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About Mold
A five-part overview: What are Molds; Growth
Requirements; Mold Spores; Sources
of Food; Water Requirements.
Do-it-Yourself
Testing - Petri Dish Kits
A Focal Point Perspective
Indoor
Mold Areas - Photos of areas prone to indoor mold growth.
Mold
Cultures
Understanding this method of testing and why it may not tell you what you
need to know. A Focal Point Perspective
Mold
& Health
General information on mold and your health.
Fungal
Glossary
An overview of many types of mold that may be encountered indoors.
Coming
Soon:
Moisture and Mold
Mold on HVAC Vents
Mycotoxins
Remediation - The Objectives
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Related
Topics:
Humidity
- Why it's important.
Online
Psychrometric Calculator
Determine air/moisture properties.
Water
Categories
Contamination levels are an important issue with water damage.
Acronyms
& Abbreviations
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Indoor
mold growth has received considerable attention in the media.
This section
is intended to provide some useful information regarding one of nature's
most durable microorganisms.
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Toxic
Molds
Mycologists believe some molds produce
toxins as a defense mechanism against competing organisms. These
compounds, referred to as mycotoxins, are
substances which are harmful to other organisms, including humans.
Since these toxins are not essential for
growth they are classified as secondary metabolites.
Secondary metabolites require extra work on the part of the organism so
production does not occur at all times, or, with all types of mold.
Some secondary metabolites are considered
good for humans. The antibiotic group
certainly has beneficial use (i.e. Penicillin), however, from the
mycological standpoint, they are still classified as mycotoxins since they
too are generated by mold to ward off competing microorganisms (i.e.
bacteria).
Mold's bad behavior ranges from irritant
and allergenic to infectious. Mold can become 'definitely ugly' when
it crosses the line into the very dangerous area of toxicosis. For
more information...
Trichothecene
Mycotoxins - Access Point to Download Chapter 34 of "Textbook of
Military Medicine: Medical Aspects of Chemical & Biological
Warfare" Borden Institute, Water Reed Medical Center (pdf files)
Trichothecenes
& Aflatoxins - Access Point to Chapter 4; "Volume 5: Chemical
& Biological Warfare Agents"; A
Review of the Scientific Literature as it Pertains to Gulf War Illnesses;
RAND
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Adaptation
and Experience
You can pretty much forget about trying to escape
fungi as it is unbelievably adaptive to conditions on our planet.
There are fungi that thrive in hot, cold,
wet, dry, high, low, and almost everywhere in between.
What one strain of mold doesn't like for
food, there is generally another that prefers that menu. There are even molds that grow on mold.
And if time on the job is an indicator of
experience, few things on our planet can match mold. As one of the
oldest known organisms, mold has seen most everything, and
survived.
Yes, it's probably been around as long as
dirt, but mankind is still a long ways from understanding the overall
impact of this tiny organism.
"Humongous
Fungus"
It started 2,400 years ago as a single
spore invisible to the naked eye then grew to become a 3.5 mile-wide
mushroom. Dubbed "the humongous fungus," this honey
mushroom (Armillaria ostoyae) covers some 2,200 acres in Oregon's
Malheur National Forest. (from MicrobeWorld.org)
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Remediation
Guidelines
Direct
Links to:
New
York Mold Remediation Guidelines
EPA
Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings
Ancient
Remediators
From the Old Testament
Leviticus 14:
"If the spots have spread in the wall, then the priest shall order
the removal of the spotted section of the wall, and the materials must be
thrown into a defiled place outside the city.
Then he shall order the inside walls
of the house to be scraped thoroughly, and the scrapings dumped in a
defiled place outside the city.
Other stones shall be brought in to
replace those that have been removed, new mortar used, and the house
re-plastered."
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