West Palm Toxic Black Mold Inspections

 

Information provided by A Accredited Mold Inspection Service, Inc. A West Palm Beach company offering West Palm Beach toxic black mold inspections, Miami toxic black mold inspections and Ft Lauderdale area toxic black mold inspections and testing since 2003.

Stachybotrys is a slow growing mold and requires high levels of water in it’s substrate. This inspector commonly finds it growing in wet, dark, hidden areas. It loves areas where a slow hidden leak can continue unnoticed and uncorrected for a few weeks or months such as inside wall cavities.
According to literature and according to this inspectors experience during many certified south Florida mold inspections this mold grows almost exclusively on very wet cellulose containing materials including paper, carpets, ceiling tile, and especially on drywall. It loves drywall because of the cellulose paper on the front and back surfaces of drywall. Wood contains cellulose, and yes Stachybotrys will grow on wood but it is not found growing on wet wood as often as one would think. The cellulose food in wood is protected to some degree by wood’s lignin. In water damaged buildings the wood surfaces are more likely to be colonized by Chaetomium and pen asp.
Toxic black mold or Stachybotrys is found by certified mold inspectors about 6% of the time in indoor air samples and about 1% of the time in outdoor samples.
It is the most feared of all molds, due to the numerous news reports, newspaper articles, and magazine articles attributing possible brain damage, infant deaths, cancer, expensive property damage and other horrible consequences surrounding its growth in residential settings. This West Palm Beach mold inspector has conducted numerous investigations where Stachybotrys also know as toxic black mold infested buildings including heavy infestations around 18 AC units is a building in the Caribbean and extremely heavy infestations in a bank in North Florida, this inspector has yet to see toxic reactions from this mold. He knows of no cases where it has caused death.
Many molds produce mycotoxins (toxic chemicals that molds use in a type of microbial warfare). Living things that do not possess claws, fangs, or a hard shell to use in self defense or fast legs to run away from predators, will typically revert to the use of camouflage or the production of poisons. This is very common in nature.
In reality, toxic molds found during our mold inspections and testing in West Palm Beach are a health problem because of allergy but mold like Stachybotrys also known as toxic black mold and others may have to be either consumed in mold contaminated foods, or physically handled so that excessive physical contact is made between human skin and the mold in order for toxic reactions to develop. At this time most scientists do not believe that breathing in toxic mold spores can have toxic effects on humans when inhaled at the levels typically encountered in homes and offices.

Public opinion may not be in support of the above statements but science seems to currently (2012) be in agreement with the above view, and in the

future we may find that the above statement is not true and perhaps one day we will find that toxic molds cause toxic reactions via inhalation but currently scientific evidence does not support the view that toxic molds can poison you via inhalation at levels found in indoor environments. To support this statement please review the following abstract from the International Journal of Toxicology Volume 23, Number 1 / January-February 2004 pages 3 to 10.

“Risk from Inhaled Mycotoxins in Indoor Office and Residential Environments

Bruce J. Kelman A1, Coreen A. Robbins A1, Lonie J. Swenson A1, Bryan D. Hardin A1 A1 GlobalTox, Inc., Redmond, Washington, USA

Abstract:

Mycotoxins are known to produce veterinary and human diseases when consumed with contaminated foods. Mycotoxins have also been proposed to cause adverse human health effects after inhalation exposure to mold in indoor residential, school, and office environments. Epidemiological evidence has been inadequate to establish a causal relationship between indoor mold and nonallergic, toxigenic health effects. In this article, the authors model a maximum possible dose of mycotoxins that could be inhaled in 24 h of continuous exposure to a high concentration of mold spores containing the maximum reported concentration of aflatoxins B1 and B2, satratoxins G and H, fumitremorgens B and C, verruculogen, and trichoverrols A and B. These calculated doses are compared to effects data for the same mycotoxins. None of the maximum doses modeled were sufficiently high to cause any adverse effect. The model illustrates the inefficiency of delivery of mycotoxins via inhalation of mold spores, and suggests that the lack of association between mold exposure and mycotoxicoses in indoor environments is due to a requirement for extremely high airborne spore levels and extended periods of exposure to elicit a response. This model is further evidence that human mycotoxicoses are implausible following inhalation exposure to mycotoxins in mold-contaminated home, school, or office environments.”

Regardless of if toxic mold can poison you with mycotoxins via inhalation, it is a fact observed by this inspector many times that mold can make some people very sick. Asthma attacks, allergies, and sinus infections from mold appear to be very common. Such conditions in turn can cause people to loose sleep, loose energy and concentration, miss work, and in general feel as if they were being poisoned by mycotoxins.

About the A Accredited Inspection Service:
We inspect only thus have no conflict of interest, we only have your health as our concern. We do not perform mold remediation jobs. Having no conflict of interest we provide honest information on Stachybotrys or toxic black mold as it relates to your health. We are a fully certified mold inspection firm conducting indoor air quality and mold investigation on both offices, retail stores, office buildings, and residential properties such as homes, condos, and town homes. We check for home or house mold problems caused by issues such as flood, storm surge, and hurricane damage, as well as from roof and plumbing leaks and from humidity or condensation. As of 2010 the state of Florida requires state license for Fl mold testers and We are state licensed, in addition, because we are certified by ACAC as a certified indoor environmentalist since 2005 we met the license requirements long before a license was required by the state.
About the Author:

Daryl Watters has a bachelors degree in Education for Teaching Biology and General Science and is a certified allergen inspector, and certified mold inspector as well as a certified home inspector and certified indoor environmentalist providing building inspections in South East Florida from 1993 to the present.