Mold Allergies
Dangers from Toxic Mold in your Home
If you have an allergy to mold, its presence in your home can make you feel Sick. More importantly, it is Mold Spores that can have a negative impact on your health. The symptoms triggered by mold exposure can vary from one person to another.
For each person, the immune system identifies the spores as foreign particulates. The body's response varies, depending on the individual's level of sensitivity to the mold spores as well as to existing health factors.
Toxic Mold Symptoms
The list of common symptoms you may experience due to a mold allergy is long. The symptoms resemble what you may expect from a cold or hay fever. In addition to sneezing, you may have a runny nose that keeps you reaching for a tissue all day long. Here is a larger list below:
- Eye Irritation - causing them to feel itchy or water for no reason.
- Headaches, dizziness and fatigue. (1)
- Postnasal Drip - that leads to coughing.
- Respiratory & Sinus Illness - see serious sickness below.
- Skin Irritation - dry skin that eventually develops scales or rash.
- Stuffy Nose - the need to clear your sinuses.
- Throat Irritation - itchy or scratchy, requiring the use of cough drops.
For people who live in older homes with damp basements, the symptoms may occur all year. For other individuals, their symptoms may occur only during the winter or rainy seasons.
Mold Spores
Mold releases spores, which can become airborne and inhaled into the lungs of person(s) living in the home. Some spores produce mycotoxins, or toxic compounds. Mycotoxins on mold spores have been linked to serious health problems and disease. (2)
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Toxic Mold Sickness
While mold spores in the home is dangerous for anyone, they are even more harmful for people with compromised immune systems. In addition to cold-like symptoms, the body may experience more severe reactions to mold, including chronic conditions.
Exposure to mold can lead to mucous-membrane and/or skin infections in people with poor immunity. Other serious problems that can develop include:
- Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis - a serious condition leading to inflammation of the lungs due to exposure to mold spores.
- Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis - a condition affecting the lungs of individuals with cystic fibrosis or asthma.
- Allergic Fungal Sinusitis - an inflammation of the sinus passages.
Perhaps the most commonly experienced severe reaction to mold spores occurs in people with asthma, a respiratory disease in which breathing becomes restricted as the individual's airway becomes inflamed.
Wheezing, Shortness of breath, Tightness in the chest and coughing are symptoms of asthma. When asthma and a mold allergy are both involved, the individual is likely to experience a severe asthma attack when exposed to the mold.
Black Mold
There are more than 100 kinds of mold, only some of them are known to cause allergic reactions or sickness. Black Mold like Stachybotrys Chartarum and Aspergillus are examples of Toxic Mold.
Stachybotrys Chartarum is a greenish-black mold that can grow on material with a high cellulose content, such as fiberboard, gypsum board and paper. (3)
Higher concentrations of mold spores are likely to cause more problems in individuals who are prone to allergic reactions. Black Mold Pictures
How to Fight Mold Problems
Here are things you can do if you suspect mold is in your Home.
- Remove the mold at its source by yourself or by a Mold Removal Company. Don't know if mold is present, then use a Mold Air Test Kit.
- Use a Hepa Air Purifier to filter out those toxic mold spores which have become airborne in your home. Recommended by the (EPA).
- Use a Dehumidifier to lower your humidity to normal levels between (30% to 50%). Mold needs relative humidity over 50% in order to grow and spawn.
- Use a Steam Cleaner to kill mold at its source with vapor hot steam. These machines use no chemicals and can heat tap water to 240° F - 260°F.
Conclusion
When a person breathes in mold spores, the immune system responds in ways that are unpleasant. While prescriptions and over-the-counter medications can help to manage your symptoms, reducing your exposure to it produces better results.
References
1. Mold and Your Health - Illinois Department of Public Health - Environmental Health Fact Sheet - retrieved Nov 23, 2020.
2. How to get rid of Mold in the House - https://theairpurifier.org/mold/black-mold-removal-guide - retrieved Nov 12, 2020.
3. Facts about Stachybotrys Chartarum - CDC (Centers for Disease Control) - https://www.cdc.gov/mold/stachy.htm - retrieved Dec 15, 2020.
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