HEALTH EFFECTS OF MOLD

Mold has become a big issue in recent years -- the subject of lawsuits, closed schools, and the impetus for the growth of a "new" industry, mold testing and remediation. Discover how mold affects your indoor air quality and your health.

With all this talk about mold, you might think it is new. It is not new. You might think it is a complex issue. It is not a complex issue, but rather very simple. First, let's talk about why mold is here in the first place. Mold has a purpose. Its purpose is to breakdown, or eat, dead organic matter. Without mold, plant and animal material would grow and grow and pile up and pile up.

What is mold?

A fungus which grows on organic matter in moist conditions. Mold exposure in indoor air is a major health concern. Mold spores can be allergenic, causing irritations of eye, nose, throat, and lungs.

Mold Intelligence 
Mold knows why it was put here. If it's organic, dead, and wet, mold knows to eat it. Organic means it is a material that was once living, such as wood. Mold sends out its spores everywhere, which can lay dormant for many years. So when something is organic, dead and wet, mold grows on it and eats it. When we say "mold", we mean any mold or other fungi, of which there are many thousands of varieties. 

Since mold spores are everywhere, and our building materials and contents of our homes (furniture, boxes, clothes, etc.) are made from organic materials, this factor cannot be controlled. The only one that we can control in our homes is the moisture. 

Mold needs 70% relative humidity (RH) to grow; however this is a loose number. Some molds can grow at less RH.  In many cases, like in a crawl space, the RH of the surrounding air, and the RH of the surfaces are two different things because of temperature differences between air and surfaces.

Mold Allergies and Health 
Mold releases airborne spores or " seeds", which are so light they float on the slightest air currents, off to find more suitable places to grow. Most people are not allergic to mold spores, but some are. The higher the concentration of mold spores, the greater percentage of people who will be bothered by them. 

There is plenty of information out there on the health effects of mold, and they will not be explained here. One thing is for sure, mold growing in your house is not good. It's not good for your health, and it is increasingly not good for your property value. Who wants to buy a house with mold? Nobody.

Solution:
A strong dehumidification system that will get rid of the mold and mildew in your basement, or crawl space. Since air rises up, mold and damp air from the basement or crawl space is coming into the living area of your home. If we can improve the air quality at the bottom level of the house, the effect will trickle into the living area creating a much healthier environment.

Structural Damage to Crawl Space 
There is another industry that has vented dirt crawl spaces to thank for its existence-Structural repairs to replace floor joists, girders, and sill plates - basically the entire floor framing system under your house. These repairs aren't cheap. In fact, they can be very expensive. You can imagine a carpenter figuring out how he's going to crawl under your home and get new 16 foot long 2" x 10"s in place, with all the duct work, wiring, plumbing, and bridging (cross bracing) that are attached to the old rotted joists, all while operating on his back in a low crawl space. It's not easy on him, and it's not going to be easy on your bank account. 

Most of the time, these structural repairs are done without ever fixing the problem! So it's only a matter of time before the new framing rots out, and it has to be done again. 

What is the design life of a house? In other words, how long do you want your house to last without needing major repairs? If the answer is longer than 10 or 15 or 25 years, then you better fix your dirt crawl space. 

When the floors in nearly all 36 units in this New England condominium complex began bouncing and getting soft, they realized the crawl spaces were a bigger problem than they thought. As an emergency measure, they had to "sister" new framing lumber to each side of every girder and every floor joist so the homes would not cave in. Eventually they hired Basement Systems to install a CleanSpace Crawl Space Encapsulation system to fix the moisture problem.

The sill plate rotting right over this vent is no coincidence. That the problem wasn't fixed after it was replaced is the irony. 

The Solution 
There are three things that destroy organic materials in general, and wood in particular: water, heat and ultra-violet radiation. Of these, water is by far the most important. 

Water leaks, moisture, or high humidity levels in a home are a very bad idea. And water vapor moves easily upwards into the house environment. A damp environment is very unhealthy and destructive. Mold thrives and reproduces by producing airborne spores by the millions, and some molds are toxic. Insects and critters of all kinds love damp environments and wet materials. Rot and decay occur in damp environments causing structural damage. 

The natural airflow in a house is from bottom to top. This sucks the moist air and everything in it up into the living areas of the home. 

Mold spores, odors, humidity and critters create a very unhealthy environment for people. Many people are allergic to these things, and experience a host of symptoms and don't realize that their dirt crawl space is affecting their health.

By stopping water leaks and removing humidity from the air these things can be prevented. Talk to your local Basement Systems Dealer  or CleanSpace Installer (which is Redeemers Group in West TN, Arkansas, and Mississippi ) for a Free Inspection and Estimate to find out how to solve these problems in your home.

House Mold Testing and Concerns

As wet basements and crawl space moisture becomes an increasingly large problem for homeowners across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, more and more people are having their health affected by crawl space and basement mold.  According to the Journal of Property Management, tens of thousands of lawsuits have been filed in recent years against landlords, developers and insurance companies over home mold related issues.  In response, most general liability and property insurance companies now exclude mold from their policies.  And with few regulations for acceptable levels set by the EPA for mold testing results, it's a legal battleground where homeowners and building managers are often the casualties.

If you suffer from a headache, stuffy nose, or some type of allergic reaction when at home, but is relieved shortly after leaving the building, it's possible that these symptoms are caused or worsened by indoor air pollutants and allergens such as mold spores.  As Glenn Fellman, executive director of the Indoor Air Quality Association states, "If you are reacting to a problem because somebody's been sick, you've waited way too long to address indoor air quality".  The best way to protect yourself is to prevent the problem before it begins.

Household Mold Issues

A typical mold will be about 10 microns (0.0002 inches) in size, and they can grow anywhere where there is sufficient warmth, food, and humidity in the air to absorb moisture.  Any organic material- including dust, fabric, wallpaper, wood, and paint all provide more than enough nourishment to keep mold healthy and growing.  As a matter of fact, the Journal of Property Management reports that one square inch of drywall can contain 1 to 10 million spores as small as 1.5 microns in size!  There are more than 1.5 million species in existence, and some molds grow only in the home.  Mold grows year round in any home - no matter how clean, and according to Human Ecology, fungus consists of an estimated 25% of the Earth's biomass.

As mold matures, it begins to reproduce, sending seed-like spores out into the air.  As long as the temperature is above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, they can land, grow, and spread.  Time magazine reports that there can be hundreds of thousands of mold spores in a single cubic meter of air indoors, and a single person inhales 10 or 12 cubic meters each day.

Unfortunately, even you have mold only in the basement or crawl space, its spores will rise throughout the home.  The reason for this is called the "Stack Effect".  Because of the stack effect, warm air rises in the home and exits through the upper levels and attic.  As it does, a vacuum is created on the lower levels which draws air upwards from the basement and crawl space.  Anything in that air- including mold spores, humidity, dust mite feces, and odors, will be drawn into the main area of the home where you breathe.

Cleaning and removing crawl space and basement mold with bleach or biocides is only a temporary solution.  Mold remediation of this type can eliminate mold in the short term, but unless the reason that it was there in the first place is not eliminated, there's nothing stopping house mold from returning.  To worsen the situation, Human Ecology magazine reports that dead mold can still cause allergic reactions as well, and microscopic mold spores that were not removed can lay dormant for years while they wait for the opportunity to grow.  Additionally, while mold resistant coatings may keep mold off the surfaces they contact, mold will still have a surface to grow on unless you can also coat your ventilation ducts and every piece of organic material that enters the house.

Get Rid of House Mold Before it Starts

According to Total Health magazine, household mold growth is accelerated by warmth and high humidity- especially in the basement and crawl space.  Mold spores can affect a home's inhabitants through inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact.  As they do, all the symptoms of allergic rhinitis can occur, including a runny nose, watery eyes, mild allergic reactions, a scratchy throat, fatigue, and general discomfort when breathing.  In rare cases, mold can even be toxic!  The American Lung Association reports that 88 million people in the United States suffer from some sort of respiratory distress, and 50% of homes have at least one person living inside that has allergies, asthma, or another respiratory ailment.

The Journal of Property Management reports that ignoring a mold problem will not only lead to the compromised health of the occupants, but it can also lead to expensive home damage. Repairs can be lengthy and extensive, and in extreme cases, they may necessitate relocation of all inhabitants while the work is being conducted.  Mold can grow anywhere there's moisture, including near plumbing leaks, leaking roofs, and especially in wet and damp crawl spaces and basements. Household mold is a significant problem that has been largely ignored for too long.  If there is a water problem within the home, it's extremely important to fix the problem and dry the area within 48 hours.  If there's less moisture, there's less mold.  With less mold, there's less damage to the home.

The easiest way to prevent household mold, and one of the primary methods recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency, is to reduce indoor humidity within the home to below 60%.  They also recommend removing all sources of water leakage within the home, sealing penetrations in walls and floors especially below in below-ground areas, checking for moldy odors, and removing all sources of freestanding water.

Basement Systems International Network of top-quality basement waterproofing contractors is dedicated to helping to eliminate basement mold and moisture.  Our inorganic products are designed to form vapor barriers on the basement walls and floors to keep humidity from seeping through the porous.

For mold remediation in Memphis, TN, North Mississippi, Arkansas, and surrounding areas, Redeemers Group is here to meet your needs. 

Additionally, our SaniDry Basement Dehumidifier is capable of filtering the air of particles as small as two microns!  This means that house mold spores, dust mite waste, pollen, and many other home environment allergens will be safely removed from the air.  With its self-draining system, the Energy Star rated SaniDry is able to pull moisture from the air and lower the relative humidity below 55%.  These low humidity levels create an environment that is not suitable for house mold and dust mites to thrive.  Thus, the area is cleaner, healthier and more sanitary for your entire house!