Basic Fungual Biology For Concerned Homeowners And Mold Inspectors

[Guest guest]

Free-Reprint Article Written by: Daryl Watters

See Terms of Reprint Below.

*****************************************************************

*

* This email is being delivered directly to members of the group:

*

*

*

*****************************************************************

We have moved our TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article.

Be certain to read our TERMS OF REPRINT and honor our TERMS

OF REPRINT when you use this article. Thank you.

This article has been distributed by:

http://Article-Distribution.com

Helpful Link:

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Overview

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Article Title:

==============

Basic Fungual Biology For Concerned Homeowners And Mold Inspectors

Article Description:

====================

Basic fungual biology for concerned homeowners and mold inspectors.

Additional Article Information:

===============================

648 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2007-05-04 11:24:00

Written By: Daryl Watters

Copyright: 2007

Contact Email: mailto:daryl.watters@...

For more free-reprint articles by Daryl Watters, please visit:

http://www.thePhantomWriters.com/recent/author/daryl-watters.html

=============================================

Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters:

=============================================

If you use this article on your website or in your ezine,

We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let

us know where you have used this article, and we will

include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com:

http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=4817 & p=load

HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste

Versions Of Article Are Available at:

http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/w/basic-fungual-biology.shtml#get_c\

ode

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Basic Fungual Biology For Concerned Homeowners And Mold Inspectors

Copyright © 2007 Daryl Watters

A Accredited Mold Inspection Service, Inc.

http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms, which means unlike bacteria they

all have true cells with at least one nucleus in the cell and

that nucleus is inside a nuclear membrane. The other cell

organelles also are in membranes. Fungi are not photosynthetic

like plants; thus, they cannot make their own food using sunlight

and carbon dioxide like plants.

But like bacteria and plants, the fungi have rigid cell walls,

and like bacteria and some primitive plants(Mosses, liverworts,

and ferns), molds produce spores for reproduction.

Fungi can be microscopic, one-celled organisms, such as yeasts,

or large macroscopic organisms, such as giant mushrooms.

According to the fifth kingdom (a popular mycology textbook) here

are one hundred thousand known fungi species, there may be as

many as 1 to 1.7 million species of fungi if we include estimated

numbers of fungi not yet discovered. During a mold inspection

service investigation, only a dozen or so different types are

typically encountered.

Fungi are saprophytes. In other words, they release enzymes onto

the substrate which they are growing in order to dissolve and eat

that substrate. They share this characteristic with bacteria. In

nature, two of mold's favorite foods are moist dead wood and

soil rich with decaying organic matter. During a mold inspection,

we find that most mold will grow on drywall paper found on both

surfaces of wet drywall. The reason for this is that drywall

paper is made of one of molds favorite foods, wood.

Some fungi are infectious, growing inside or on other living

things. Some of the fungi cause ring worm, athlete's foot,

Candida yeast infections, valley fever, and most common sinus

infections.

A few infectious fungi have the ability to grow as a fuzzy white

decay fungus or (saprophyte) at room temperature. The same molds

will grow as a disease causing yeast-like pathogen when incubated

at body temperature. These fungi are called dimorphic which means

two body types and they can result in serious and sometimes fatal

illness when growing in the human body in it's infectious yeast

form. These fungi are not typically found or identified during a

mold inspection service investigation. Most are found in pigeon

or starling bird droppings, or in bat droppings, other types live

in dry soils of the South Western U.S. and South America.

It appears that in order to keep from being eaten, various types

of fungi produce toxic chemicals known as mycotoxins. We know of

at least 200 types of mycotoxins. Toxic molds containing

mycotoxins are very dangerous or even deadly to humans and

livestock when eaten in moldy foods.

When you feel sick because of mold in your home, it is not likely

to be from mycotoxins. It is usually an allergic reaction or

asthmatic reaction. Molds cause many minor and many serious

allergy and asthma problems. Please see your doctor for

verification. Why do molds cause allergies? Molds produce

proteins that many people and even pets' immune systems see as

an invading pathogen, the immune system over reacts to these

harmless mold proteins attempts to get rid of them or destroy

them, and as a result your own bodies immune system makes you

feel sick. It is a fact that many persons die each year in

America from asthma attacks.

Mycotoxins (being large, low-volatile chemicals) do not readily

evaporate into the air, and antigens (being proteins) obviously

are not likely to evaporate either; thus, one has to breathe in

mold spores or other mold parts to have an allergic reaction to

fungi. One typically has to eat fungi-contaminated food to be

poisoned by mycotoxins. Breathing in very large amounts of spores

in industrial settings or during mold removal may result in

organic toxic dust syndrome with flu-like symptoms.

Long term exposure to fungi, bacteria, or thermophylic

actinomycets (a cross between fungus and bacteria), may result in

hypersensitivity pneumonia, a type of industrial-strength

allergic condition with possible pneumonia-like symptoms.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Daryl Watters is president of A Accredited Mold Inspection Service,

Inc. He provides home, mold, and indoor air quality investigations

South Florida. He is also the creator of MIR forms designed to aid

inspectors in the production of computer generated indoor air

quality and mold inspection reports.

For more inspection information visit

http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us