Is Your Health at Risk from Mold?

You’ve probably seen stories in the news warning you about the dangers of black or toxic mold. While mold is an environmental hazard that can cause health problems, not all types of mold will harm you. In fact, you may not be affected much at all by mold growing in your home unless you’re at an increased risk — and the amount of mold isn’t too serious.

Some people are more at risk to having a reaction to mold than others. High-risk groups include:

• People who have a chronic lung disease (cystic fibrosis, COPD, etc)
• People who have allergies (including seasonal allergies)
• People with asthma
• People with a compromised immune system (which may be due to cancer, HIV, or liver disease)
• Elderly people
• Children

What are the Health Risks of Mold?

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to the dangers of mold exposure. Toxic mold exposure has led to several major lawsuits and cases you may have heard about in the news but researchers haven’t found many links between mold and specific conditions.

It is known that some people are especially sensitive to reacting to mold spores in the air, including the groups listed above. The types of health problems that can result from exposure to mold are usually divided into a few categories.

Allergic Mold Reaction

The most common reaction to mold spores is an allergic reaction. The reaction depends on your mold sensitivity. If you’re allergic to mold spores, you may experience common allergy symptoms like itchy and watery eyes, wheezing, and rashes. It’s also possible to develop more serious reactions like trouble breathing and fever.

This allergic reaction is your body over-reacting to the spores. If you have other allergies, you may be at a higher risk of an allergic reaction to mold, which has also been linked to asthma. The symptoms may be very minor and easy to disregard or they can be life-threatening if your airways are restricted.

Aspergillosis

There are several diseases linked to Aspergillis mold. Aspergillosis is an infection caused by this mold that typically affects the respiratory system. Aspergillis mold is very common and it can trigger the disease in anyone, although it’s most common in people with compromised immune systems, asthma, or lung disease. Sometimes aspergillosis is a very mild lung infection but it can be serious. The disease can also become invasive if it spreads to blood vessels and then throughout the body.

Toxic Mold Diseases

Scientists have spent years trying to link mold exposure to a number of serious health problems like fibromyalgia and cancer. There still isn’t evidence proving a connection, but it is a possibility that some types of mold can lead to more serious health problems.

If you or someone in your house is at risk for health problems from mold exposure — or you want peace of mind — it’s important to have a professional mold test conducted to check for mold growth in your home by experienced professionals such as United Water Restoration Group (Click Here). This is especially important if your home has had a flood or any type of leak recently, as mold can grow on wet material after just 24 hours. If the test does find the presence of mold, the removal process can be fairly straightforward to improve your indoor air quality.