THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF MOLD EXPOSURE to people:
According to the Mayo Clinic Study conducted in 1999, nearly all chronic sinus infections (afflicting 37 million Americans) are a direct result of molds in the household.
Molds (sometimes referred to as black molds) can cause harmful responses to humans. Although these are not the lone factors when considering the health affects to mold exposure, since dose and human response can be highly individualistic, the sensitivity of the person exposed is also an important consideration.
For example, to very young children, the immune-compromised, and the elderly are at an increased risk of experiencing adverse health effects related to mold exposure.
There are many ways to attract exposure to molds including dermal contact, ingestion, and inhalation. Health risks include, but are not limited to: allergic reactions, irritation associated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), invasive disease, mycotoxicosis.
Allergy
Allergic reactions are elicited when a substance such as mold that is not harmful in itself causes an immune response in susceptible individuals. The most common symptoms of an allergic response to increased levels of mold range from runny noses, itchy-watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, and throat irritation to more severe symptoms caused by chronic conditions such as sinusitis and asthma.
Irritation
Fungi produce Volatile Organic Compounds during the process of degrading substances to obtain nutrition. The VOCs are the cause of the typical “moldy/musty” commonly associated with fungal contamination indoors. Exposure to high levels of VOCs may irritate the mucous membranes and the central nervous system leading to symptoms of headaches, decreased attention span, difficulty in concentration, and dizziness.
Invasive Disease
This type of disease is uncommon. It is an opportunistic infection caused by exposure to microorganisms that don’t normally produce disease in healthy individuals, but affects those persons with abnormally functioning immune systems. For example, those with HIV/AIDS or those receiving immunosuppressive drugs such as transplant or chemotherapy patients. Some common fungi that have been associated with invasive disease are Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Mucor, and Rhizopus.
Air Purification to Reduce Amount of Spores Inhaled:
You may want to use an air purifier to minimize the airborne particulate, which allows mold spores to disperse to other areas of the home/house or building.
Ionizers are typically better than air filters, since they can remove smaller particles from the air, and do not rely on particulate passing through them in order to remove them from the air.
MOLD HEALTH EFFECTS 1: Type 1 Allergies: Immediate type - hypersensitivity.
Fungi may cause allergic rhinitis similar to that caused by pollen grains, and, after asthmatics become allergically sensitized to one or more of them, they may trigger asthma attacks. Most asthmatics have multiple allergies.
MOLD HEALTH EFFECTS 2: Type 3 Allergies: Delayed type hypersensitivity.
In certain susceptible individuals, after prolonged, heavy exposure, fungi may cause hypersensitivity pneumonitis (allergic alveolitis), characterized by wheeze, shortness of breath, cough, chest tightness, and in some prolonged cases, pulmonary fibrosis. There has been a custom of giving each new subtype of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) an evocative medical nickname, such as farmer's lung, maple bark stripper's disease, and so on. " Humidifier fever " is the most common such name associated with indoor mold proliferation, since HP is often associated with contaminated humidifiers. HP has also, however, been reported from indoor mold proliferations on structural or furnishing elements, such as walls or shower curtains. A HP patient should have strong serum precipitins specific to the fungus (or bacterium or protozoan) which is causing the reaction. Bronchioalveolar lavage or biopsy will usually show elevated numbers of eosinophil cells, showing eosinophilic immune activation.
MOLD HEALTH EFFECTS 3: Bronchopulmonary Mycosis:
Persons who have been asthmatic for many years may progress to have their bronchial passages colonized by a fungus, usually Aspergillus fumigatus, but sometimes another organism such as Bipolaris hawaiiensis, Wangiella dermatitidis, or Pseudallescheria boydii. Constant allergic response helps to maintain the fungal colonization, and first-line therapy is often with steroids: bringing down the level of inflammation may result in elimination of the colonizing organism. Some studies have made tentative links between exacerbations of ABPA and moldy houses. Cystic fibrosis patients also may get allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis.
MOLD HEALTH EFFECTS 4: Allergic Mycotic Sinusitis:
A colonizing infection of mucus adhering to the sinus walls. Very similar to ABPA otherwise, except that patients need not necessarily have had asthma or cystic fibrosis. To date no discrete connection with indoor mold proliferation has been shown in any individual cases, but that may be from lack of investigation. Infections From molds that grow in indoor environments is not a common occurrence, except in certain susceptible populations, such as those with immune compromise from disease or drug treatment. A number of Aspergillus species that can grow indoors are known to be pathogens. Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) is a weak pathogen that is thought to cause infections (called aspergilloses) only in susceptible individuals. It is known to be a source of nosocomial infections, especially among immune-compromised patients. Such infections can affect the skin, the eyes, the lung, or other organs and systems. A. fumigatus is also fairly commonly implicated in ABPA and allergic fungal sinusitis. Aspergillus flavus has also been found as a source of nosocomial infections (Gravesen et al., 1994). There are other fungi that cause systemic infections, such as Coccidioides, Histoplasma, and Blastomyces. These fungi grow in soil or may be carried by bats and birds, but do not generally grow in indoor environments. Their occurrence is linked to exposure to wind-borne or animal borne contamination.
MOLD HEALTH EFFECTS 5: Adverse Reactions to Odor:
Odors produced by molds may also adversely affect some individuals. Ability to perceive odors and respond to them is highly variable among people. Some individuals can detect extremely low concentrations of volatile compounds, while others require high levels for perception. An analogy to music may give perspective to odor response. What is beautiful music to one individual is unbearable noise to another. Some people derive enjoyment from odors of all kinds. Others may respond with headache, nasal stuffiness, nausea or even vomiting to certain odors including various perfumes, cigarette smoke, diesel exhaust or moldy odors. It is not know whether such responses are learned, or are time-dependent sensitization of portions of the brain, perhaps mediated through the olfactory sense, or whether they serve a protective function. Asthmatics may respond to odors with symptoms.
MOLD HEALTH EFFECTS 6: Mucous Membrane and Trigeminal Nerve Irritation:
A third group of possible health effects from fungal exposure derives from the volatile compounds (VOC) produced through fungal primary or secondary metabolism, and released into indoor air. Some of these volatile compounds are produced continually as the fungus consumes its energy source during primary metabolic processes. (Primary metabolic processes are those necessary to sustain an individual organism's life, including energy extraction from foods, and the syntheses of structural and functional molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids and lipids). Depending on available oxygen, fungi may engage in aerobic or anaerobic metabolism. They may produce alcohols or aldehydes and acidic molecules. Such compounds in low but sufficient aggregate concentration can irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory system. Just as occurs with human food consumption, the nature of the food source on which a fungus grows may result in particularly pungent or unpleasant primary metabolic products. Certain fungi can release highly toxic gases from the substrate on which they grow. For instance, one fungus growing on wallpaper released the highly toxic gas arsine from arsenic containing pigments.
Millions of people have allergies, and mold is a common irritant. Mold is also a known trigger of asthma. Symptoms of exposure to mold can be as simple as a stuffy nose or watery eyes. In some cases, they can be much more serious. Certain types of mold give off toxins that can be the source of serious health issues. Also, according to the Centers For Disease Control, some types of mold are a known carcinogenic.
Common symptoms of exposure to mold range from the following:
- Headache, fatigue, shortness of breath.
- Sinus congestion, coughing and sneezing.
- Eye, nose, throat and skin irritation.
- Dizziness and nausea.
Not everyone has the same sensitivity to mold so it is possible for one person to experience discomfort while others living in the home to have no symptoms whatsoever. Individuals at the greatest risk include:
- Allergy and asthma sufferers.
- People with respiratory disease.
- People with compromised immune systems.
- Contact lens wearers.
If mold in your home is the source of these issues, you will find that your health improves if you are away from your home for an extended period of time.
It is a good practice to be aware of, and control, sources of moisture in your home, to clean up mold whenever it is found, and to treat areas where mold is likely to be found so it cannot grow.
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