Consumption and Real Estate
How do you know HOW toxic BLACK mold is? How much is a home test ?
Question : How do you know HOW toxic BLACK mold is? How much is a home test ?
And does this test, detect all different types of molds that could exist in ones home?
We live in a 150 yr. old house that split off into 4 apartments.
I was never familiar w/black mold or molds beforehand, but a few months ago black mold started growing through the paint in one corner of the bedroom. There’s a small leak from somewhere in the roof that has dripped once in awhile apparently in the closet.
Now I’m really MAD because am wondering if it’s been effecting our health + have valuables~esp. photographs that have to be thrown away due to possible toxic mold?
toxic mold testing
Best answer:
Answer by saaanen
Unless it’s stachybotris, black mold is not dangerous.
You simply have a mold variety that happens to be black.
It comes from a water leak. If the leak has already been repaired, someone just painted over the growth without killing it and sealing it.
If this is the case, use bleach to kill it, wash the area with any household cleaner, prime with a stain blocking primer, and paint.
Don’t waste your time, though, until you’re sure the leak has been repaired.
There is no definition of levels of toxicity when it comes to mold because each individual is different and may be more or less sensitive than others to mold exposure. The toxins that are produced are called mycotoxins and can be produced by pretty much any of the mold species. Some forms of aspergillius are actually just as dangerous or can be more dangerous than stachybotrys chartarum. So looking for just one genus of mold is not valid as there could be other species that are toxin producing. The only way to verify that they are is to have a professional take samples for mycotoxins and have a certified lab test them for the mycotoxins being produced.
Home tests are unreliable and usually give you data that has no relations to quantity or type of mold in your house. These are typically petri dish samples where you set out a petri dish and mold will start growing on it. This doesn’t give you a representative sample because it relies on the mold spore landing on the dish and growing. 1. Mold will almost always grow on these because there is always some mold in your home. 2. If there are multiple different types of mold growing in your home if you have 1 species that has 1000 spores per cubic meter and you have another species that has 10 spores per cubic meter what are the chances that you will see the 10 spore species at all. 3. This also gives you no idea of what levels are in your home as they only tell you species. So you could have no mold problem at all or you could have a massive mold problem. Since you don’t know what mold spores are in the outside air then you have no idea what mold spores would naturally be in your home and at what levels.
Can mold effect your health – absolutely but again this gets into levels of sensitivity, mold spore types, if they are toxin producing or not and length of time exposed.
Finally to clear up a common misconception about mold: stachybotrys as seen to the naked eye is commonly black, however the color can vary from white to black. Also species of cladisporium are black to the naked eye and can be confused as “Black Mold” when in reality they are not a commonly toxin producing species at all. So just because it is black or not does not mean you are or aren’t dealing with toxin producing mold. The only way to determine what mold you are dealing with and if it is potentially toxin producing is to have a professional sample the air and take bio-tape samples or swab samples to have them verified at the lab for genus and species and potentially have samples taken for mycotoxins.
I hope this answers your question in regards to how to proceed with determining the extent of the problem that you are dealing with. Also in regards to the people that I know will tell you to just wash it down with bleach: all that will do is send the mold spores into the air where they will possibly carry the mycotoxins, if the mold hyphae is producing mycotoxins, and potentially into your respiratory system which could make the health concerns worse and this would give you a false sense of security because you no longer see the mold, even though it is potentially in much higher concentrations in the air now.