Re: Less than 50% relative humidity indoor humidity stops mold growth

[Guest guest]

A comment on exhaust fans and feeling better. A steady flow of fresh

air removes indoor pollutants including the biomas gases produced by

mold. In addition during cold weather, cold weather make-up air

reduces the indoor relative humidity below 50%. Keeping the relative

humidity below 50% stops mold growth. As our seasons change to warm

damp weather, the the exhaust fan ventilation removes indoor

pollution but loads the home with moisture. To see the effect,get a

good humidity meter like the Wal Mart 00891 for <$15. When the indoor

relative humidity stays above 60%, think about reducing the relative

humidity with a dehumidifier. At 75^F, 60% RH in the living room,

the naturally cooler basement is at 65^F, +82% RH. After a couple

days at +82% RH mold grows on any organic or dusty surface.

Dehumidification is urgently needed to reduce the relative humidity

below 50%. A week of warm damp weather commonly occurs in most green

grass climates. In addition exhaust ventilation depressurizes the

home forcing outside high humidity air into the exterior wall

cavities. Days of high humidity in walls causes mold growth in the

cavity. To stop this problem, the fresh air ventilation should be

make-up air that has been filtered and dried. The warm dry air is

forced out through the wall cavity removing the moisture. This issue

is critical when the cool wet weather that lasts for more than a

couple days. Remember less than 50% RH stops mold growth. Plus 70%

grows mold. Dehumidification and make-up air ventilation avoids all

of this.

> out that there is a fan that vents to the outside and the smell of

> mold is now almost gone. I am just wondering if anyone has any

info

> on this particular mold, or molds in general, other than the highly

> toxic ones? Or is the " party " ' line pretty much that other than

the

> toxic ones, they are harmless, except to those allergic? And of

> course, the traditional belief is that an allergy is pretty

harmless,

> albeit uncomfortable. Just take a pill, or inhaler, or steroid,

> whatever. Get over it. Well, I don't do any of that, I'm

recovering

> my health naturally, by living in a healthier space, avoiding

toxins

> whenever possible, living naturally as much as I can with food, and

> not poisoning myself with " health " and " beauty " and " cleaning "

junk.

> I also have a wonderful doctor, and am getting rid of my amalgam

> fillings, and getting chelation therapy. All off the mold topic,

> sorry. Anyway, does anyone know of any info re: this mold, or mold

> in general other than the really toxic ones. I'm looking for

> something that will show that this is unhealthy for anyone, not

just

> a person who has a compromised immune system. Or is it really only

> bad for those with compromised immune systems? If so, I guess I

will

> just quit, and not try to make them do anything more about it.

> Thanks in advance.

> Lise

[Guest guest]

I was told that household humidity needed to be below 30% to stunt mold growth. Is 50% accurate? I would like to know in order to provide the best environment for our family. Any input would be wonderful.

Thank you -

grasshoppers53527 <keng@...> wrote: A comment on exhaust fans and feeling better. A steady flow of fresh air removes indoor pollutants including the biomas gases produced by mold. In addition during cold weather, cold weather make-up air reduces the indoor relative humidity below 50%. Keeping the relative humidity below 50% stops mold growth. As our seasons change to warm damp weather, the the exhaust fan ventilation removes indoor pollution but loads the home with moisture. To see the effect,get a good humidity meter like the Wal Mart 00891 for <$15. When the indoor relative humidity stays above 60%, think about reducing the relative humidity with a dehumidifier. At 75^F, 60% RH in the living room, the naturally cooler basement is at 65^F, +82% RH. After a couple days at +82% RH mold grows on any organic or dusty surface. Dehumidification is urgently needed to reduce the relative humidity below 50%. A week of warm damp weather commonly occurs in most green grass climates. In addition exhaust ventilation depressurizes the home forcing outside high humidity air into the exterior wall cavities. Days of high humidity in walls causes mold growth in the cavity. To stop this problem, the fresh air ventilation should be make-up air that has been filtered and dried. The warm dry air is forced out through the wall cavity removing the moisture. This issue is critical when the cool wet weather that lasts for more than a couple days. Remember less than 50% RH stops mold growth. Plus 70% grows mold. Dehumidification and make-up air ventilation avoids all of this. > out that there is a fan that vents to the outside and the smell of > mold is now almost gone. I am just wondering if anyone has any info > on this particular mold, or molds in general, other than the highly > toxic ones? Or is the "party"' line pretty much that other than the > toxic ones, they are harmless, except to those allergic? And of > course, the traditional belief is that an allergy is pretty harmless, > albeit uncomfortable. Just take a pill, or inhaler, or steroid, > whatever. Get over it. Well, I don't do any of that, I'm recovering > my health naturally, by living in a healthier space, avoiding toxins > whenever possible, living naturally as much as I can with food, and > not poisoning myself with "health" and "beauty" and "cleaning" junk. > I also have a wonderful doctor, and am getting rid of my amalgam > fillings, and getting chelation therapy. All off the mold topic, > sorry. Anyway, does anyone know of any info re: this mold, or mold > in general other than the really toxic ones. I'm looking for > something that will show that this is unhealthy for anyone, not just > a person who has a compromised immune system. Or is it really only > bad for those with compromised immune systems? If so, I guess I will > just quit, and not try to make them do anything more about it.> Thanks in advance.> LiseFAIR USE NOTICE:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

[Guest guest]

The correct relative humidit is below 50% during the warm time of the

year and low enough to avoid condensation on cold surfaces during the

cold time of the year. This could be 25%-30% RH during extreme cold

weather like 0^F outside. This documented by EPA. Also occasional

condesation or rise in RH lasting less than 24 hour will not grow

mold.

>

> I was told that household humidity needed to be below 30% to stunt

mold growth. Is 50% accurate? I would like to know in order to

provide the best environment for our family. Any input would be

wonderful.

> Thank you -

>