Article Surfing Archive

I have noticed that some mold inspectors web sites are mis-quoting articles like "Indoor Mold, Toxigenic Fungi, and Stachybotrys chartarum" and other similar scientific articles to support the belief that toxic molds poison people in their homes. A link to the article is listed below.

It looks as if the article is stating that toxic molds are very toxic to homeowners or even deadly. Mold inspectors who hastily review such articles come to such conclusions because they do not understand what the highly technical scientific article is talking about. This and other similar articles on the topic of toxic mold effects are discussing not what happens when a home owner breathes in mold spores released by Stachybotrys or other toxic molds. The article is talking about the effects of mold toxins / mycotoxins when these toxins are eating in foods contaminated with toxic molds, or the effects of mold toxins when animals in the lab are injected with mold toxins directly into the body or nasal passages. Sometimes such articles site cases where industry workers were made ill by toxic mold exposure after working around clouds of organic dust and mold spores for extended periods of time, such conditions contain millions of spores per cubic meter or air as opposed to the hundreds or thousands of spores encountered in most moldy homes and offices. This article has been used by mold inspectors to support the view that toxic molds will poison you but in fact this article and many others have been taken out of context and this article and other scientific articles like it support the view that there is no solid evidence that toxic mold will poison you when breathed in at levels found in even very moldy homes. Such articles do not typically state that it could never happen, but that there is not significant scientific evidence that mold in levels found in residential and office setting has poisoned people.

WHAT CAN MOLD DO

' Toxic or not toxic mold is not trivial, in fact mold growth in your home or office can cause serious non toxin related health problems such as severe allergy or asthma. Such conditions can be more serious and more debilitating than many people realize.

' Mold can make your home un inhabitable for your family, and nearly impossible for you to sell. Selling a home with a mold problem that you hid can easily get you and your Realtor sued. We have seen many homes, condos, and trailers, from Key West to Miami, and West Palm Beach empty because they were to moldy to live in and just entering the properties can be quite unpleasant.

' Ignored mold problems can get worse over time and can become extremely difficult and expensive to resolve. Ignoring a mold problem can cause a two thousand dollar mold removal job to become a two hundred thousand dollar mold removal job.

' Mold can cause flu like symptoms in mold removal workers if they are not wearing proper protective gear.

' Mold can cause serious and even deadly infections, but this typically occurs in persons who have a weak immune system. In 2006 we conducted an inspection for a Miami resident who had Aspergillus mold growing in her lungs, and in 2008 we conducted an investigation for a West Palm Beach lady who had just recovered from mucormycosis, this is a condition where fast growing molds grow in the sinuses, this condition is more serious than your typical sinus infection, in fact it can lead to death in a few days.

' Mold can create foul smelling microbial volatile organic compounds that in turn cause irritation resulting in allergy like symptoms and has been shown to increase a child's chances of developing asthma by 200%.

' In conclusion current scientific literature does not support the belief that toxic black mold is a killer. However mold of any kind in your house, given the right environmental conditions, has the potential to become a menace and cause serious allergy, asthma, and other related health problems.

The article is titled:

Indoor Mold, Toxigenic Fungi, and Stachybotrys chartarum: Infectious Disease Perspective D. M. Kuhn1,2,3 and M. A. Ghannoum2,3

Below is a link to that article just copy and paste the link into your browser.

cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/full/16/1/144#R40