Mold Asthma and Allergies

Because their lungs and immune systems are not yet fully developed, children are vulnerable to having health problems from mold. These reactions can include potentially life-threatening mold allergic reactions and mold asthma. In children with pre-existing asthma, mold exposure can trigger attacks. In children with no known health problems, mold exposure can cause common allergic symptoms — itchy, red eyes, skin rashes, nasal congestion — as well as asthma. Mold asthma is characterized by a wheezing cough that indicates constricted airways and trouble breathing. Medication can help alleviate a child’s reactions to mold, but only removing the mold itself can resolve the child’s symptoms permanently.

Learning Disabilities and Mold Exposure

A child’s immature nervous system is also especially vulnerable to the effects of the mycotoxins produced by toxic mold. Exposure to toxic mold during infancy and early childhood can disrupt normal neurological development and have a lifelong impact on a child’s ability to think. Toxic mold can produce neurotoxins that not only cause fatigue, dizziness, and headaches in children, but can damage their growing brains. Toxic mold has been linked to dyslexia and hyperactivity in children.

SIDS and Mold Exposure

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, toxic mold exposure is being investigated in connection with the deaths of several infants in Ohio. Some experts speculate that mold asthma has been misdiagnosed as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, cases in which an apparently healthy infant suddenly stops breathing without apparent cause. Mold exposure also can cause pulmonary hemosiderosis, or bleeding in the lungs. Many infants whose death was determined to be SIDS were found with unexplained blood in the mouth. The ability of toxic mold to also interfere with neurological processes makes it especially dangerous for babies two to three months of age, who are at the highest risk for sudden death.

Mold Exposure and Your Child

What can you do to keep your child safe? Experts recommend you observe your child closely to see if symptoms of allergic reaction are associated with his/her environment. Does s/he feel well in the morning, but ill when on returning from school? School mold might be a factor. Has s/he been having breathing difficulties since you moved into a new home? Mold in the new home might be triggering those health problems.

If you discover mold and decide to remove it yourself, or have it professionally eradicated, move your children to a different location during the entire mold removal process, to prevent additional mold exposure.

Always consult a physician if you have any concerns about your child’s health.

The truth is, if mold is present where you live, play, or work, it is affecting your health. You might not notice symptoms for a long time, but the effects of mold are cumulative, growing worse over time.

Mold Allergies

Many people are allergic to mold spores. Depending on the individual’s immune system and overall health, and the sensitivity of the respiratory tract, mold allergies can cause:

• Coughing and wheezing
• Runny nose or stuffy nose
• Headaches
• Sore throat
• Dizziness
• Numbness
• Fatigue and depression

Many people with mold allergies are also sensitive to household dust, which can contain mold spores, but also bacteria, insect parts, fecal matter, and dead skin cells. Mold remediation, or cleaning up the source of mold, often helps diminish the effects of household dust allergies as well.

Mold Infections

Toxic mold is a fungus, and human beings are susceptible to fungal infections. Aspergillus fungus can cause Aspergillosis, a disease that can range from a simple allergic reaction to a fatal disease in which mold growth, called a fungal ball, begins to grow inside the human body, usually in the lungs, but sometimes in other organs. Where the fungus grows, it produces toxins and erodes living tissue, eating away at tissue linings until the organ stops functioning. Aspergillus can produce a mycotoxin that is the most potent carcinogen known to man. Aspergillosis can be fatal.

Mold Poisoning

The most dangerous of molds, often known as toxic black mold, is Stachybotrys Chartarum. Because molds are living organisms, they eat and excrete. Mold eats the surface upon which it grows; some species of mold excrete a substance known as a mycotoxin. The most dangerous mycotoxins are produced by Stachybotrys. They can:

• Cause neurological damage
• Trigger uncontrolled internal hemorrhaging
• Reduce white blood cell counts
• Suppress the immune system

The effects of mold poisoning from Stachybotrys mold can be fatal. Stachybotrys also is a suspected carcinogen. One of the Stachybotrys mycotoxins, tricothecene, is so deadly it has been investigated as a potential agent for biological warfare.

In addition to Stachybotrys, more than 200 other mold species produce dangerous mycotoxins, including:

• Fusarium can infect the eye, skin, and nails. It also can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and excessive internal hemorrhaging. It mimics estrogen in the human body and can attack the reproductive organs.
• Memnoniella is genetically similar to Stachybotrys, but prefers different food substances. Memnoniella releases potentially lethal mycotoxins that can attack the nervous system and the blood.
• Cladosporium can cause skin and nail infections, but its most potentially deadly consequences are to the lungs. Cladosporium can cause swelling and spasms in the lungs and can lead to emphysema.
• Penicillium spores, when inhaled, can cause a serious lung infection that spreads to the liver, lymphatic system, spleen, and bones. Individuals with suppressed immune systems, due to chemotherapy or HIV/AIDS, are most at risk. One of the Penicillium mycotoxins targets and destroys the kidneys.

Toxic Mold Health Problems

Toxic mold can be deadly. While you wait to have mold eradicated from your home, your health and that of your family members is at risk. Some people have mold allergies, a strong physical reaction to mold spores and the toxins that some species of mold produce. It’s worst for children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems from chemotherapy or diseases like HIV. Some individuals have potentially life-threatening reactions to mold in their environment. Some health professionals believe toxic mold is linked to cases of unexplained infant death (SIDS).
Even if you don’t have an extreme reaction to toxic black mold, exposure to the mold spores will eventually affect your health. Mold health effects are cumulative and might not show themselves for some time. You might notice:

• A stuffy nose upon awakening
• More frequent head colds
• Sneezing
• Sinus problems that grow worse over time
• Sore throat
• Asthma attacks
  
• Coughing
• Wheezing

Exposure to mold can also cause:

• Fuzzy thinking
• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Feelings of depression

Many people suffering from the effects of toxic mold exposure do not link these symptoms with the mold in their homes. Some victims of mold poisoning are unaware of the cause because they don’t see toxic black mold growing in their homes. In poorly ventilated buildings, buildings with structural damage, or those that have been subjected to flooding, hidden mold in the walls can be triggering symptoms.

“I found mold in my home. What should I do?”

According to the U.S. government’s Center for Disease Control, if there is mold growing in your house, your first step should be to remove it. If mold is present, the potential for a health risk is present. No one can determine who will have a bad physical reaction to mold, or how much mold it will take to trigger that reaction. The only way to safeguard your family, or those living in your home, is to get rid of the mold.

The Cost of Toxic Mold Damage

A mold infestation can be costly and time consuming to clean up. You might need to purchase special cleaning products, including protective gear, to do the cleaning. You might need to tear out parts of the structure of your home — or pay someone to do that — to find and eradicate the sources of mold, and then replace those parts of the structure with mold-resistant building materials. You might need to live somewhere else while the work is being done.

Mold in any area of your home is actually eating the surface upon which it’s growing; so if you have a mold covered wall, some of the material of that wall is being eroded every minute the mold is present. Because of the damage it does, as well as the health hazard it presents, mold can drastically reduce the value of your home. If you own a house that is heavily contaminated with toxic mold, you might be unable to sell it for what you owe. If there is a great deal of mold, it might not even be inhabitable.

If you do the cleanup work yourself, you will need to take precautions, because “stirring up” the mold can cause it to release more spores, which will allow the mold to spread. Breathing in the spores can cause serious health problems. While you do the cleaning, you are being exposed to potentially dangerous mold spores.

Toxic mold of any variety, in any amount, is a serious situation that requires your immediate attention and action. Don’t look for easy solutions to mold problems; there is too much at stake.