Where does mold come from? Do you risk “taking it with you” when moving from a moldy apartment to a not moldy one?
In: Biology
The best mold tests are NOT air tests. Of course most “professionals” will tell you air tests are great, because that’s all they know. But it’s old technology.
The problem with air testing is that you’re only testing at one point in time. Depending on wind, ventilation, air flow, etc, you may get lucky and catch the spores, or you may not.
Over time, mold spores will gradually settle out of the air, and get added to dust. So the best method, recommended by the EPA, is to collect dust and do a DNA analysis on it. This is called an ERMI test. Mycometrics is the best company for this test. They will send you a test kit which is basically a Swiffer and a plastic bag.
Yes you can take it with you. If you’re sick from mold, then it will be on everything you own. Some people who are extremely sick have to throw everything away. Literally everything.
People who are less sick can get away with carefully cleaning everything. Some things that are porous like pillows and furniture are impossible to clean completely. If you need to clean things, then you’ll need to do some research. There are different methods. Join the mold groups on Facebook. Read survivingmold.com.
Fungi are the most common living organisms on earth. The largest single living thing known on earth is a fungus growing underground in a national forest in Oregon. I’ve been in property management for years and I’ve done this speech for hundreds of people.
Yeast, molds, mushrooms, and their spores are literally everywhere, they just need food and moisture. If you leave a piece of fruit out and it gets moldy does that mean your house is contaminated by mold? No, the spores are already there. If you have poor insulation such that the walls are cold and indoor warm air condenses on them, then they will mold. Is your house contaminated? Well, it is now that you’ve grown a colony but the spores were there all the time. Molds come in a million different varieties. Some eat fruit, some eat acrylic paint and drywall, some grow on human oils and skin that are on your walls. Of course you take spores with you and they will join the spores that are guaranteed to already be there. Mold is a moisture problem, that’s it, end of story.
I moved from a nasty mold situation, allergy-triggering for me, in an apartment to a house. Of course it poured the day we moved and a few things got wet. But I never noticed anything once we got to the house. I was really stressed about it but it wasn’t bad. The moisture in the air was way more important than the presence of whatever mold was living on things when we moved it.
Spores, which are like the seeds for mold, and yes if you don’t destroy all the spores, which is also hard to do because they are armored.
Mostly you just have to make sure the conditions that form a place for spores to “sprout” don’t exist, or they will. Spores fly around on air and are everywhere. HEPA filters can remove them, but they can also survive a while on surfaces.
Also when there is obvious outbreak of mold, even if it has since died and dried out, don’t clean it inside your house, and if you don’t absolutely need the container just toss it without opening it. Otherwise you’re agitating and spreading spores everywhere and will just make the next thing “catch” mold faster.
Spores can just be around for years awaiting the moisture and substrate needed.
From personal experience: Get rid of carpet in your bedroom. Carpet, if it gets wet frequently from spills, wet shoes, etc, is a great place for mold to grow, and yes you can track the spores on your shoe soles from one place to another. If you find mold, WEAR A RESPIRATOR when you clean it. I didn’t and scraped it off like an idiot and wound up in the ER, it felt like I had been dosed with a drug (racing heart, confused thinking). I keep a spray bottle of vinegar in every room now and once a month I spray down window sills (mold loves those too), under sinks, and everywhere in the bathroom. Vinegar is a miracle cleaner, totally non-toxic to you, but it dissolves mold instantly and helps prevent the spores from dispersing as you clean it.
Sir, I’m sure you are a terrific lawyer, but you are not a terrific microbiologist or even a very good mold remediator. Your statement, “some People have allergies, that don’t get along with mold, is nonsense. That’s like saying, some people have high blood pressure, that doesn’t get along with radon. It is a ridiculous statement. Molds can be allergenic, whether or not you have allergic reactions to other things. Molds also deliver mycotoxins that can make some very very sick. It’s not something to be taken lightly or dismissed. Also, your geographical description of where mold is, is nonsense. Mold is everywhere. Some of the most serious cases of mold are in the high desert, the Northwest , or Eastern seaboard. For heavens sakes, they are shutting down a hospital in Seattle for mold. Folks, mold is serious.
I’m a lawyer and specialize in real estate law. I get a lot of phone calls about “mold”. End of the day, any time you have moisture, you will have mold. Period. It’s everywhere and there’s only one thing you can do about it: creat a dry environment. Nothing else short of massive laboratory grade technology will stop it.
Most molds are harmless. Some people have allergies that don’t get along with mold. Only in the rarest cases will you find a “toxic” mold, and that’s usually only found in hot, humid environments like the coast along the Gulf of Mexico.
100% anecdotal, but a neighbor of mine had a minor mold problem in their home, like low enough to not cause problems for healthy people or to be of any concern. But the wife had Lyme disease and it increased her symptoms. They had to move and leave EVERYTHING behind. Just straight up moved out, hired a realtor and an estate sale company to recoup any money possible. So yes, it can go with you
You can take it with you! My friend had to get rid of lots of her possessions because her house had black mold. Living there made her whole family really sick and so taking things with them was not an option.
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