Signs and Symptoms of Black Mold Exposure

Oftentimes, symptoms of black mold exposure can vary from person-to-person. What’s needed is to first check for black mold in an environment like a home. This substance can grow in dark, damp or humid spaces and rooms. Also, it can be found under carpet pads, in walls and ceilings, and even in a refrigerator. After finding out where the mold is, it can be easier to associate symptoms to the presence of mold in a home.

Are Black Molds Dangerous? Most black molds aren’t dangerous to humans. Their main detriment is that they cause a range of irritating or inconvenient medical problems for some folks. Generally, molds are unsightly and can smell musty or intensely foul. Sometimes, the odors themselves can cause severe allergic reactions, which have the potential for harm to humans.

Signs and Symptoms. One of the common symptoms of black mold is sneezing. By sneezing, the body tries to expel mold spore from the nasal passages. Also, they may have a cough, or a stuffy and runny nose. Again, the body is most likely trying to expel the mold’s spores from the airway or the lungs. It’s usually in the respiratory system that people exposed to black mold suffer the most.

Headaches and Other Problems. Headaches themselves aren’t directly from the mold, but as a result of breathing difficulties caused by stopped-up noses or irritated lungs. Fatigue or general malaise may be as a result of poor sleep caused by the other medical issues, or directly from a small waste byproduct released by the black mold itself.

Extreme Black Mold Exposure. In cases of severe black mold exposure, there may be memory retention issues, and also flu-like symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea. In instances such as these, treatment of the medical issues and action taken to eliminate black mold are a person’s best bet.

Treatments for Black Mold Exposure. Mostly, treatments revolve around symptomatic care. Good nasal decongestants or antihistamines have been to be effective at treating the problems once they show up. Take aspirin or other pain relievers for headaches. In extreme cases, please consult a physician.

How Do We Fix The Problem? First of all, go after the source of the mold itself. Fix any water leaks or moisture problems in your home. Black mold feeds off moisture and high humidity above 50 percent. If needed, get a dehumidifier and use it on a regular basis in any rooms or parts of the house in which humidity above 50 percent is present.

Clean Up the Mold. Use soap and water or a chlorine bleach and water mix to scrub away black mold wherever it’s found. After doing that, wash it down again with any good store-bought spray-on mold killer. And if it’s on walls, scrub it away, treat it, wash it down and dry it, and then paint it over. If the mold is larger than 10 square feet, call in a professional to handle it.

Prevent Mold from Reappearing. Check periodically for any new moisture or water leaks. Clean refrigerators or other appliances where moisture can build up. Look for signs of mold in darker areas of the home or under carpets, if possible.

Black mold can be very toxic and cause a lot of health problems so you want to check your house very thouroughly so you can take the appropriate clean-up measures if you see even the slightest symptoms of black mold exposure.

Information on Toxic Black Mold

Toxic black mold is a type of fungi that prefers to grow on humid surfaces with light and moderate temperatures. It tends to look powdery or downy. Toxic mold can grow on furniture, clothes, leather, carpets, food, wood, walls and in pieces of equipments such as HVAC systems and air conditioners. This mold will tend to form on surfaces that may be subject to leaks, condensation and other reason for high humidity in specific areas.

Some signs that toxic black mold is present include moisture on surfaces, wall stains, odor, those with allergies or asthma may be affected and poisoning. Poisoning from toxic black m old is due to volatile organic compounds produced from the mild. These compounds are formed when the mold eats away on the surface it is growing on. The degradation of nutrients forms these compounds that are harmful to humans, particularly the lungs and nervous system.

Some of the more common symptoms of toxic black mold poisoning are infertility, internal organ pain, urinary tract infections, damaged respiratory and digestion systems, irregular blood pressure, allergic reactions, asthma, mucous membrane irritations, lack of concentration, dizziness, lethargy, bleeding in the lungs, memory loss, nausea, rash, hives, red eyes, cough, and headaches.

The best ways to prevent toxic black mold is to control it. Moisture is the most important growth requirement for this mold so you need to monitor the moisture levels in your home. You may need to invest in some dehumidifiers. You should check and make sure your air conditioners, ventilation ducts and heating systems are clean as toxic black mold in these systems can be very dangerous.

The most common places for this mold to grow are in bathrooms. You should regularly clean your bathroom and check appliances, curtains and tiles for mold growth and remove it at the first sign. You can also use air purifiers to clean the air in your home as they reduce mold spores that are present in air. You can also use mold resistant paints and other anti mold products to keep mold from growing in your home.

If you have found toxic black mold in your home then you need to clean each area separately by properly sealing the contaminated area. You do not want the mold to spread to other areas when you are cleaning. You should try to produce negative air pressure; an exhaust fan is ideal, which will send the air directly outside, therefore taking all of the mold spores with the air. You should also turn off all pieces of equipment before cleaning.

Cleaning Black Mold

The need for cleaning black mold, especially within a home, is a problem that many homeowners can expect to encounter over the years. Water moisture or high humidity in the home’s environment are generally the leading causes of this issue. The thing to remember, though, is that black mold is just one of thousands of mold types. But it can be more than a nuisance if it’s allowed to build up over time to unhealthy levels, which could lead to allergic reactions in people in severe cases.

Acting Now: It’s important to remember that mold should be cleaned as soon as it’s found, and no later than 24 to 48 hours in any instance. Also, it may be a good idea to wear a good respirator when cleaning black mold. The recommended type is N-95, which is available in most any home improvement or hardware store. Because you’ll be breaking up these molds, it’s possible they might become airborne, and maybe inhaled, so the need to wear a respirator should be obvious.

Cleaning Solutions: On a mold colony no larger than 10 square feet, there are a number of available solutions on the market that’ll make it easy to eliminate the problem. Most are at least partly made up of chlorine bleach or a similar chemical, and all are safe for household use when proper precautions are taken.

Mold Pre-Cleanup: When you are cleaning black mold, you want to set up your area with a fan or turn on a ceiling fan, for good ventilation, and open a window, if available, to make sure any mold spores are exhausted to the outdoors. Begin the cleanup by spraying down any mold with a chlorine and water solution, by mixing 8 ounces of bleach into 64 ounces of water. The chlorine acts as what’s called a “biocide” and disinfectant, effectively killing the live mold. This also decreases the chances of it being spread around during cleaning up.

Mold Cleanup: In addition to a respirator, try to wear rubber gloves and a pair of goggles, mainly to protect your skin and eyes from the cleaning solutions. After that, you can use one of several commercially-available products out on the market. Most are specifically labeled as being good for cleaning black or other molds. Clean the area very well, getting into all possible nooks and crannies. Lastly, make sure you wipe down all treated areas with dry paper or other disposable type towels. The key is to make sure any treated areas have dried thoroughly.

After Cleaning Black Mold: Fix any moisture problems to prevent mold reappearance. Also purchase a good dehumidifier for the room or area, if needed. If black mold does pop back up, spray it down and clean it up with a mold cleaning product before it becomes too large, or turns into a serous problem again.