Household Mold & Illness

Mold, a member of the fungi family, can be found both indoors and outside and grows year-round. Outdoors, mold tends to be found in moist, shady areas where vegetation is rotting. Indoors, mold can be found in dark, moist areas, such as bathroom and basements. Repeated exposure to mold can cause respiratory illness or worsen existing conditions, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Household Mold

• Common molds that can be found indoors are Cladosporium, Penicillin, Alternaria, and Aspergillus. They can manifest as bathroom mildew and/or as blackened crusts around windows, walls, and floors. Mold is extremely resilient and can survive harsh conditions.

Mold Exposure and Symptom Development

• No matter the type of mold, the higher the concentration of spores, the more likely you are to develop symptoms of exposure.

Symptoms of Exposure

• Symptoms of mold exposure can include coughing, wheezing, eye and skin irritation and itching, and nasal symptoms, such as a runny or stuffy nose. Simply moving out of the high spore concentration area may alleviate these symptoms. Symptoms can mimic those of other allergic reactions or those of a common cold.

Sensitivity

• There seems to be little difference in people who have been diagnosed with sensitivities to mold and seemingly healthy individuals. Both groups will develop symptoms after repeated exposure to mold. Sensitive people may develop symptoms sooner or under conditions with fewer spores present.

Prevention

• Preventing mold is the easiest way to prevent symptoms. The CDC recommends the following to reduce mold indoors: reduce the humidity level in your home to 40 percent, ensure adequate ventilation by installing exhaust fans, clean bathrooms regularly with mold-killing preparations, and avoid using carpets in bathrooms and basements. Also, carpeting should be removed when a room has been flooded.