Is mold attacking your home?

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Posted on Sat, Feb. 18, 2006

Space Invaders

Is mold attacking your home? Don't panic.

By Beth Breckenridge

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/home/13904304.htm

Mold in buildings can compromise structures and make people sick.

Often, that mold lurks in hidden places -- behind the walls, in the

air conditioning system, on the underside of Grandma's old chest of

drawers.

Yet people often ignore those sources, simply because they're not

visible, said May, a mold-investigation specialist and

author of The Mold Survival Guide.

``People react most strongly to what they can see,'' said May, who

owns May Indoor Air Investigations in Cambridge, Mass. So the slimy

gunk in the shower or the black stuff in the attic may worry them,

when those probably aren't nearly as threatening as what's under the

basement carpet or behind the paneling.

Before you panic and start tearing out drywall, however, you should

know that serious mold infestations aren't rampant. In fact, most

houses don'thave a significant mold problem, said Sill, owner

of Cierra Environmental, a Ravenna company that specializes in mold

inspection, testing and remediation.

In those that do, there's some sort of underlying cause, such as

improper ventilation, a leak in a water pipe or a bathtub overflow,

Sill said. ``The mold follows the water,'' he said, ``and the water

doesn't just appear in the house.''

Even if your house does have mold, the problem may not be

significant if no one in the house is sensitive to it, said Thad

Godish, a professor of natural resources and environmental

management at Ball State University, who has researched mold

contamination of buildings. But for people who are sensitive to it,

mold can trigger asthma, chronic coughs and more serious respiratory

ailments.

Mold is in the air all the time, Sill and May said, so it's

impossible to achieve a level of sterility that would make a house

mold-free. Nevertheless, May believes mold shouldn't be growing

unchecked in any home.

So what is mold, anyway?

Mold is fungus -- actually, any of many types of fungi. Mold plays a

useful role in nature, because it secretes enzymes that break down

matter.

Mold becomes a problem, however, when it starts feeding on things we

don't want it to, such as the wood frames of our houses or the paper

that covers drywall. Mold can weaken and ultimately destroy parts of

a house. It can send spores and other particles into the air we

breathe.

``Mold is out there doing its job,'' Godish said. ``It's trying to

eat your house down. If you give it a chance, it will.''

The most common types of fungi in a home -- what we typically refer

to as mold or mildew -- belong to the genera Cladosporium,

Penicillium, Aspergillus, Alternaria, Stachybotrys and Chaetomium.

Different types of mold feed on different substances, such as wood,

cellulose, dust and soap scum. All need food and water to grow.

How big a problem these molds pose depends partly on how much is

present. A trace of mold around the edges of windows isn't likely to

release enough spores to cause health problems, Sill said, while a

moldy section of basement wall could be a breeding ground of misery.

Not all are worrisome

The type of mold is significant, too. Many molds found in a house

are superficial, May said -- they grow on a surface but don't attack

what's underneath. But Godish said those molds can set the stage for

other fungi to come in and hasten the destruction.

And while May said any type of mold can cause allergic reactions

when it's breathed, some molds produce tinier spores that float in

the air longer and lodge more deeply in the lungs. Aspergillus, for

example, is often linked to a condition called hypersensitivity

pneumonitis, a chronic lung disease that he said is relatively rare

but often misdiagnosed as pneumonia.

AC can harbor spores

One of the most common hidden sources of mold in modern buildings is

the air-conditioning system, May said. In summer, water pools in the

unit and provides the perfect breeding ground for mold. In winter,

when the mold is dry, particles are easily picked up and blown

through the air.

Basements and crawl spaces are other places where mold tends to

grow. The relative humidity typically is higher there than in the

rest of the house, and Sill said the darkness allows mold to grow

faster.

Mold is also common in attics and bathrooms -- particularly

bathrooms that don't have a fan or that stay steamy for a long time,

Sill said. Houses that are left unheated can experience mold growth,

too, because moisture from the air condenses on the cold walls.

Paradoxically, the one type of mold that's probably gotten the most

attention and caused the most fear -- the so-called toxic black

mold -- isn't a common source of health problems, May and Godish

said.

Types of black mold

When people talk about toxic black mold, they're usually referring

to Stachybotrys chartarum, May said. But ``toxic black mold'' is a

term he and Godish avoid.

For one thing, it's technically incorrect. It's not the mold that's

toxic, Godish noted; it's the substance it produces. For another,

the term is misleading, he and May said. It tends to make people

think all black mold is highly threatening, when it's not. Black

molds are common in bathrooms and attics, for example, but they're

usually not Stachybotrys.

While it's true that Stachybotrys chartarum produces a mycotoxin

that's very poisonous -- you can die from eating it -- May and

Godish said there's no strong scientific evidence that the mold

causes significant health problems if it's not disturbed. It also

grows only in areas that stay very wet, so it's not all that common.

Nevertheless, the mold can cause such fear that people overreact,

Godish said. ``I've seen people basically abandon their houses with

a little bit of Stachybotrys around their bathtub,'' he said.

Overreactions to mold in general aren't uncommon. Sill said many

people have the misconception that any kind of mold permanently

harms a home's value. ``It can be fixed,'' he said.

How mold is remediated depends on the material it has affected, Sill

said. Treatment might involving removing the mold using a HEPA

vacuum, sanding surfaces, treating with a biocide or applying a

material that encapsulates the surface. Porous materials such as

drywall, insulation and mattresses may need to be removed.

Depending on the extent of the problem, the cost of testing

remediation can be significant, although some insurance policies

will cover it.

Better to prevent the problem in the first place, the experts agree.

Because other than the Camembert in your refrigerator, mold in the

house just isn't a good thing.

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Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or

mbrecken@...