BOB THE BUGMAN Expert Pest Control Advice, Identification and Information Fungus and Mold

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Molds are usually not a problem indoors, unless mold spores land on a wet or damp spot and begin growing. Molds have the potential to cause health problems. Molds produce allergens (substances that can cause allergic reactions), irritants, and in some cases, potentially toxic substances (mycotoxins). Inhaling or touching mold or mold spores may cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Allergic responses include hay fever-type symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash (dermatitis). Allergic reactions to mold are common. They can be immediate or delayed. Molds can also cause asthma attacks in people with asthma who are allergic to mold. In addition, mold exposure can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs of both mold-allergic and non-allergic people. Symptoms other than the allergic and irritant types are not commonly reported as a result of inhaling mold. Research on mold and health effects is ongoing.

Facts About Fungi and Mold

Believe it or not, families around the country are fleeing their homes — or having them destroyed — because of an insidious intruder they say is making them sick. The invader? Black mold. Its technical name is Stachybotrys chartarum — stachy for short — and it's got a lot of people panicked. In Oregon , the O'Hara family asked their local fire department to burn their $450,000 home to the ground after black mold was found inside. "It's basically just a house that poisoned my family," Mark O'Hara said. In Hawaii , a $95 million Hilton Hotel tower has been closed since July because black mold was found in some of the rooms. In a July 2001 story Time magazine said toxic mold is spreading "like some sort of biblical plague." The New York Daily News called it "killer mold." Whatever you call it, across the country, black mold is causing people to abandon buildings, close schools and leave beautiful homes sitting vacant.

Molds are fungi that reproduce by releasing tiny spores into the air. Spores lucky enough to land on moist objects may begin to grow. There are thousands of different types of mold and we encounter many of them every day, inside and out.

Toxic mold is a type of mold that produces hazardous byproducts, called mycotoxins. While individuals with asthma and other respiratory problems may have reactions to many types of mold, it's thought that mycotoxins are more likely to trigger health problems in even healthy individuals. These toxins are believed to be linked to memory loss and to severe lung problems in infants and the elderly. Floating particles of mold are invisible to the naked eye, so it's impossible to see where they might have landed unless they begin to grow. Loose mold particles that accumulate on items within a house are easily inhaled and can be a constant irritation to the people and pets who live there.

Most molds are simply harmless fungi, including most black molds, which are often mistakenly thought to be toxic. But one black mold called Stachybotrys chartarum and its toxic by-product known as mycotoxin have been the focus of most of the panic. Many molds need simple things to exist and colonize. Mold may begin growing indoors when mold spores land on surfaces that are moist. There are many types of mold, and none of them will grow without water or a type of moisture intrusion or humidity, otherwise known as "the wicking effect." In some cases, it can take as little as 24 hours for this process to begin. After the source of the moisture has stopped, it does not mean that the mold is no longer dangerous. The amount of moisture varies for different species. Some are xerophillic (colonize under very dry conditions) some are xerotolerant (colonize under a wide range of moisture levels) and some are hydrophilic (colonize at high moisture levels). It does not have to be a leak. Humidity or moisture content of the substrate can often be sufficient (relative humidity 50% start becoming problematic in many indoor cases.)

Fungi and their biological metabolites, the mycotoxins, are silent and relentless attackers of human health by causing the major "degenerative" and "cancerous" diseases which plague mankind. Fungi are masters at producing a wide array of biologically active substances which serve the producing fungus extremely well. These biological metabolites are anti-predatory and pro-territorial-protective and insure the fungus will have a perpetual existence in a quite hostile world. These metabolites are anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-protozoan, anti-insect, anti-animal and, of course, anti-human. These metabolites are referred to as the mycotoxins. The term is derived from the Greek words "mykes" meaning fungus, and "toxicum," meaning toxin or poison.

Mycotoxicoses are diseases caused by mycotoxins, i.e. secondary metabolites of molds. Although they occur more frequently in areas with a hot and humid climate, favorable for the growth of molds, they can also be found in temperate zones. Exposure to mycotoxins is mostly by ingestion, but also occurs by the dermal and inhalation routes. Mycotoxicoses often remain unrecognized by medical professionals, except when large numbers of people are involved.

"Sick Building Syndrome" is caused by moisture and mold growth. It migrates through foundations up from the soil. A dehumidifier is not the final answer as it only works on the air and not the walls. The Stachybotrus species of mold is dangerous; it will start growing in 80 percent humidity but, once established, can grow at 55 percent humidity. This mold can develop from the decay of building materials and is much harder to control. If more than ten square feet develop, it is advised that a professional clean it up. When you see a small speck of mold, that's only part of the problem--the remainder being inside the walls. What is required is a combination of ventilation, circulation, and heat.

Some of the causes of mold are brush and trees within 30 feet of the building; venting the clothes drier inside the home; furniture against outside walls; old fill, causing building movement leading to cracks causing water ingress; concrete will wick up water even to several feet above ground; ventilation not directed outside, such as the kitchen range hood, which should be vented outside; plants and aquariums; drying clothing indoors; standing water, such as keeping cold water in the kitchen sink; hot tubs; using several gallons of water to wash floors. Carpenter ants and termites will smell moisture from miles away and they only attack damaged wood. Ventilation alone won’t help a crawl space. In the summer the vents bring in warm, moist air.

Stachybotrys can worsen health problems in people who already have shaky health and can negatively affect normally healthy people. Most mold spores need condensation or damp materials to germinate and once they are established, many colonies generate their own moisture and can continue to survive even under dry conditions. They also need mild temperatures and a source of food, such as house dust or drywall paper. Some molds are cryophytes (these adapt to low temperatures), some are thermo tolerant (they adapt to a wide range of temperatures) and some are thermopiles (they adapt to high temperatures). Depending on the species, these microbes will grow just about anywhere. Mold requires a compatible temperature for each species. Environmental factors (temperature, nitrogen, oxygen, etc.) are necessary compounds for indoor molds to thrive. Mold also needs an organic source of food. People might be confused as mold can grow on glass, tile, stainless steel, cookware, etc., but it is generally feeding off of some organic source deposited on this material (oils, film, dirt, skin cells, etc.). The fiberglass insulation manufacturers like to say that mold does not grow on their product which is a fairly true statement, however, it grows on the organic debris that become trapped in their products. Mold also grows on things such as wood, fabric, leather, gypsum, fiberboard, drywall, stucco, and many insulation fibrous materials.

Fungi are single cell living forms of life which inhabit the land, air and waters of the earth. They are everywhere. They are more highly developed than bacteria and viruses and there are many more species than are found in the microbes. It is estimated that there are over 500,000 different species. Fungi have been on earth several billion years and, quite remarkably, have had little genetic change over that period of time. They are survivalists. They can change their form from rapidly growing to no growth for thousands of years, such as seen in their living spores which have been found in Egyptian tombs. They make poisons called mycotoxins.

Single fungal cells can only be seen under the microscope but a colony of these cells makes a visible presence in the form of mushrooms, toad stools and molds on food and habitations. While plants, animals and humans are alive and well, the fungi around us are unable to overcome the natural defense mechanisms which higher forms of life possess. But once death overtakes the living, the fungi are the principle undertakers and managers: they reduce all that have ever lived into the molecules from which they were assembled. Biologists call this the carbon cycle while philosophers call it "from dust to dust." However, there is one exception to this simple balanced equation of life and death and that is that the fungi can attack the living while they are alive.

At its most simplistic perspective, one has many fungi entering the intestinal tract, the nose and lungs, and organs exposed to the world at large. We generally do not develop an infection from these intruders. However, a person might contract a fungal infection such as "athlete's foot" or a "ring worm" on the skin. At the opposite extreme is the patient with AIDS who faces death-threatening major fungal infections because that person's immune system has lost its effectiveness against fungi. In between the extremes are fungal infections associated with diseases such as diabetes, cancer and other conditions including cross infections amongst humans. Fortunately, the average person does not succumb to a serious fungal infection such as candida albicans and average life expectancy is into the 70's. All humans are colonized by candida albicans and normal healthy persons do not die from this organism. This organism plays a very little role in causing human diseases.

Field exposures of animals to molds (in contrast to controlled laboratory exposures) show effects on the immune system as the lowest observed adverse effect. Such immune effects are manifested in animals as increased susceptibility to infectious diseases. It is important to note that almost all mycotoxins have an immunosuppressive effect, although the exact target within the immune system may differ. Many are also cytotoxic, so that they have route of entry effects that may be damaging to the gut, the skin or the lung. Such cytotoxicity may affect the physical defense mechanisms of the respiratory tract, decreasing the ability of the airways to clear particulate contaminants (including bacteria or viruses), or damage alveolar macrophages, thus preventing clearance of contaminants from the deeper lung. The combined result of these activities is to increase the susceptibility of the exposed person to infectious disease, and to reduce his defense against other contaminants.

They may also increase susceptibility to cancer. Because indoor samples are usually comprised of a mixture of molds and their spores, it has been suggested that a general test for cytotoxicity be applied to a total indoor sample to assess the potential for hazard as a rough assessment. The following is a summary of toxins and their targets. While this compilation of effects doesn't describe the effects of multiple exposure, which includes synergistic effects, it gives a better idea of possible results of mycotoxin exposure to multiple molds indoors.

Molds, a subset of the fungi, are ubiquitous on our planet. Fungi are found in every ecological niche, and are necessary for the recycling of organic building blocks that allow plants and animals to live. Included in the group "fungi" are yeasts, molds and mildews, as well as large mushrooms, puffballs and bracket fungi that grow on dead trees. Fungi need external organic food sources and water to be able to grow.

All physicians are familiar with fungal infections and the drugs used to treat them. With the exception of poison mushrooms, which are deadly to those foolish enough to eat them, few physicians are aware that fungi make toxins. As many as 1,000 compounds, classifiable as mycotoxins, were studied by the pharmacology industry as potential antibiotics in the 1930's and 1940's only to be discarded as being too toxic for higher life forms to be of value in treating bacterial diseases in humans. Little, if any of the discarded data was published. These toxicity studies actually documented the existence of a large number of fungal-derived toxins which caused serious target-organ injury in various animal models.

Molds can have an impact on human health, depending on the nature of the species involved, the metabolic products being produced by these species, the amount and duration of individual's exposure to mold parts or products, and the specific susceptibility of those exposed. Mold spores or fragments that become airborne can expose people indoors through inhalation or skin contact. Health effects generally fall into four categories. These four categories are allergy, infection, irritation (mucous membrane and sensory), and toxicity. Molds are usually not a problem indoors, unless mold spores land on a wet or damp spot and begin growing.

It should be noted that not all mold genera have been tested for toxins, nor have all species within a genus necessarily been tested. Conditions for toxin production vary with cell and diurnal and seasonal cycles and substrate on which the mold grows, and those conditions created for laboratory culture may differ from those the mold encounters in its environment. Toxicity can arise from exposure to mycotoxins via inhalation of mycotoxin-containing mold spores or through skin contact with the toxigenic molds. A number of toxigenic molds have been found during indoor air quality investigations in different parts of the world. Among the genera most frequently found in numbers exceeding levels that they reach outdoors are Aspergillus, Penicillium, Stachybotrys, and Cladosporium.

Inhaling or touching mold or mold spores may cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Allergic responses include hay fever-type symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, red eyes and skin rash or dermatitis. Allergic reactions to mold are common. They can be immediate or delayed. Molds can also cause asthma attacks in people with asthma who are allergic to mold. Mold exposure can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat and lungs of both mold-allergic and non-allergic people. Symptoms other than the allergic and irritant types are not commonly reported as a result of inhaling mold. Asthma has increased 300 percent in children in the past ten years. Research by the WHO, in Germany, finds prostate cancer, breast cancer, and other cancers increasing due to mold-related problems. Mold is the number one health problem with one in every three persons affected by mold and one in ten with a severe problem related to mold. These can range from the common cold, tonsillitis, otitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia, to cancer. Few toxicological experiments involving mycotoxins have been performed using inhalation, the most probable route for indoor exposures. Defenses of the respiratory system differ from those for ingestion (the route for most mycotoxin experiments).

Another modern building technique contributing to mold problems, especially in the United States, is improper air handling associated with heating and air conditioning, said Dearborn. It's been increasing during the past 30 years, fueled by energy consciousness. In general, many buildings are sealed to prevent inefficient air leaks. But contractors don't then provide for the necessary exchanges of stale, moist indoor air with fresh air from outside. "If you were to build a new home in Ontario, for example, you'd have to build the ventilation system so it would turn over the air several times in 24 hours," said Dearborn.

Ventilation contractors also tend to use oversized air conditioning units, chilling indoor air too quickly without letting it become dehumidified, according to Romie Herring, industrial hygiene consultant supervisor with the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch of the state Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Public Health. "When dehumidification isn't properly considered in the design, it can really be a problem in buildings where you have widely varying heat loads, such as in dorms or classrooms," said Herring. "They have a lot of load when students are in there, but that changes when students leave the building. Sometimes people cycle the systems, too, turning them off at night thinking they'll save energy." "Our position, from the practical standpoint, is that if you have mold, you have a moisture issue," said Herring. "And that has to be addressed. Mold typically is eating dead materials. It's attacking the building. So without even getting into what causes what from the health standpoint, we don't need buildings to be attacked."

Odors produced by molds may also adversely affect some individuals. Ability to perceive odors and respond to them is highly variable among people. Some individuals can detect extremely low concentrations of volatile compounds, while others require high levels for perception. An analogy to music may give perspective to odor response. What is beautiful music to one individual is unbearable noise to another. Some people derive enjoyment from odors of all kinds. Others may respond with headache, nasal stuffiness, nausea or even vomiting to certain odors including various perfumes, cigarette smoke, diesel exhaust or moldy odors. It is not know whether such responses are learned, or are time-dependent sensitization of portions of the brain, perhaps mediated through the olfactory sense, or whether they serve a protective function. Asthmatics may respond to odors with symptoms.

Mold toxicity is often the end result with constant exposure to mold of a toxic substance. A common misconception among allergists who are untrained in this type of toxicity levels in humans, which is technically not their area of expertise unless they have trained specifically in environmental medicine with their background in immunology, is to do general allergen testing. Most tests usually come back unequivocal, a 2+ or less. This induces some physicians to order allergy shots, regardless. These shots are absolutely worthless to a person who has been heavily exposed to these mycotoxins as they are already in a state of toxicity. If anything, this could exacerbate the problem. Because many doctors are not trained in this field, they may try to “guess” at a diagnosis.

In laymen’s terms, molds produce mycotoxins. These substances, although unseen by the naked eye, are ingested and enter the body through the skin, mucous and airways. Once inside the body, mold has it requirements to colonize and live. In doing this, it compromises the immune system and damages everyday processes of the body. Mold and yeast are interchangeable only in their dimorphic state, which is often a big misconception, although both are fungi.

The following are a list of the most common symptoms of fungal exposure (Bear in mind, most people never fit all of this criteria). Most people with mycotoxicosis meet at least ten (recent symptoms) of the following criteria:

Respiratory distress, coughing, sneezing, sinusitis

Difficulty swallowing, choking, spitting up (vomiting) mucous

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis

Burning in the throat and lungs

Asthmatic signs; wheezing, shortness in breath, coughing, burning in lungs, etc.

Diarrhea, nausea, piercing lower abdominal pains, vomiting

Bladder, liver, spleen, or kidney problems

Dark urine

Balance problems

Strange taste in mouth, coated tongue

Food allergies/leaky gut syndrome/altered immunity

Memory loss; short term memory; brain fog

Vision problems

Swollen lymph nodes

Large boils on neck (Often a sign of anaphylaxis)

Thyroid imbalances

Headaches

Slurred speech

Anxiety/depression - confusion, short term memory problems, dementia, PTSD

Ringing in ears, balance problems, dizziness

Chronic fatigue

Fibromyalgia

Intermittent face flushing; almost always systemic (called the mylar flush)

Numbness in face and limbs, intermittent twitching

Night sweats and hot flashes (Especially around the head)

Multiple chemical sensitivity

Elevated blood pressure and triglycerides, heart palpitations

Nose bleeds

Bruising easily

Rash or hives, bloody lesions all over the skin (Often systemic, see images; skin)

Reproductive system; infertility, changes in menstrual cycles

Sudden weight changes

Cancer

Hair loss

Arthralgia (Pain in the joints without swelling)

Heart attack

Seizures

Inadvertent facial movements or extremity jerking

Anaphylaxis upon re-exposure to mycotoxin producing molds

Death in rare cases

There are other fungi that cause systemic infections, such as Coccidioides, Histoplasma, and Blastomyces. These fungi grow in soil or may be carried by bats and birds, but do not generally grow in indoor environments. Their occurrence is linked to exposure to wind-borne or animal-borne contamination.

Tips for controlling Fungus and Mold

It is unwise to wait to take action until toxicity is determined after laboratory culture, especially since molds that are toxic in their normal environment may lose their toxicity in laboratory monoculture over time and therefore may not be identified as toxic. While testing for toxins is useful for establishing etiology of disease, and adds to knowledge about mold toxicity in the indoor environment, prudent public health practice might advise speedy clean-up, or removal of a heavily exposed populations from exposure as a first resort. It is impossible to get rid of all mold and mold spores indoors. Some mold spores will be found floating through the air and in house dust. The mold spores will not grow if moisture is not present. Indoor mold growth can and should be prevented or controlled by controlling moisture indoors and an Aran generator to kill the existing colonies. If there is mold growth in your home, you must clean up the mold and fix the water problem. If you clean up the mold, but don’t fix the water problem, then, most likely, the mold problem will return.

Molds can gradually destroy things they grow on. You can prevent damage to your home and furnishings, save money and avoid potential health problems by controlling the moisture and eliminating mold growth. If you already have a mold problem--act quickly. Check your home's humidity levels; buy or borrow a hygrometer and watch the changes in relative humidity that occur throughout a typical day in different rooms of the house and over the heating season. To inspect your home for mold growth, winter is the best time except for basements which should also be inspected in the summer. With a flashlight and some simple tools, go through the entire house, both inside and outside, searching for moisture damage and mold growth and their potential causes.

Mold forms on the coldest space. The only way to deal with it is with heat. Wall heaters with fans are more efficient than baseboard heaters. Pull furniture and store material away from exterior walls and off basement floors; leave closet doors ajar; leave bedroom doors open as much as possible; undercut doors; don't block or deflect warm air registers; open drapes, blinds, and curtains; set the furnace fan to run continuously. This will use more electricity but can be offset by installing a two-speed energy-efficient motor; don't cut off the heating supply or close off unused rooms. Uninsulated or poorly insulated areas such as exterior corners or foundation walls should be improved with additional insulation. Be sure to install an air-vapor barrier, usually polyethylene, on the room side of the insulation to prevent hidden condensation behind the insulation. Seal hidden opening into the attic, tighten the attic hatch, weather-strip and caulk around windows and doors, gasket electrical outlets, caulk baseboards and seal the top of foundations. Using an air conditioner on muggy summer days also helps take out the moisture. Humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air-conditioning units and filtration systems can be a source of mold growth if they are not regularly cleaned.

Key areas to check for moisture sources leading to condensation inside the home are roof leaks, especially at chimneys, flashings, skylights and rain gutters; wall leaks, especially at window and door flashing and sills; foundation leaks, especially where the ground slopes toward the foundation; and plumbing leaks, especially at toilet bases and under sink drains. Check any fuel-burning equipment - furnaces, hot water heaters, boilers, fireplaces, and wood stoves - to ensure that they are venting properly. A blocked chimney could mean that combustion products, including large amounts of water vapor, are spilling into your house. Along with that moisture comes dangerous combustion gasses, such as carbon monoxide, which cause deaths every year. Also, have heating equipment and venting systems checked by a trained service person.

If your moisture remedial work includes extensive air sealing, be sure that all fuel-burning equipment has an adequate supply of combustion air. High efficiency furnaces, for example, have their own air supplies and exhaust fans but conventional equipment may rely on house air for combustion and on "natural draft" to move combustion products up the chimney flue. If starved for air or overpowered by an exhaust fan somewhere else in the house, such equipment can spill combustion gasses indoors. Examples of this include stains near the vent of a gas water heater, smoke entering the room from a wood-burning fireplace or stove, and pilot lights being blown out. Mold growth often occurs in out-of-the-way areas like closets, corners, walls behind furniture and unused rooms. Increasing air circulation to these areas warms the cold surfaces and lowers local humidity levels. To solve moisture problems, cover any exposed earth in a crawl space or basement with heavy polyethylene, sealed and weighted-down; slope soil away from foundations to keep basement walls and slab dry; patch any foundation leaks; don't use humidifiers, unless humidity levels are below 30 percent relative humidity; avoid drying firewood indoors; operate bathroom exhaust fans during a bath or shower; use your range hood exhaust when cooking; avoid steam-cleaning carpets in winter; clean mold from wood and gyproc with a 10 percent to 30 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide applied with a spray bottle. This is more effective than bleach and water.

If you use chlorine bleach, mix one part bleach with two parts water and a little detergent to clean nearby surfaces. Leave for 15 minutes and rinse well. Use gloves, protective glasses and a tight-fitting dust mask, along with good ventilation. Persons with any respiratory problems should not perform clean-up or be in the clean-up area. Children and pets should not be allowed access. Soiled curtains, clothing, linens and any other washable materials should be removed and cleaned. Badly mildewed carpets, furnishings and books will probably need to be thrown out.