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The Toxic Mold & Tort News
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Molds are but one type of fungi that exist in nearly every location across the globe. The purpose of fungi is to break down organic material and recycle them for future use by plants and animals. The family of fungi includes mildews, yeasts, large mushrooms, and mold. Fungi require organic materials in order to form and expand. When damp conditions are present, mold is able to grow on such diverse materials as wood, carpet, insulation, cloth, and all types of food. Mold thrives in damp, moist, or wet surroundings, frequently in areas where humans exist. Molds typically reproduce through their spores that are released into the air and land on moist, organic materials. The spores then germinate and began expanding out in elaborate networks. The factors that determine the rate of this growth include amount of moisture, type of food or organic material, temperature, and many others. Humans often come in contact with molds in moist areas in or around their homes or when mold spores become airborne. These airborne mold spores can come into contact with humans either through the skin or when ingested. If the mold spores are "toxic", they can adversely affect the health of humans. The effect on humans will depend on the type of mold involved, the metabolic byproduct of the mold, as well as how much contact there is and the length of exposure, as well as the level of susceptibility of the human victim. This last factor is important for children who can be affected much more easily than adults. The ill effects of molds generally break down into 4 categories that include allergies, infections, irritations, and toxicities.
Allergies However, according to The Institute of Medicine:
These statistics indicate that allergic reactions are extremely common in humans. Often times, the specific cause of the allergies is in question. Recently, the existence of mold in homes and workplaces has cropped up as a very real possibility as the cause of some of these allergic reactions. Many different types of molds can put their spores and byproducts into the air, but only a few purified mold allergens are available for allergy tests. Atopic individuals can become sensitized to certain molds, but this may not always be cited by a health care professional as a mold-related allergy. A positive mold allergy test indicates that an individual is susceptible to a specific allergen, but testing negative doesn’t necessarily rule out mold allergy for atopic individuals.
Infections Other fungi that cause infection include Coccidioides, Histoplasma, and Blastomyces. However, these fungi are rarely found indoors, growing instead in soil and dirt. Human contact is usually due to contact with animals.
Irritations Fungi that consume certain organic sources can release highly toxic gases. For instance, a fungus that grows on wallpaper often releases toxic gas arsine directly from the wallpaper that contains arsenic pigments. Thus, fungi and molds can release dangerous materials when they break down the host material. This can cause mucous membrane irritation in sensitized individuals. Fungal volatile compounds may impact the "common chemical sense" which senses pungency and responds to it. This sense is primarily associated with the trigeminal nerve. The sensory and motor nerves respond to pungency by trying to hold the breath, discomfort, or through sensations such as itching, burning, and skin crawling. Changes in sensation, swelling of mucous membranes, constriction of respiratory smooth muscle, or dilation of surface blood vessels may be part of fight or flight reactions in response to trigeminal nerve stimulation. Reactions often include a reduced attention level, general disorientation, lowered reflex time, dizziness, etc. Volatile Compounds found in or around homes can be responsible for mucous membrane irritants. It is thought that fungi can add to the already existing compounds when breaking down certain organic substances. A mold-contaminated building may have a significant contribution from its fungal contaminants that is added to common VOCs---building materials, paints, plastics and cleaners. VOCs in general can result in symptoms that include lowered attention span, headaches, lack of concentration, and dizziness.
Reaction to Mold Odors
Toxicities Toxic conditions exist when a human has exposure to these mycotoxins---either through ingesting mycotoxin-containing mold spores or with skin contact to mold itself. Mycotoxins are nearly all cytotoxic (substances produced by microorganisms that are toxic to individual cells), which disrupt various cellular structures such as membranes, and interrupt important processes, including protein, RNA and DNA synthesis. Mycotoxins vary in how dangerous they are for humans. Mycotoxins pose a threat to larger organisms not because they are specifically targeting them, but rather because these large organisms inadvertently come across the byproduct of the competing molds all vying for the same ecological niche. Numerous mold types produce mycotoxins, including some found indoors in contaminated homes and office buildings. Another factor that determines the mycotoxins that are produced by specific molds usually depends on the materials or organisms that they grow on. It used to be thought that dangerous molds were primarily contaminants in foods. This notion is quickly changing. Recently, researchers have become more concerned with multiple mycotoxins that derive from many types of mold spores growing in moist indoor environments. Health effects from exposures to such mold mixtures can differ from those related to single mycotoxins in controlled laboratory exposures. Although it is difficult to predict how exposure to multiple toxigenic molds can affect an individual (they can synergize the effects), the following provides possible poor health effects from mycotoxin exposure to multiple molds indoors.
Unfortunately, not all types or species
of molds have been tested for the presence of mycotoxins. The production
of toxins varies according to the type of mold, the substrate on
which it grows, and seasons of the year. |