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Mycotoxins & The Effects of Black Mold
What are Mycotoxins?
A mycotoxin is a toxin produced by a fungus under special conditions of moisture and temperature. These fungi may colonize or infect many kinds of food from the field where you play to the table where you eat.
Mycotoxicosis is the term used for poisoning caused by ingestion of a mycotoxin.
For the past 15 years in North America, evidence has slowly accumulated implicating this fungus as a serious problem in homes and buildings that must be dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Black mold is also tagged by specialists as one of the causes of the “sick building syndrome.”
What do Mycotoxins Cause?
In 1993-1994 in Cleveland Ohio, there was a very unusual outbreak of pulmonary hemorrhage among infants. Researchers then found out that Black mold was growing in the homes of the sick infants.
This incident alone increased the publics awareness of molds in homes and buildings. They also brought this fungus to the immediate attention of the medical community hoping for answers.
How Do I Know if I Have Mycotoxins?
To determine any growth of S. chartarum (Black Mold) in your home would only require visual inspection and/or air and surface sampling. Because black mold is not readily airborne compared to other fungi, air sampling in a contaminated indoor environment may show low levels of spores in the air.
Thorough examinations of potential sites of contamination, especially in covered and protected places, is a must to determine where the fungus occurs and the level of contamination.
If areas contaminated with S. chartarum are discovered, do not attempt to solve the problem without following recommended safety procedures for working with toxic molds, especially if heavily contaminated.
Get advice or professional help if there is a serious problem.
Further Recommended Reading :
Joslyn from the Moldblogger Team
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Hi my name is Evelyn Vazquez and I bought a new house that has black mold. I tried to fix/clean it but it’s still here
Evekyn on June 22nd, 2008Evelyn,
When you have black mold contamination in your home the best thing to do is call in the professionals.
You can try to do use tips from the following post :
5 Levels of Mold Remediation
A mold remediator will detect the places where mold is growing, remove it, and also find the reason why the mold is growing, ie a leak or previous water damage.
Good luck!
Joslyn from the MoldBlogger team
Joslyn on June 24th, 2008I am looking for what the colors of mold mean.
In my test kit, it shows light green in the middle, and white on the outside of the ring. The underneath shows black.
Is there not a color level with level of danger on this site? Need to know.
Please send followup.
thank you
mark on August 26th, 2008what is the best way to eliminate mold from books?
Karen Simons on July 15th, 2009I’m curious about bleach on carpets. Will that kill and deter mold. Or will bleach make it worse? What are the sure tale signs that our living room carpet that has been tread on by the dog, kids, spills and dampness is a hazard!
Holly on July 29th, 2009I live in apartment and i have lived here for a little over 5 years now. The whole time that i have lived here the roof has had several leaks throughout the apartment.The intake vent for the central heating and air leaks water pretty bad whenever we get a good rain. In the bathroom, there was mold in shower that was instead of being cleaned, was caulked over instead. I was just curious if i am in any danger of mold exsposure. My health has seemed to have gotten pretty bad in the last 3 years or so, and now also have a very bad circulation problem with swelling alot. My eyes are always bed red like i was swimming in a pool all day with my eyes open,and i constantly have terrible headaches with confusion. Could there possibly be mold in my home from these problems i have stated and what should i do from here? Please help.Thank you,sincerely, kim
kim richards on November 12th, 2010