Mold and Fungus
What is mold?
Mold is besides yeasts and dermatophytes (fungi on skin) one of three types of fungus. There are hundreds of thousands of different varieties of fungi, most of them are molds. About 100 of molds and roughly 50 varieties of yeasts both in above average concentration are harmful to human health.
These small organisms can be black, white, orange, green, or purple and live almost anywhere indoors and outdoors. Molds prefer moist or damp environments and reproduce through lightweight spores that travel through air. Spores are attached to dust particles in the air. Humans are exposed to mold every day.
They’re usually harmless in small amounts. But when they land on a damp or moist spot without much air circulation in your home, they can start to grow. They will release spores that you might breathe in. If you're sensitive to mold and inhale a lot of spores, it could make you sick.
It depends on the amount and species of the spores as well as the individual inhabitant's overall health.
Health risks linked to fungi
A selection of symptoms linked to mold or yeast polluted indoor air are listed below. Note that these symptoms can also be caused by many other diseases.
If you experience symptoms like that and you suspect a fungus related illness we recommend to consult a medical doctor.
- Abdominal pressure
- Acid reflux
- Aggression
- Allergies of all types
- Bladder problems
- Bleeding
- Bloating
- Brittle fingernails
- Bronchitis
- Chronic fatigue
- Coated or white tongue
- Constipation
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Diarrhea
- Digestive problems
- Eczema, acne
- Eye problems
- Feeling of abdominal fullness
- Flushing
- Headaches
- Heart problems
- Itchy and burning eyes
- Itchy skin
- Joint pain
- Lack of concentration
- Migraine
- Neurodermatitis
- Oozing ears
- Prone to infections
- Prostate pain
- Psoriasis
- Sleep problems
- Tooth infections
- Vertigo
- Weak immune system
What causes mold to grow?
Construction Errors
Increased levels of fungi do not belong in a healthy house. Fungi in buildings is an indicator of poor indoor climate and high humidity or moisture.
One cause could be the type of construction if one ore more of the following aspects apply:
- Building techniques and materials with low permeability and poor hygroscopicity promote water vapor collecting which can lead to mold growth
- Insufficiently sealed wind and air barriers
- New constructions and its building materials may not have dried sufficiently before tenants moved in
- Incorrectly applied horizontal water-proofing which allows rising or descending moisture
- Incorrectly cleaned and dried areas after water damage has occurred
- Thermal bridging allows condensation within the building material and indoors and thus creates moisture
Fungi can be caused or promoted by one or more of the following:
- insufficient supply of fresh clean outside air
- insufficiently cleaned and dried areas after water water damage
- insufficient maintenance of ventilation systems and duct work
- very dusty and leaky air ducts
- improper quality or choice of filter system
- filter unit not replaced according to manufacturer recommendation
Mold is able to create millions of spores PER MINUTE and releases them into the surrounding air.
Fungi itself is very visible and rather easy to remove by disinfecting surfaces, cleaning floors and removing moisture. The spores however are invisible and able to survive harsh conditions such as frost and extensive heat, dry and wet periods. They can attach themselves to dust particles or carpet surfaces and hibernate until the environment becomes favorable for them again to restart their growth process.
Behavioral Errors
Interesting Fact: The Bible mentions fungi in Leviticus 3:33-47
which most likely makes it the oldest fungi remidation tutorial
33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 34 “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, 35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.’ 36 Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. 37 And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, 38 then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days. 39 And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the disease has spread in the walls of the house, 40 then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. 41 And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around, and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. 42 Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house. 43 “If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, 44 then the priest shall go and look. And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a persistent leprous disease in the house; it is unclean. 45 And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place. 46 Moreover, whoever enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening, 47 and whoever sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes.