Because mold season is sometimes allergy season, you might need to visit your allergist to get rid of the symptoms.

Common symptoms for allergy sufferers:

• Rashes
• Itchy, watery eyes
• Itchiness (body)
• Difficulty breathing
• Congestion
• Anaphylaxis

If you are suffering from allergies related to mold—or any other cause—, it may be time to visit the allergist. The allergist can perform a battery of allergy tests to pin down the exact cause, although sometimes an allergy is idiopathic, i.e. the cause is unknown. In fact, after mold testing in a residence, sometimes the results of a mold test has helped an allergist pin down the cause of the idiopathic allergen.

If you’re in California, you might want to give us a call and see about getting an assessment from Byebyemold.

The risks associated with having mold in a home vary according to the time of year and the individual involved. Of course the prudent course is to eliminate molds from the living environment.

Mold spores exist both inside and outside. There are those who have little reaction from mold exposure, and there are those who have asthma, stuffy or runny noses, eye irritation, fever, wheezing, lung inflammation, and skin rash. In fact, allergic reactions range from mild to life-threatening. Those with pre-existing conditions like allergy, lung issues or immune-system dysfunction tend to have more dramatic negative physical responses to mold.

While the cause and effect seem clear, there is litigation going on in the court system to determine whether or not there is adequate proof that exposure to indoor mold can cause respiratory allergies.

A new study of children’s susceptibility to interior wetness and mold by the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests that children living in damp, water- damaged houses may develop nasal allergies and moist, moldy settings in the house are related an increased danger of children’s nasal allergies.

Generally it makes sense to eliminate the mold as it does affect the home environment. Plus such conditions (i.e. humidity) are also amenable to fungi and dust mites.

Download the pdf report to the California legislature on implementation of the toxic mold protection act of 2001.

A Harvard Medical School Study found that the interaction between environmental mold exposure and certain variants of chitinase genes were positively associated with asthma.

Chitinases break down a component in fungi called chitin, which is also a component in the cuticles of crustaceans and insects, the radulas of mollusks and the beaks of cephalopods, including squid and octopuses.

The asthma study was published online June 24 and will be in an upcoming print issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

People suffering from sick building syndrome are often misdiagnosed, and may be suffering from multiple chemical sensitivities that further complicate making a diagnosis. Even if no one sees, feels or smells anything, the allergen or substance may be there. This occurs at both ends of the spectrum: either in an airtight facility or one with poor ventilation.

Be on the lookout or chronic fatigue symptoms, unusual pollen or mold reactions, all of which could be from living in an environment where the toxins are trapped inside your living space.

In these circumstances, having the air tested for pathogens (mold, benzene, formaldehyde or particulates) is a wise move.

The non-profit Washington DC General Family Shelter is about to experience some changes.

In February, Councilmember Tommy Wells toured the facility and saw mold and ceiling damage in the stairwells and heard complaints about plumbing problems, and concerns over cleanliness.

It’s either going to close, or possibly be under new management. Current management allowed an assortment of allegations and mismanagement, including mold. In a June assessment, either the mold and peeling paint were not there, or the Department of Human Services missed them in their assessment. The current management company will most likely be ousted.

Mold can have devastating health effects and surely could have been a factor in the deaths of the two infants there in the past two years. (Infants are particularly susceptible to severe reactions to mold.)

If this is your situation too, and you’re in California, you might want to give us a call and see about getting an assessment from Byebyemold.

If you’re suffering from a winter cold symptoms that only go away when you leave your house, what you’ve got is probably not a cold at all. It’s most likely an allergy.

One of the most common house allergies is to indoor mold. We’re not even referring to the toxic mycotoxins that mold creates. Even if there’s no mold currently growing, the human body develops a sensitivity to the proteins the cell walls of the spores are made of. This respiratory allergy accounts for much of the breathing problems (coughing, wheezing and hacking) that afflict families whose have residences where mold has taken a foothold.

Check for mold around where a water incursion may have occurred-around windows, doors, plumbing and roofing leaks. Check in areas like bathrooms and laundry rooms where high humidity has no outlet.

If this is your situation too, and you’re in California, you might want to give us a call and see about getting an assessment from Byebyemold.

If this is your situation too, and you’re in California, you might want to give us a call and see about getting an assessment from Byebyemold.

Trichothecenes are not a type of mold; they are a type of byproduct.

Chemically related mycotoxins called Trichothecenes are commonly found in the urine of sick people living in moldy homes. After skin contact or ingestion, trichothecene mycotoxins cause irritation to the skin or along the internal digestive path and also result in inhibition of protein synthesis, reduced appetite or vomiting. Brain function may be impaired, (with symptoms from slurred speech, ‘fever dreams’, multiple personality disorder or paranoia.)

The best way to deal with mold is not to have the problem in the first place.

How do we do this? By prevention.

• Maintain a dry house.

• Make certain clothes are completely dry before putting them away.
• Maintain plumbing. No plumbing leaks equal no hidden water to feed hidden mold.
• Maintain roof. If you’re roof doesn’t leak, it’s not contributing hidden water to feed hidden mold.
• If mold or mildew develops in humid areas like your bathroom, you can control it on hard surfaces by rinsing with a bleach solution.

If mold does develop in spite of your best efforts, a mold inspector can help pinpoint hidden mold.

Condensation has created mold in some classrooms of the afflicted G building of Mt. Vernon Township High School. Earlier mold issues have been corrected, supposedly but we all know that any ongoing moisture situation will cause an ongoing mold situation, given the right environmental conditions for mold.

Humidity in the classroom has caused condensation on tables, desks, chairs, floors, walls and equipment, which eventually means mold on tables, desks, chairs, floors, walls and equipment. The situation is being attributed to humid conditions after the air conditioning was turned off. Hopefully the in-house maintenance (wiping the affected pieces down with wipes) and removing the humidity will address the situation.

However, an inspection would reveal if there are soft surfaces which may have been affected, which wipes would not be able to address adequately.

The World Health Organization has produced a case study “Interventions and actions against damp and mould, ” The study,
performed by Dorr G. Dearborn, PhD, MD studies Ohio Cuyahoga county. Part of the study focused on moisture intervention and lists something we’ve been saying all along:

• Remove moisture damaged material.
• Remove mold exposure pathways.
• Clean mold from hard surfaces.
• Stop rain water intrusion.
• Exhaust water vapor.
• Repair plumbing leaks.

The study in pdf form can be found here:

Ironically, I wonder at a “HUD grant recipient” using the British spelling of mold in the document title.