Mold Odors In Your Home And Possible Health Implications

If you are looking for information on mold odors in the home and your health keep reading. However, if you are looking for a mold inspector who can help locate, diagnose, and give consultaiton on mold and mold odor problems click here for A Accredited Mold Inspection Service.

Many mold inspectors and many of our clients do not understand one very important fact about mold. Mold can produce mold odors in your home even when not releasing spores. These odors are actually complex chemicals. They are known as mVOCs or microbial volatile organic compounds. Mold odors are a serious contributor to health effects at many properties we perform mold inspection on.

Mold Odors And Your Health

What are Microbial Volatile organic compounds or (mVOCs) ? These compounds are produced through fungal metabolism. What does this mean? Mold eats wet building materials then the mold grows. The musty smelling waste products they release after digesting those materials are called MVOC’s. They are released directly into the air, often giving off strong or unpleasant odors. Exposure to mVOCs from molds can irritate the eyes and respiratory system. They have been linked to symptoms such as allergies and asthma. However, the effects of mVOCs are not completely understood and research is still in the preliminary stages.

In this inspector’s experience health complaints related to mold odor include the same types of allergy symptoms that mold spores produce. In fact, it is amazing how common it is for this mold inspector to find mold odors coming from walls or coming out of moldy AC ducts. Often people are complaining of building related illness in the exact same area where the inspector finds the odors.

Someone doing mold testing with petri dishes in a lab

Mold Odors Your Health And Scientific Studies

You do not have to believe me in regurds to mold odor in the home and your health. After all, I am just some mold inspector putting stuff online. Any idiot can post anything online. Becasue of this, I have some links so you can see what some smart scientists in the indoor air quality field have said about mold odors or MVOC’s causing illness.

Links

Here is a study from Science of the Total Environemnt Volume 423, 15 April 2012, Pages 18-26. It confirms my own personal mold inspection related observations. This article confirms that mold odor is corralated even in the absence of elevated airborm fungus (spores).

Indoor Dampness and Molds and Development of Adult-Onset Asthma: A Population-Based Incident Case-Control Study. Finland Institute of Occupational Health at al. The study shows that visible mold growth and mold odor in the work place have a similar strong correlation with the onset of new asthma in adults.

Here is a very quick read from the EPA about mold odor and it’s health effects.
The EPA states that mold odor can cause headaches, nasal irritation, dizziness, fatigue, and nausea.

Here is a study from Northern Europe on MVOC’s and asthma.

This study on mold odor and health indicated MVOC were significantly associated with an enhanced risk of multiple allergy symptoms, doctor-diagnosed asthma, and rhinitis, however, it was found only within severely damp homes.

And finally here is some info from the American Lung Association about VOC’s in the home and your health. It does not discuss MVOC’s spifically, however, it discusses general VOC’s from various common indoor sources in the home.

Stachybotrys behind wall paper. Mold testing may not locate hidden mold. But mold odor detection by a good mold inspector can sometimes locate such problems.

House mold odor can also be from mold behind wall paper.

Mold Odors And Hidden Mold

Trapped Molds and Mold Odors

Sometimes the molds are trapped behind wall paper, inside walls, or behind baseboards. Such hidden molds cannot release spores into the air. However, the MVOC’s or odors produces are just chemical gases. These gases are often not trapped. They easily escape to cause health complaints. A mold inspector can take a dozen samples from a home with hidden mold. Often none of the samples will tell you that you have hidden mold or where it is located. However, you may become sick from that mold because of the odors that escape into your air.

Mold In AC Ducts and Mold Odors

In other cases the mold is growing in a vegetative manner like vines and it does not release spores. Such molds will release odors that can cause health problems. This is common in moldy AC units and ducts. A mold inspector can take a dozen samples from a home with moldy AC ducts. Often none of the samples will tell you that your ducts are full of mold. However, you may become sick from that mold because of the odors it produces blow out of the duct.

Mold Odor and Your Mold Inspection

Hidden mold found behind a baseboard during one of our mold inspections.

Sometimes mold odors in your home can be from mold hidden in walls or behind baseboards.

People living with mold odors in the home sometimes do not notice the odors till the inspector till the inspector tells the client to stand in a specific spot. In many cases prior to the mold investigation one member of the family was barely aware of the odor while another member was not aware of it at all. However, such odors are often obvious to this inspector because of experience detecting them.