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Health Effects From Toxic Mold

Home Mold TestingHealth Issues From Toxic Mold Exposure

Information on how mold in your home can adversely affect your health. Toxic mold can cause increased respiratory infections, allergy like symptoms, and other more serious health concerns from built up mold toxicity.

The health effects from toxic mold are very dangerous, and many people make the mistake of ignoring a mold problem within their home. Sometimes a person may not realize that toxic mold is growing, or they may see that something is going on but they don't understand the negative health effects from toxic mold. If you suspect that there is mold growing within your home, it is necessary to take care of the problem as soon as possible in order to protect your health.

There are three specific ways that mold can has a negative effect on your health: infection, allergy and toxicity. This article is going to look at each of these health implications so that you can understand the symptoms and dangers of the health risks.

Infection

When mold exposure occurs, the mold spores may be absorbed into your body through the normal breathing processes, or it can also cause an infection when it touches your skin. These infections may vary from one person to the next. For example, a localized infection or rash may occur where the mold touched the skin, or a system-wide infection can occur if the mold exposure is severe. Some types of infection may include sinus infections, lung or respiratory infections, intestinal infections, or urinary tract infections. If you have an infection that has been treated but it won't go away, then you may consider the possibility that there is mold within your home causing the infection to continue.

Allergy

Some people are actually allergic to mold spores, and the health effects from toxic mold cause them to have an allergic reaction. This reaction may be similar to a reaction to any other type of allergen. The symptoms can range from a runny nose, sneezing and a cough, to more severe allergy reactions such as hives or a rash forming all over the body. In fact, some people with seasonal allergies actually experience reactions to mold in the environment, and those reactions will intensify if the mold begins to grown within their home.

Toxicity

One of the most severe health effects from toxic mold is toxicity within the body, and this toxicity can cause a number of health problems. When toxic mold is present, the body takes on more and more toxicity over time, and continued exposure to the mold results in a toxic overload that needs to be taken care of. Toxic problems can result in certain symptoms such as skin rashes, nausea, digestive problems, compromised immune system, memory loss, autoimmune diseases, and even failure of the major organs. If toxicity continues, it could potentially lead to serious medical conditions such as cancer or even death.

Out of these three health effects from toxic mold, the most common is an allergic reaction to the mold exposure. If you find that you are continuing to experience health problems, then it is a good idea to have your home tested for mold so that you can have the areas cleaned up and get rid of the spores within your home.

This toxic mold cleanup process is dangerous and it must be handled correctly. So, it is best to hire a contractor who has experience working with toxic black mold. The specialist will take care of all of the work for you, and then you should hire a separate tester to come into your home and do some testing in order to verify that the mold was completely eradicated. Don't make the mistake of trying to clean up the problem on your own, because it may result in even more problems in years to come because of the cross contamination that can occur if you aren't careful during the cleanup process.

This article was written by Scott M., editor of the Black Mold Guide. To learn more about the symptoms of toxic mold exposure, just follow the link


Can someone help me understand my home mold test results?
This is what they found altermaria 1 raw count = 40 spores in a cubic meter other ascospores 1 raw count = 40 spores cubic meter cladosporium 7 raw count = 280 spores per cubic meter curvularia 2 raw count = 80 spores per cubic meter epicoccum 2 raw count = 80 spores per cubic other basidospores 6 raw count =240 spores penicillium/aspergillus 52 raw count =2080 spores smuts myxomycetes 3 raw count 120 spores stachybotrys 1 raw count = 40 spores, this is the one that the buyers objected to and backed out of contract on the house. any info would be appreciated as I understand none of this. I believe the tester used some kind of box to sample the air in the rooms of the house. Is an outside test usually taken for comparison?

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Can Someone Please Help Me With My Home Mold Test Results?
This is what they found altermaria 1 raw count = 40 spores in a cubic meter other ascospores 1 raw count = 40 spores cubic meter cladosporium 7 raw count = 280 spores per cubic meter curvularia 2 raw count = 80 spores per cubic meter epicoccum 2 raw count = 80 spores per cubic other basidospores 6 raw count =240 spores penicillium/aspergillus 52 raw count =2080 spores smuts myxomycetes 3 raw count 120 spores stachybotrys 1 raw count = 40 spores, this is the one that the buyers objected to and backed out of contract on the house. any info would be appreciated as I understand none of this. I believe the tester used some kind of box to sample the air in the rooms of the house. Is an outside test usually taken for comparison?

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How should I deal with a damp musty basement?
My husband and I bought our house a year ago. Right after we moved in, our cat sprayed an area of the basement, which is carpeted, in protest. We had a professional come out to clean it, which took care of the smell and staining. About 7 months later, the basement started to smell again, and the carpet was damp. We thought it was the cat spraying again, so we had the carpet recleaned. Again it worked temporarily, but recently the basement started to smell really musty, and we found that the enter area of the basement carpeting was damp. We bought a dehumidifier and ran it for a week, which seemed to dry up the carpet and pull out the musty smell. However, we decided to do a home mold test, and the test came out positive for some sort of mold. We don't know where the water is coming from, so I'm hoping we won't have to rip the carpet up. I'm not against it but of course I would prefer it if we didn't have to. But if there is any other precautions we can take to clean up and prevent this from happening, I'd love to try them. Any advice or suggestions? I should mention, the home mold test we did was a home self-test kit, not a professional test.

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