Can Toxic Black Mold Poison Me?

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Article Title:

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Can Toxic Black Mold Poison Me?

Article Description:

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Regardless of if toxic mold can poison you with mycotoxins via

inhalation, it is a fact observed by this inspector many times

that mold can make some people very sick. Asthma attacks,

allergies, and sinus infections from mold appear to be very

common. Such conditions in turn can cause people to loose sleep,

loose energy and concentration, miss work, and in general feel as

if they were being poisoned by mycotoxins.

Additional Article Information:

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751 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2007-05-24 11:12:00

Written By: Daryl Watters

Copyright: 2007

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

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Can Toxic Black Mold Poison Me?

Copyright © 2007 Daryl Watters

A Accredited Mold Inspection Service, Inc.

http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us

Stachybotrys is a slow growing mold and requires high levels of

water in it's substrate. This inspector commonly finds it

growing in wet, dark, hidden areas. It loves areas where a slow

hidden leak can continue unnoticed and uncorrected for a few

weeks or months such as inside wall cavities.

According to literature and according to this inspectors

experience it grows almost exclusively on very wet cellouse

containing materials including paper, carpets, ceiling tile, and

especially on drywall. It loves drywall because of the cellulose

paper on the front and back surfaces of drywall. Wood contains

cellulose, and yes stachybotrys will grow on wood but it is not

found growing on wet wood as often as one would think. The

cellulose food in wood is protected to some degree by wood's

lignan. In water damaged buildings the wood surfaces are more

likely to be colonized by Chaetomium and pen asp.

Toxic black mold or stachybotrys is found by certified mold

inspectors about 6% of the time in indoor air samples and about

1% of the time in outdoor samples.

It is the most feared of all molds, due to the numerous news

reports, newspaper articles, and magazine articles attributing

possible brain damage, infant deaths, expensive property damage

and other horrible consequences surrounding its growth in

residential settings.

Many molds produce mycotoxins (toxic chemicals that molds use in

a type of microbial warfare). Living things that do not possess

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.

In reality, toxic molds like Stachybotrys also known as toxic

black mold and others may have to be either consumed in mold

contaminated foods, or physically handled so that excessive

physical contact is made between human skin and the mold in order

for toxic reactions to develop. At this time most scientists do

not believe that breathing in toxic mold spores can have toxic

effects on humans when inhaled at the levels typically

encountered in homes and offices.

Public opinion may not be in support of the above statement and

in the future we may find that the above statement is not true

and perhaps one day we will find that toxic molds cause toxic

reactions via inhalation but currently scientific evidence does

not support the view that toxic molds can poison you via

inhalation at levels found in indoor environments. To support

this statement please review the following abstract from the

International Journal of Toxicology Volume 23, Number 1 /

January-February 2004 pages 3 to 10.

" Risk from Inhaled Mycotoxins in Indoor Office and Residential

Environments

Bruce J. Kelman A1, Coreen A. Robbins A1, Lonie J. Swenson A1,

D. Hardin A1 A1 GlobalTox, Inc., Redmond, Washington, USA

Abstract:

Mycotoxins are known to produce veterinary and human diseases

when consumed with contaminated foods. Mycotoxins have also been

proposed to cause adverse human health effects after inhalation

exposure to mold in indoor residential, school, and office

environments. Epidemiological evidence has been inadequate to

establish a causal relationship between indoor mold and

nonallergic, toxigenic health effects. In this article, the

authors model a maximum possible dose of mycotoxins that could be

inhaled in 24 h of continuous exposure to a high concentration of

mold spores containing the maximum reported concentration of

aflatoxins B1 and B2, satratoxins G and H, fumitremorgens B and

C, verruculogen, and trichoverrols A and B. These calculated

doses are compared to effects data for the same mycotoxins. None

of the maximum doses modeled were sufficiently high to cause any

adverse effect. The model illustrates the inefficiency of

delivery of mycotoxins via inhalation of mold spores, and

suggests that the lack of association between mold exposure and

mycotoxicoses in indoor environments is due to a requirement for

extremely high airborne spore levels and extended periods of

exposure to elicit a response. This model is further evidence

that human mycotoxicoses are implausible following inhalation

exposure to mycotoxins in mold-contaminated home, school, or

office environments. "

Regardless of if toxic mold can poison you with mycotoxins via

inhalation, it is a fact observed by this inspector many times

that mold can make some people very sick. Asthma attacks,

allergies, and sinus infections from mold appear to be very

common. Such conditions in turn can cause people to loose sleep,

loose energy and concentration, miss work, and in general feel as

if they were being poisoned by mycotoxins.

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Daryl Watters is president of A Accredited Mold Inspection Service,

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

in 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

http://www.florida-mold-inspection.com