An air conditioner or dehumidifier will help you keep the level low. Keep humidity levels as low as you can-between 30% and 50%–all day long.Ventilating shower, laundry, and cooking areas.Thoroughly cleaning and drying after flooding.Promptly fixing leaky roofs, windows, and pipes.Inside your home you can control mold growth by: Correct conditions causing mold growth (e.g., water leaks, condensation, infiltration, or flooding) to prevent mold growth. Inspect buildings for evidence of water damage and visible mold as part of routine building maintenance. How do you keep mold out of buildings and homes? If you or your family members have these conditions, a qualified medical clinician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment. Individuals with immune suppression are at increased risk for infection from molds. Individuals with chronic respiratory disease (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, asthma) may experience difficulty breathing. People with immune suppression or underlying lung disease are more susceptible to fungal infections. People with allergies may be more sensitive to molds. Who is most at risk for health problems associated with exposure to mold?

Some physicians can do allergy testing for possible allergies to mold, but no clinically proven tests can pinpoint when or where a particular mold exposure took place. Further studies are needed to find out what causes acute idiopathic hemorrhage and other adverse health effects. Other recent studies have suggested a potential link of early mold exposure to development of asthma in some children, particularly among children who may be genetically susceptible to asthma development, and that selected interventions that improve housing conditions can reduce morbidity from asthma and respiratory allergies.Ī link between other adverse health effects, such as acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage among infants, memory loss, or lethargy, and molds, including the mold Stachybotrys chartarum has not been proven. In 2009, the World Health Organization issued additional guidance, the WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality: Dampness and Mould. In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people with asthma symptoms in people with asthma and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition. Severe reactions may include fever and shortness of breath. Severe reactions may occur among workers exposed to large amounts of molds in occupational settings, such as farmers working around moldy hay. Some people, such as those with allergies to molds or with asthma, may have more intense reactions.

For these people, exposure to molds can lead to symptoms such as stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes, or skin. How do molds affect people?Įxposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health effects, or none at all. Large mold infestations can usually be seen or smelled. How do you know if you have a mold problem? Other materials such as dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation materials, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery, commonly support mold growth.

Wet cellulose materials, including paper and paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, wood, and wood products, are particularly conducive for the growth of some molds. Many building materials provide suitable nutrients that encourage mold to grow. When mold spores drop on places where there is excessive moisture, such as where leakage may have occurred in roofs, pipes, walls, plant pots, or where there has been flooding, they will grow. Mold in the air outside can also attach itself to clothing, shoes, and pets can and be carried indoors. Mold can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, and heating and air conditioning systems. How do molds get in the indoor environment and how do they grow? We do not have precise information about how often different molds are found in buildings and homes. The most common indoor molds are Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus. Mold can also grow in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery. Mold grows well on paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, and wood products. Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around leaks in roofs, windows, or pipes, or where there has been flooding. Molds are very common in buildings and homes.

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