damp buildings often have amoldy smell or obvious mold growth, some molds are human pathogens. this has caused concern regarding
health effects of moldy indoor environments and has resulted in many studies of
moisture-and mold damaged buildings.recently,there have been reports of severe illness as aresult of indoor mold exposure, particularly due to Stachybotrys Chartarum,while many authors describe adirect relationship between fungal contamination and illness, close examination of the literature reveals aconfusing picture. here we review the evidence regarding indoor mold exposure and mycotoxicosis, with an emphasis on S.charatum.we also examine possible end-organ effects, including pulmonary, immunologic,neurologic, and oncologic disorders.
organic toxic dust syndrome, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and allergic lung disease, exposure to massive amounts of fungus can cause asignificant, but transitory, acute lung injury, for example,generally in farmers, who inhaled large quantities of
organisms. all describe an acute organic dust toxic syndrome or silo unloaders syndrome,also called atypical farmers lung or pulmonary mycotoxicosis. this allness differs from hypersensitivity pneumonitis in that it is transient, occurs in naive patients.
Fungal organisms in damp buildings
ahost of mold species have been isolated from damp buildings, the most frequently isolated in one study were Penicillium (96%), Cladosporium (89%), Ulocladium (62%) Geomyces pannorum (57%). there were 66 species of filamentous fungi, and yeasts were found in 94% of dwelling and 13% of cfu on Anderson sampler plates.
in most studies, Stachybotrys has had alow prevelence, being present in less than 3% of samples
technical problems in determining fungal exposure
difficulties in measuring fungal organisms. although available studies provide information regarding which organisms are present in the indoor environment, while adetailed description of such techniques is beyond the scope of this article, several points are worth mentioning. most traditional sampling methods such as exposed agar plates are incapable of adequately measuring either airborne or sedentary organisms, another problem is that many organisma are rarely exist in isolation such as stachybotrys species
now, we need to know how to avoid the risk of the presence of indoor fungi, so firstly we have to know what does mold need to grow? 1 food sources, such as leaves wood, paper, or dirt 2 asource of moisture 3 aplace to grow, its also advanced to visit adoctor when indoor fungi detected
General clean-up procedures
1-identifying and correction of the moisture source
2-cleaning, disinfecting, and drying the moldy area
3- bag and dispose any material that has moldy residues, such as rags, paper, leaves or debris.
substances that are porous and can trap mo9lds, such as paper, rags should be decontaminated and thrown out. harder materials such as glass, plastic, or metal can be kept after they are cleaned and disinfected.
ultimately it is important to remove the source of moisture first,before begining remedial action, since mold growth will return shortly if an effected area becomes re-wetted
removal of moldy materials after fixing the moisture source and removing excess moisture, the cleanup can begin
wearing gloves when handling moldy materials
removing porous materials
use anon-ammonia soap or detergent, or acommercial cleaner, in hot water and scrub the entire area affected by the mold
use astiff brush or cleaning pad on block walls or uneven surfaces
rinse clean with water
(never mix bleach with ammonia - the fumes are toxic