Effects of Black Mold

The effects of black mold can be harmful for you and your family, and there are many health problems caused by black mold. The health impact can vary depending on the severity of the mold growth as well as each person’s sensitivity to mold. Sometimes mold will begin growing in an unnoticeable place within your home, resulting in a gradual increase of symptoms and other serious health problems as the mold spreads.

How Black Mold Affects You

Varying levels of symptoms may occur, because some people are more sensitive to the effects of black mold. Within your family, you may have one or two family members that are experiencing severe symptoms, while other people do not seem to be affected.

It is more likely that a person will experience severe symptoms if they fall within any of these categories for higher risk factors related to health problems caused by black mold:

Infants and young children.
Elderly people.
Pre-existing respiratory problems, such as asthma or allergies.
Compromised immune system due to medical situations such as HIV, cancer treatments, or medication used for organ transplants patients.

Generally, the symptoms begin small, because the mold problem is minor. Over time, the contaminated area grows, resulting in a higher amount of exposure to the people within the building.

Severity of Mold Exposure

Continued exposure can result in serious health problems caused by black mold. In severe cases, it may even lead to death due to infection, cancer, or complications of an autoimmune disease. Mold exposure should be avoided as much as possible in order to avoid these serious health conditions.

Mold symptoms usually begin with smaller symptoms, such as headaches, breathing problems, coughing, irritated eyes, sinus infections, digestive problems, or dizziness. If the person is still exposed to the effects of back mold, it will most likely result in these symptoms getting worse.

How to Remove Mold

Contaminated areas can be sanitized of the mold, but it takes a lot of effort to effectively get rid of all of the mold spores. Also, this process may increase the health issues because you will be more exposed to the mold spores during the cleanup process.

There are several steps to remove mold from your home, including: scrubbing the area with professional grade cleaner, sanding down wood (should only be done by professionals), replacing any porous materials such as carpet or drywall, removing moldy materials in plastic bags, and thoroughly drying the affected area to prevent future mold growth.

Following these cleanup steps will help you to decrease the effects of black mold on you and your family, which in turn decreases the risk of health problems caused by black mold.

During the cleanup process, take extra precautions in order to avoid cross contamination into other areas of the home. For example, mold spores can get on your clothing and then be moved to other areas in the building as you walk around. Additionally, the cleanup process may cause the spores in the air to be pulled into the ventilation system of the home, causing the spores to spread through the rest of the house. You need to wear protective clothing and a face mask if you are doing the cleanup yourself. Additionally, the part of the home where the mold is should be cut off from the rest of the home with heavy plastic sheets and duct tape to prevent mold from cross contaminating other areas.

The effects of black mold may spread into several areas in your home, so it is important to be thorough with the cleanup process. It is a good idea to have a mold specialist do a test in your home in order to be sure that the mold is gone. The testing process will cost some money, however it is worth the expense in order to avoid health problems caused by black mold.

When to Hire a Professional for Mold Removal

We actually recommend everyone consult with a professional mold removal specialist, since it’s free and you can learn valuable information that will help even if you decide to handle the cleanup yourself. To find a professional that will offer a free consultation, click here. In certain circumstances, it’s definitely best to have a professional do the job, such as:

If you have mold-related health problems, respiratory problems or immune system dysfunction (you don’t want to expose yourself further).
If you have mold growing on wooden surfaces, like studs in the walls (removing mold from such surfaces is challenging).
If mold covers an area greater than three square feet.
If you have mold inside your HVAC system.

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