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Signs That You Should Test for Mold
November 15, 2023
Telltale Signs of Mold
Mold is a serious health concern. It typically will form when there is not adequate drainage and/or ventilation in environments with moisture. For example, mold is commonly found in basements and bathrooms because of the constant exposure to moisture. Mold can cause difficulty breathing, sneezing, watery eyes, coughing, headache, and fatigue. Therefore, if mold is present in your home or commercial property, it needs to be treated quickly. Mold is not always visible which can make it difficult to tell if it is present. Here are some signs to help you identify the presence of mold:
- Water Leaks: Water offers a breeding ground for mold spores. If you have persistent leaks in your property, mold can easily grow because of that leak.
- Strange Smells: Mold has a distinct, musty odor that is easy to identify. You will notice the smell as the mold spreads. If you notice strange smells after it rains, you likely have mold in your property.
- Wall Stains: Visible wall stains are a telltale sign of the presence of mold. It is commonly thought that mold is only black in color. However, mold does not just create black stains. It can produce stains that are brighter in color like brown, orange, and green.
- High Humidity: Humidity means moisture. The more humid the air is, the more moisture is in the air. According to the EPA, indoor air humidity levels over 60% can encourage mold growth around your home.
- Asthma Flare-Ups: The mold spores can cause people with Asthma to experience flare-ups. Research from the American Lung Association suggests that people with Asthma can have trouble breathing and reduced lung function which can lead to death.
Schedule Your Mold Testing Appointment Today!
At Exclusive Testing Labs Inc., we provide mold testing services to the White Plains, NY area. Quickly identifying the presence of mold is important. When you first notice any signs of the potential presence of mold, you should schedule a test. The more quickly it is confirmed that mold is present, the quicker it can be cleaned up, preventing the spread, and limiting damages to your property. Contact us today to schedule your mold testing appointment!
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Professional mold testing for both commercial and residential properties is extremely important because Americans are exposed to over 200 different species of mold every day. While some of these molds are harmless, there are many that are not. Indoor mold may be unsightly and smelly, but the potential problems are more serious than that. Actively-growing mold not only has the ability to damage the material it lives on, it can also impair the structural integrity of a building and cause adverse health effects in humans, including allergies and infections. When toxic mold grows, it contaminates the air quality in your home or business which can profoundly affect your health, your family’s health, or your employee’s health. It can cause symptoms such as coughing, headaches, fatigue, sneezing, wheezing, nausea, and rashes. Those with allergies to mold or those with asthma or chronic lung conditions may have a more intense reaction. Signs of Mold You notice a strange musty or damp smell Your property has a history of flooding There has been a recent flood in your property There are places in the building where water or moisture tends to collect There are water leaks in your home/business The Importance of Mold Testing Most of the time, indoor mold growth is obvious and visible. However, sometimes it is not, especially if the mold is growing behind walls, ceilings, or floors. It is hard for the untrained eye to determine whether hidden mold growth is extensive, which is why mold testing is necessary. At Exclusive Testing Labs, Inc., we offer mold testing and remediation services to those in Manhattan, Westchester County, NY, and the surrounding communities. If you have noticed any of the above signs, please get in touch with our team as soon as possible. Learn more about our mold testing and remediation process here .
Make sure that mold is not an issue in your home. Find out how mold testing can protect your property from the effects of mold.
Testing for mold can be done through a variety of techniques such as air, surface, bulk or swab sampling to identify the presence of mold. At present there are no state or federal standards established for unsafe levels or types of mold. There are over 1,000 different molds that have been identified indoors and the health effects of mold growth in homes are not well understood. If testing for mold is done, it is critical to establish a sampling methodology to appropriately address the investigator’s hypothesis. This usually involves collecting control samples (such as outdoors) to compare to samples from the suspect area. For example, if the molds found indoors are different from molds outdoors, or if the levels of molds are significantly higher indoors from outdoors, this may suggest a potential indoor mold problem. How much mold is too much? Any mold growth in a building should be considered a problem because it is damaging to building materials. In addition, it is safest to treat any indoor mold growth as a “potential health hazard” which needs to be corrected because there are no health standards for mold and the health effects of mold are not well understood. Any amount or type of mold should be removed and the moisture problem that allowed its’ growth should be fixed. Is there a “killer mold”? Indoor molds are unlikely to be life threatening. Livestock have died from eating moldy feed and fungal infections can be fatal to humans, although this is rare. There is no specific mold that creates a life threatening situation by its mere presence. Much concern was raised about the mold species Stachybotrys chartarum because it was found in homes of infants with an unusual “bleeding lung disease” in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Stachybotrys was labeled by the media as a “killer” mold because some of these infants died. Recently, however, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other experts reviewed the investigations of the Cleveland case and concluded that an association between the exposures to mold and the illnesses was not proven. Despite the recent focus on Stachybotrys, many kinds of mold may affect an individual’s health. Although healthy individuals are not likely to experience severe effects from small amounts of mold growing indoors, some people are more susceptible and hence, at greater risk than most of the population. It is generally prudent to assume that some people might experience problems when mold is allowed to grow unchecked indoors and the likelihood of health effects increases as the amount of mold or the duration of exposure increases. I’ve been feeling sick lately. Is it from mold? Some people are allergic to mold and some experience asthma symptoms in the presence of mold. Certain types of infections are caused by mold such as athlete’s foot. A few molds can cause infections (such as aspergillosis) in individuals with severely weakened immune systems, for example persons with to advanced HIV or cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Mold has been alleged to cause other health effects in some cases but these are not well understood. If there is visible mold growth in your home it should be removed whether or not you are having health problems. It is important to keep an open mind and consider other possible causes of illness. As with any illness, you should see a physician to try and determine the cause of the symptoms. What is causing the mold growth in my home? Mold must have a source of moisture in order to grow. Some common moisture sources are: Indoors Humidifiers Cooking and dishwashing Bathing / Showering Plumbing / Roof leaks House plants Firewood stored inside Unvented clothes dryer/indoor clothes line Improper venting of combustion appliances Occupancy load Outdoors Flooding Rain or snowmelt Seasonal high humidity Ground moisture Wet building materials The best way to identify a mold problem is to conduct a visual inspection and moisture investigation to identify the moisture sources.
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