Toxic mold is harmful to people of all ages, but mold in the home and school can be especially dangerous for children. Mold — even the varieties that don’t produce hazardous mycotoxins — can trigger allergies in children and a form of breathing difficulty known as mold asthma. Mold exposure has also been connected to learning disabilities and infant death.
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.
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