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Is Black Mold Dangerous?
Is Mold Dangerous?
When we talk about molds we usually think about those pesky growth of fuzzy materials in our old shoes, or furniture that has been in storage for quiet some time. Not much of a health risk right?
Wrong! In the past decades or less, we have only started to realize and understand the possible health risks that may happen when we inhale, ingest or when our skins come in contact with molds.
An example of how dangerous molds can be is the Stachybotrys chartarum fungus or most commonly known as black or toxic mold.
Black mold was first described as Stachybotrys atra by Corda in 1837, when samples were found on a wallpaper collected in a home in Prague.
This fungi is a member of the Deuteromycetes, order Moniliales, family Dematiaceae, and is common on plant debris and in soil.
Mold requires constant moisture in order to grow.
Stachybotrys chartarum, or black mold is a fungus that has become notorious as a mycotoxin producer that can cause animal and human mycotoxicosis.
S. Chartarum is a greenish-black mold that is commonly found outdoors and sometimes found in damp or flooded homes.
Further Recommended Reading :
Joslyn from the MoldBlogger Team
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this didnt help at allis black mold dangerous
col,leen on July 23rd, 2008Colleen,
My straight answer to you without any other background information is yes, black mold is dangerous.
Toxic black mold is dangerous to human health and should be avoided as much as possible.
Hope this helps,
Joslyn from the MoldBlogger team
Joslyn on July 27th, 2008We have a home that a elderly friend lived in but has recently moved out.It had a approx. 28 inches of standing water in the basement that could of possibly been there for more than a year.Her son has hired my husband to remove everything in the home.We have gotten rid of all of the furniture that has fillings(couch,
Ellen Marquardt on May 15th, 2009mattresses etc.)There are tables,air cleaners and a refrigerator that we would like to keep are they safe?There is mold on the walls especially in the bathroom. Thanks for your help Ellen
Today i had found black mold in the bathroom, is that bad at all? It wasn’t necisarilly big, actually, it was rather small. I was just concerned. Please coment me back. All do respects~ Cheryl
Cheryl on January 4th, 2010i found a lot of mold that looked black in color on my baby’s clothes that were damp and left in the car for a few weeks during the hot summer. i washed them off at home with dreft and am keeping the clothes that seem clean. what should i do with the others that still look like they have black stains etched into them?? is it the dangerous black mold??
Amy on July 11th, 2010we have black mold spreading in our kitchen and it started out from a tap leak and now the bench top has expanded and mold is spreading through our cubords what is the best way to get rid of it,we can’t aford a new kitchen
debbie on May 12th, 2011