Everybody knows that mold is unsightly and can cause health problems, but exactly what kinds of health problems are we talking about here? We shouldn’t just be concerned with the respiratory or skin effects of mold, because these are not even close to being the only things that mold can cause in a person.
Mold can produce allergic reactions in people by producing allergens, irritants, and toxic substances called mycotoxins. No matter what kind of mold you’re dealing with, it’s a bad idea to touch it or inhale any of its spores. Some molds can cause cold or flu-like symptoms or in infants, even bleeding of the lungs. Incessant coughing, asthma, allergy symptoms, and vision can occur and even problems with a person’s central nervous system can arise. Abnormal amounts of fatique, headaches, problems with your sinuses, vomiting, and sometimes even cancer can be caused by mold infestations in the home or the workplace. Where mold is concerned, you’re basically playing roulette: you don’t know which number is going to come up or for who.
Air conditioners are one of the worst culprits of spreading mold infestations from one area of the building to the other. They thrust the mold spores up into the air and you inhale them, drawing them into your lungs, and this can be dangerous, especially if you’re one of the people who are particularly at risk for sickness. This includes infants, pets, the elderly, and anyone who has a weakened immune system. People with weakened immune systems are those who are pregnant, people who have just had surgery, or those with HIV, AIDs, or other immunodeficiency conditions.
Most people don’t realize that there are so many health complications that can be caused by mold and since this is true, they don’t understand how big of a problem mold can be in the home. They think that they will be alright if they put off removing the mold until they can afford it, but it’s not a good idea.
People with good constitutions and are generally healthy can survive in a home that has a mild amount of mold for a while without any adverse health effects, but staying there without any attempts to treat the home and remove the mold can be a costly mistake. If you discover mold where you live, you should do what you have to in order to get the mold removed or find another place to live.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Mold Beats Bleach
What’s the one thing that most of us think cleans and disinfects everything you cover in it? Chlorine bleach. Some new evidence suggests that chlorine bleach isn’t the great cleaner that we all think it is and one of the most common misconceptions about it is that it kills mold. Bleach is good to clean a number of things and to preserve the whiteness of white clothing and other items, but as far as being a disinfectant, it doesn’t measure up.
Unless the mold is located on a non-porous surface such as a hard counter top or a kitchen sink, bleach won’t really do anything to get rid of the mold. You can’t get rid of mold with bleach on surfaces like sheetrock, wood, furniture, or any other surface that isn’t hard and solid. Mold often grows inside walls and even if you clean the mold off of the surface of the wall, you still can’t get inside the sheetrock to completely kill the infection. It infests the entire depth of the board and it’s easier to just remove the sheetrock, clean the mold out from the inside of the wall, and replace the sheetrock with new and paperless sheetrock. Mold eats paper and if you put paper inside your wall, you’re helping it build a home inside your new one.
What we do know about bleach is that it does not play well with other chemicals. Many times when we’re on a budget and we’re trying to make the best of what we have on hand, we mix different household chemicals in order to make more cleaning solution to work with or we’re trying to make ourselves feel like the cleaner has become stronger, because it’s been combined with another. Sometimes mixing household chemicals will do no harm, but it’s best not to mix anything with bleach, especially if it contains ammonia. Ammonia and bleach, when combined, will produce toxic fumes that can kill you if you’re not working in a ventilated area. There are better chemicals to use when fighting mold, so the best thing that you can do is stay away from bleach and never mix it with another ammonia-based cleaner. It’s not worth the risk.
The EPA does not define chlorine bleach as a disinfectant that kills mold. There is always a registration number on each and every product that will kill mold, but this label does not appear on any bottle of chlorine bleach currently in circulation.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
Unless the mold is located on a non-porous surface such as a hard counter top or a kitchen sink, bleach won’t really do anything to get rid of the mold. You can’t get rid of mold with bleach on surfaces like sheetrock, wood, furniture, or any other surface that isn’t hard and solid. Mold often grows inside walls and even if you clean the mold off of the surface of the wall, you still can’t get inside the sheetrock to completely kill the infection. It infests the entire depth of the board and it’s easier to just remove the sheetrock, clean the mold out from the inside of the wall, and replace the sheetrock with new and paperless sheetrock. Mold eats paper and if you put paper inside your wall, you’re helping it build a home inside your new one.
What we do know about bleach is that it does not play well with other chemicals. Many times when we’re on a budget and we’re trying to make the best of what we have on hand, we mix different household chemicals in order to make more cleaning solution to work with or we’re trying to make ourselves feel like the cleaner has become stronger, because it’s been combined with another. Sometimes mixing household chemicals will do no harm, but it’s best not to mix anything with bleach, especially if it contains ammonia. Ammonia and bleach, when combined, will produce toxic fumes that can kill you if you’re not working in a ventilated area. There are better chemicals to use when fighting mold, so the best thing that you can do is stay away from bleach and never mix it with another ammonia-based cleaner. It’s not worth the risk.
The EPA does not define chlorine bleach as a disinfectant that kills mold. There is always a registration number on each and every product that will kill mold, but this label does not appear on any bottle of chlorine bleach currently in circulation.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
General Mold Facts
We might not like it, but it’s something that we have to live with every day: mold is everywhere. It’s an unfortunate fact that there is no real way to get away from mold completely, as it grows everywhere and it’s in all the air around us.
What is mold? Mold is a kind of fungus that grows in countless numbers and almost countless species all over the world. They are every color you can imagine and while most of them won’t hurt human beings and their pets, some kinds are pretty toxic and can grow in your home. They’re not pleasant to look at and can cause any number of health problems, most notably if you happen to be allergic to that particular kind of mold or just mold in general.
It gets inside your home due to the humidity and high level of heat inside or because of water leaking in from outside the building via the basement or due to flood water. Sometimes it’s because a pipe bursts in your laundry room or the bathroom or the toilet overflows and the water isn’t properly cleaned up. Having carpet in the bathroom is a problem all to itself because it loves to soak up water and mold loves anything porous. The steam from the bath tub or the shower sticks to the ceiling and soaks it, as well, creating a breeding ground for these little buggers. Mold loves to eat sheet rock and paint and some of the most common areas in your home to find mold are in the bathroom and the kitchen.
Some people don’t use a hamper or a basket to toss their dirty clothes in when they take a shower or a bath and they leave the clothes in the bathroom closet directly on the floor. Wet rags and towels being thrown in there on top of them or up against the walls can cause mold to grow not only in the closet, but also on your clothes if they’re left in there long enough.
Mold is a big problem for children, pets, people with weakened immune systems, and the elderly. These are the people that are the most at risk when living in a home that’s contaminated by mold. Mold causes conditions and diseases that most people wouldn’t even begin to think of; the conditions are not confined to merely skin rashes and respiratory complications.
Any and everything that’s been found to have mold on it should be washed and thoroughly sterilized before it can be used again, if it can even be used again at all. Depending on the volume of the infestation and how strenuous your schedule is, sometimes it’s easier to just throw things away.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Miami and
water damage restoration in atlanta companies.
What is mold? Mold is a kind of fungus that grows in countless numbers and almost countless species all over the world. They are every color you can imagine and while most of them won’t hurt human beings and their pets, some kinds are pretty toxic and can grow in your home. They’re not pleasant to look at and can cause any number of health problems, most notably if you happen to be allergic to that particular kind of mold or just mold in general.
It gets inside your home due to the humidity and high level of heat inside or because of water leaking in from outside the building via the basement or due to flood water. Sometimes it’s because a pipe bursts in your laundry room or the bathroom or the toilet overflows and the water isn’t properly cleaned up. Having carpet in the bathroom is a problem all to itself because it loves to soak up water and mold loves anything porous. The steam from the bath tub or the shower sticks to the ceiling and soaks it, as well, creating a breeding ground for these little buggers. Mold loves to eat sheet rock and paint and some of the most common areas in your home to find mold are in the bathroom and the kitchen.
Some people don’t use a hamper or a basket to toss their dirty clothes in when they take a shower or a bath and they leave the clothes in the bathroom closet directly on the floor. Wet rags and towels being thrown in there on top of them or up against the walls can cause mold to grow not only in the closet, but also on your clothes if they’re left in there long enough.
Mold is a big problem for children, pets, people with weakened immune systems, and the elderly. These are the people that are the most at risk when living in a home that’s contaminated by mold. Mold causes conditions and diseases that most people wouldn’t even begin to think of; the conditions are not confined to merely skin rashes and respiratory complications.
Any and everything that’s been found to have mold on it should be washed and thoroughly sterilized before it can be used again, if it can even be used again at all. Depending on the volume of the infestation and how strenuous your schedule is, sometimes it’s easier to just throw things away.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Miami and
water damage restoration in atlanta companies.
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