12
Mold Facts for Homeowners, Landlords, Tenants, and Employers
Homeowners, landlords, tenants, and employers
should use these twelve mold facts to cope with mold in homes, apartments, and
workplaces, advises Phillip Fry, Certified Mold Inspector and author of the
book Do-It-Best-Yourself Mold Prevention, Inspection, Testing, and
Remediation.
1. Mold
is a very large group of microscopic fungi that live on plant or animal
matter. Most are filamentous organisms and produce spores that can be air-,
water-, or insect-borne.
2. Airborne mold spores are everywhere both indoors and outdoors. Resident
and employee health is at serious risk if there are elevated levels of mold
spores indoors, as compared to an outdoor mold control test.
3. The most dangerous indoor molds are
Alternaria,
Aspergillus,
Chaetomium,
Cladosporium,
Fusarium,
Mucor,
Penicillium, and
Stachybotrys.
Mold testing and
mold laboratory analysis
is required to identify specific
mold species.
4. Molds spores can cause serious health problems even if the spores are
dead or dormant (inactive while waiting for more moisture to resume growth).
Even the smell of dead or dormant mold can make some mold-sensitive persons
ill.
5. There no absolute levels of safe or
unsafe mold infestation inside a home or other
building. Because of the huge discrepancies person to person in mold
sensitivity, what might
be a harmless amount of mold exposure to one occupant can be devastating
health-wise to another person. Usually, mold infestation is considered to
be elevated if indoor mold samples show higher mold counts and more mold
species indoors than in an outdoor mold control test. Mold infestation
usually affects first and most strongly pregnant ladies [and their unborn
babies], infants, elderly, and persons with immune system problems. But
day in and day out, cumulative exposure to mold infestation can make
healthy adults quite sick. Read the ebook
Mold Health Guide
to learn about available medical mold diagnostic & treatment procedures.
6. It is impossible to get rid of all mold spores indoors. Some mold
spores will always be present in house dust and floating in the air.
7. The mold spores will not grow into mold colonies if there is insufficient
moisture. Indoor mold growth can and should be prevented or controlled by
controlling moisture indoors. If organic materials are wet for more than 24
hours, mold growth can begin.
8. Mold grows by eating and
destroying organic building materials and other cellulose-based materials
such as carpeting, upholstery, and clothing. The longer that mold grows, the
more mold damage to the building.
9. Cellulose is
the main substance in the cell walls of plants (and thus
of wood), and it is used in the manufacture of many organic building
materials such as drywall, plasterboard, plywood substitutes, and ceiling
tiles.
10. Mold can grow hidden and undetected inside wall and ceiling
cavities; beneath wallpaper, paneling, and carpeting; and inside heating and
cooling equipment and ducts, attics, crawl spaces, and basements.
11.
Mold growth is often the result of a structural or construction defect, or
of maintenance neglect, that allows moisture to enter the building.
12. The owner or employer must first fix the water problem (roof leak,
plumbing leak, high indoor humidity) that enables the mold to grow.
Effective
mold
remediation requires killing and removing the mold with
boric acid formula.
For more information about mold, visit---
http://www.moldinspector.com
http://www.certifiedmoldinspectors.com
http://www.mold.ph
http://www.moldmart.net
http://www.envirosurf.com
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