How Bad Is Toxic Black Mold - Deadly monster or victim of media hype?
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2007-2008 Daryl Watters
http://health-for-the-average-joe.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-bad-is-toxic-black-mold-deadly.html
Toxic black mold is the most feared of all molds because of numerous news reports, newspaper articles, and magazine articles attributing possible brain damage, infant deaths, expensive property damage, and other horrible consequences of the growth to this type of mold in residential settings.
Often toxic black mold is present, but other agents - such as cigarette smoke, water damaged building materials, or general unhealthy and unclean conditions resulting from flooding - are also present that may have contributed to some of the serious health problems as well. As of 2005, science has not demonstrated as a fact that breathing in toxins from mold can or cannot result in health problems in residential settings. It is a fact that eating stachybotrys can result in toxic poisoning.
You see, many molds produce mycotoxins; these are toxic chemicals that molds use in a type of microbial warfare. Living things that do not posses claws, fangs, or a hard shell to use in self defense or fast legs to run away from predators will typically revert to the use of camouflage or the production of poisons; this is very common in nature. Various species of toxic mold have the potential to produce mycotoxin. Toxigenic molds are commonly found by our Ft Lauderdale mold inspectors and Broward county area mold inspectors.
Many scientifically-established negative health effects have been connected with mycotoxins produced by stachybotrys mold, pen / asp and other molds. Many of these negative health effects, such as cancer of the liver, cell death, neurological damage, suppressed immune system and many others that are cited in lab reports given to you by mold inspectors, are (in almost every case) the results of lab animal studies conducted on mice and brine shrimp cultures, and cell culture studies on mold toxins.
Human and horse exposure to stachybotrys mold infested hay that caused toxic reactions in the Ukraine around the 1920's is well documented. Industrial level exposures of mycotoxins such as at peanut processing facilities, composting facilities, or farms has caused documented toxigenic and severe allergenic problems. Countless farm animals have died as a result of eating food contaminated with toxic molds, in one extreme example that occurred in the mid 1960's 100,000 turkeys died in England after consuming moldy food shipped from Brazil. The causative agent was aflatoxin from aspergillus flavus mold. In several such cases of human and animal exposure mycotoxin poisoning is well documented by scientists and doctors. For more information on documented cases and on mycotoxins refer to The Fifth Kingdom, by Brice Kindrick or Bioaerosols from ACGIH by Harriett Burge.
It is very important to not panic but to keep in mind that to accomplish the above serious detrimental effects, toxic molds like Stachybotrys and others may have to be either:
1.) Consumed in mold contaminated foods,
2.) Physically handled so that excessive physical contact is made between human skin and the mold, or
3.) The mycotoxins have to be exposed to living cells in the laboratory.
Various studies have shown that the levels of mycotoxins encountered by breathing mold spores in your home or office appear to be far too low to cause toxic reactions in humans. Of course future studies may or may not change this current opinion held by many researches. Synergistic effects of various indoor pollutants and different mycotoxins mixing together may be more powerful than individual mycotoxin exposures. Fortunately scientist are not in the business of preforming full fledged toxicity studies on human subjects.
However, asthma attacks, allergies, and sinus infections from mold appear to be very common and result in such levels of distress in some persons that they feel as if they were being poisoned.
Discovering the root cause of mold and proper mold removal can be very expensive and very difficult, the longer you wait the more expensive and difficult proper removal will likely be. If you feel that you have a mold problem at your home or place of work contact a certified mold inspection service.
About the Author:
Daryl Watters has a bachelors degree in education for teaching biology and general science and is a certified mold inspector, certified home inspector, and certified indoor environmentalist providing building inspections in South Florida since 1993.
For more inspection information visit
http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us
www.florida-mold-inspection.com
Copyright © 2007-2008 Daryl Watters
http://health-for-the-average-joe.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-bad-is-toxic-black-mold-deadly.html
Toxic black mold is the most feared of all molds because of numerous news reports, newspaper articles, and magazine articles attributing possible brain damage, infant deaths, expensive property damage, and other horrible consequences of the growth to this type of mold in residential settings.
Often toxic black mold is present, but other agents - such as cigarette smoke, water damaged building materials, or general unhealthy and unclean conditions resulting from flooding - are also present that may have contributed to some of the serious health problems as well. As of 2005, science has not demonstrated as a fact that breathing in toxins from mold can or cannot result in health problems in residential settings. It is a fact that eating stachybotrys can result in toxic poisoning.
You see, many molds produce mycotoxins; these are toxic chemicals that molds use in a type of microbial warfare. Living things that do not posses claws, fangs, or a hard shell to use in self defense or fast legs to run away from predators will typically revert to the use of camouflage or the production of poisons; this is very common in nature. Various species of toxic mold have the potential to produce mycotoxin. Toxigenic molds are commonly found by our Ft Lauderdale mold inspectors and Broward county area mold inspectors.
Many scientifically-established negative health effects have been connected with mycotoxins produced by stachybotrys mold, pen / asp and other molds. Many of these negative health effects, such as cancer of the liver, cell death, neurological damage, suppressed immune system and many others that are cited in lab reports given to you by mold inspectors, are (in almost every case) the results of lab animal studies conducted on mice and brine shrimp cultures, and cell culture studies on mold toxins.
Human and horse exposure to stachybotrys mold infested hay that caused toxic reactions in the Ukraine around the 1920's is well documented. Industrial level exposures of mycotoxins such as at peanut processing facilities, composting facilities, or farms has caused documented toxigenic and severe allergenic problems. Countless farm animals have died as a result of eating food contaminated with toxic molds, in one extreme example that occurred in the mid 1960's 100,000 turkeys died in England after consuming moldy food shipped from Brazil. The causative agent was aflatoxin from aspergillus flavus mold. In several such cases of human and animal exposure mycotoxin poisoning is well documented by scientists and doctors. For more information on documented cases and on mycotoxins refer to The Fifth Kingdom, by Brice Kindrick or Bioaerosols from ACGIH by Harriett Burge.
It is very important to not panic but to keep in mind that to accomplish the above serious detrimental effects, toxic molds like Stachybotrys and others may have to be either:
1.) Consumed in mold contaminated foods,
2.) Physically handled so that excessive physical contact is made between human skin and the mold, or
3.) The mycotoxins have to be exposed to living cells in the laboratory.
Various studies have shown that the levels of mycotoxins encountered by breathing mold spores in your home or office appear to be far too low to cause toxic reactions in humans. Of course future studies may or may not change this current opinion held by many researches. Synergistic effects of various indoor pollutants and different mycotoxins mixing together may be more powerful than individual mycotoxin exposures. Fortunately scientist are not in the business of preforming full fledged toxicity studies on human subjects.
However, asthma attacks, allergies, and sinus infections from mold appear to be very common and result in such levels of distress in some persons that they feel as if they were being poisoned.
Discovering the root cause of mold and proper mold removal can be very expensive and very difficult, the longer you wait the more expensive and difficult proper removal will likely be. If you feel that you have a mold problem at your home or place of work contact a certified mold inspection service.
About the Author:
Daryl Watters has a bachelors degree in education for teaching biology and general science and is a certified mold inspector, certified home inspector, and certified indoor environmentalist providing building inspections in South Florida since 1993.
For more inspection information visit
http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us
www.florida-mold-inspection.com