin-producing mold, but no one could prove that this was the causal agent. Further, Wood says, it’s unlikely that someone could inhale enough to receive a toxic dose.

Mold growing out of sight — inside walls, for instance — can still release spores into the room air. “The very small mold spores move through cracks, behind baseboards . . . areas like that,” Schulingkamp says.

Mold lives outdoors, too, and there’s always a little mold everywhere, according to the CDC. So people allergic to mold can suffer from spores that originated from molds growing outside even when they’re indoors. Following the advice for pollen allergies can help: Limit time outdoors, keep windows closed and take allergy meds as needed.

Mold may be the quintessential “usual suspect” when things get wet, but other perpetrators of sneeze, wheeze, and cough may be to blame. “Other indoor allergens, such as dust mites, also thrive in humid environments,” Wood says — as do a host of potential bacterial villains.

What can you do to avoid mold problems? If your basement floods, the most important thing is quick action — drying out damp areas in 24 to 48 hours, according to the EPA’s mold guide. The longer mold gets warm, humid conditions, the more real estate it can take over — and the more spores it can eventually release into your home.

Clean up any visible mold by scrubbing it off surfaces with detergent and water, and keep your home dry with a dehumidifier to prevent it from coming back. It’s a good idea to wear protective gloves and safety glasses while tackling mold cleanup.

You may have to replace drywall, carpets and upholstered furniture that have become moldy. “A sofa is very hard to dry internally,” Schulingkamp says.

Meanwhile, if you find you’re wheezing or sneezing and coughing a lot and have itchy eyes and a runny nose when you spend time in your basement or areas where mold might be growing unseen, see your doctor. An allergist can figure out what you’re allergic to mold or something else, such as pollen or dust mites.

By no means should you assume that your house will dry out by itself and that the mold will vanish? In 2005, about two months after Hurricane Katrina (and one month after Hurricane Rita), a team of researchers from CDC went to New Orleans to survey water-damaged homes and assess mold exposure. They inspected 112 occupied homes and found heavy mold — defined as covering more than half of an interior wall — in 46 percent of them.

If you aren’t able to dry out a flooded home within a couple of days, you might want to seek help from a professional experienced in mold cleanup.