If you’ve got mold in your home, you’ve got a problem. Some people refer to toxic mold or black mold, but the health risk is more complex than just the mold. The mycotoxins, mold spores, and the chemical products traditionally used in the mold remediation process all pose a threat to your health and your indoor air quality.
The dangerous by-product of mold, the thing that makes you sick, is called a mycotoxin. A mycotoxin is a toxin produced by mushrooms, molds, and yeasts. Where there is more fungal growth, there are higher mycotoxin levels. Toxins vary greatly in their severity. Some fungi produce severe toxins only under specific conditions, some are lethal, some weaken the immune system without producing symptoms specific to that toxin, some act as allergens or irritants, and some have no known effect on humans.
Mycotoxins may cause a variety of short-term as well as long-term adverse health effects. These range from an immediate toxic response and immune-suppression to potential long-term carcinogenic effects. Symptoms include dermatitis, recurring cold and flu-like symptoms, burning sore throat, headaches and excessive fatigue, diarrhea, and impaired or altered immune function. The ability of the body to fight off infectious diseases may be weakened resulting in opportunistic infections. Because these symptoms may also be caused by many other diseases, misdiagnoses of mycotoxin exposures are common. Occupational or building-related exposures to mycotoxins through inhalation are slowly being recognized as a major indoor air quality problem. Generally, removal of causative agents, the mold and mildew, is necessary.
I'm talking about mold removal, not just killing mold. Many people believe that when they see mold and spray it with bleach that it's dead and gone because the color has gone away. What you are really left with is bleach tainted biomass, spores, mycotoxins, VOCs, and chlorine.
Chlorine is known to be harmful to human health and indoor air quality just as mold is. It contributes to asthma in children and previously healthy adults. It's effectiveness as a mold killer is questionable because it does not address the spores and VOCs.
The biomass of the mold is most likely still there even if you can't see it. For this reason it is recommended that the mold be physically removed from the surface. That's why we created MoldZyme. When you remove the mold completely, you remove everything that could be making you sick, including the spores and VOCs that you can't see. Plus, you don’t want to leave behind residues from a chemical removal product. Conventional methods require protective gear to protect from both the mold and the cleaning method. Even a small mold clean up project, such as removal from a home exterior or outdoor patio, can expose you to hazardous products and by-products.