Type "Black Mold" into an internet search engine, and what do you get? Links to over 5.5 Million pieces of information in less than a quarter of a second.
WOW! The majority of these sites refer to Stachybotrys. It is commonly nicknamed “stachy” and has been sensationalized as "black mold" or "toxic mold" by the media.
What is Stachybotrys?
Stachybotrys Chartarum is the single best known species of the genus. Despite the "black mold" nickname, Stachybotrys is not truly black, but is normally greenish-black in color. It tends to be somewhat slimy, as opposed to powdery. It thrives on on cellulose-containing products that have been wet for several days or more and enjoys a fairly constant moisture source.
Why are People so Worried About Stachybotrys?
Stachbotrys is known to produce trichothecene mycotoxins. Mycotoxins may enter the human body through ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through the skin. Exposure to these mycotoxins may have potential health effects for some individuals including coughing, wheezing, runny nose, irritated eyes or throat, skin rashes, and diarrhea.
Since these symptoms are general in nature, they also can be caused by a cold, virus or exposure to other allergens. It is not known what level of mycotoxin from Stachybotrys must be present in the air to cause health effect symptoms.
People with allergies may be more sensitive to Stachybotrys, as well as other molds. People with immune suppression or underlying lung disease are more susceptible to fungal infections that may be associated with mycotoxins.
Is the Concern About Stachybotrys New?
The potential effects of Stachybotrys toxins were first observed in cattle and horses in Russia in 1920. Stomatitis, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, pancytopenia and neurological disorders developed in these animals after they ingested hay contaminated with Stachybotrys.
Later in the 1970s, it was claimed that Yellow Rain attacks in Southeast Asia were associated with the use of aerosolized trichothecenes as an agent of biologic warfare. However, this claim remained scientifically unproven.
What Caused the More Recent Focus on Stachybotrys?
In 1994, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigated whether exposure to Stachybotrys might be related to pulmonary hemorrhage, also known as bleeding lungs, in infants in Cleveland, Ohio.
While the CDC initially concluded that there was a possible link between exposure to the mold and the condition, Stachybotrys was not found in the homes of seven children with bleeding lungs identified in the Chicago area between April 1992 and January 1995.
A subsequent review of the Cleveland study by a group of CDC experts concluded that a link between exposure to Stachybotrys and bleeding lungs in infants was not proven.
Where Can I Get More Information?
If you want additional information on Stachybotrys, make sure you are using reputable sources that provide the facts rather than relying on scare tactics.
Several good places to start include the Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov/mold) and the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov/MOLD/stachy.htm).
Friday, March 26, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
What You Should Know About Air Sampling for Mold
What is Air Sampling?
Air samples are one of the common techniques used to test for mold. This method quantifies the exposure levels associated with an indoor space and typically compares that level to an outdoor baseline.
Air Matters LLC uses spore trap samples for its air sampling services, specifically the AIR-O-CELL air sampling cassette. This device is designed for the rapid collection and analysis of a range of airborne bioaerosols including fungal species, pollen, skin cell fragments, and insect parts.
How Does Air Sampling Work?
A high volume air pump is calibrated prior to the start of the sample. The AIR-O-CELL cassette is labeled and attached to a tube at the end of the pump. The pump pulls the particulate laden air through the cassette, and the air flow continues out an exit orifice. The length of the sampling period is digitally timed to ensure accurate calculation of the air flow.
The particles are deposited on an adhesive area contained inside the cassette. The AIR-O-CELL cassette is removed from the tubing and sealed. The specific information regarding the sample is recorded on a chain of custody form. After the assessment, all samples and the chain of custody are transported to the laboratory for analysis.
At the lab, the cassette is opened and examined under a microscope. The various particles are identified and quantified. This information is summarized in a report and transmitted to Air Matters LLC.
What Does Air Sampling Tell You?
It is important to remember that air sampling data provides a snapshot of one specific moment in time. Conditions change constantly based on such factors as temperature, HVAC operation, relative humidity, or building activities.
Since there are no widely accepted numerical guidelines regarding mold like there are for other contaminants (radon for example), a thorough site assessment by a qualified professional is critical to interpreting laboratory findings.
If you have more specific questions about air sampling, give us a call today!
Air Matters LLC has performed mold testing services in the Raleigh NC area since 2002. The owner, Renee D. Ward, has over 22 years of safety and environmental experience and holds both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in engineering. Renee is also a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Indoor Air Quality Council. You may contact Air Matters at (919) 961-2221 or info@AirMattersMoldTesting.com.
Air samples are one of the common techniques used to test for mold. This method quantifies the exposure levels associated with an indoor space and typically compares that level to an outdoor baseline.
Air Matters LLC uses spore trap samples for its air sampling services, specifically the AIR-O-CELL air sampling cassette. This device is designed for the rapid collection and analysis of a range of airborne bioaerosols including fungal species, pollen, skin cell fragments, and insect parts.
How Does Air Sampling Work?
A high volume air pump is calibrated prior to the start of the sample. The AIR-O-CELL cassette is labeled and attached to a tube at the end of the pump. The pump pulls the particulate laden air through the cassette, and the air flow continues out an exit orifice. The length of the sampling period is digitally timed to ensure accurate calculation of the air flow.
The particles are deposited on an adhesive area contained inside the cassette. The AIR-O-CELL cassette is removed from the tubing and sealed. The specific information regarding the sample is recorded on a chain of custody form. After the assessment, all samples and the chain of custody are transported to the laboratory for analysis.
At the lab, the cassette is opened and examined under a microscope. The various particles are identified and quantified. This information is summarized in a report and transmitted to Air Matters LLC.
What Does Air Sampling Tell You?
It is important to remember that air sampling data provides a snapshot of one specific moment in time. Conditions change constantly based on such factors as temperature, HVAC operation, relative humidity, or building activities.
Since there are no widely accepted numerical guidelines regarding mold like there are for other contaminants (radon for example), a thorough site assessment by a qualified professional is critical to interpreting laboratory findings.
If you have more specific questions about air sampling, give us a call today!
Air Matters LLC has performed mold testing services in the Raleigh NC area since 2002. The owner, Renee D. Ward, has over 22 years of safety and environmental experience and holds both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in engineering. Renee is also a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Indoor Air Quality Council. You may contact Air Matters at (919) 961-2221 or info@AirMattersMoldTesting.com.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Does Mold Have You Acting Like a Witch?
Mold really can make you act like a witch. . .
I recently came across some information on a book called Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics, and History. In this story published twenty years ago by Yale University, history professor Mary Kilbourne Matossian presents a large amount of evidence that the population of Europe was held down for 500 years by endemic mold-induced food poisoning called ergot or ergotism.
Although most sources attribute this long epidemic to fungi in the genus Claviceps, she also gives credit to the genus Fusarium. Both genera infected rye kernels before and after harvest, producing toxic, long-acting alkaloids (e.g., ergotamine).
Professor Matossian's preface of her book starts off with "People make history, but not just as they please. However strong and intelligent they may be, human beings are vulnerable creatures. . . They may even be laid low by organisms too small to be seen by the naked eye."
She goes on to explain how the poor in northern Europe, who lived on rye bread and little else, were the most affected by molds and the mycotoxins they produced. Grains were truly considered the staff of life, and the poor ate 2-3 pounds of it per day.
Wealthy households were never affected as much as poor households, because their servants prepared the grain as gruel, boiling it over a fire for about a half hour, which broke down the toxin. They also enjoyed a more diverse diet, including meat and white bread.
Poor women miscarried and children died frequently. Those who survived childhood had chronic illnesses, gangrene, and mental disturbances. The hallucinations and seizures experienced were often interpreted as witchcraft, possession, or divine inspiration. Neither the people affected or those around them could explain the uncontrolled behaviors.
No one knew that their diet was responsible for their misfortune. Not until wheat and potatoes began to replace rye did the epidemic abate.
There is even a section on how ergotism may have played a significant role in the Salem Witch Trials. The early settlers of Massachusetts planted rye, ate rye bread, and experienced hallucinations and seizures that are documented to be just like those of the Europeans.
Further discussion examines the growing season, winter and summer temperatures, soil composition, and drainage in the Salem area as likely to contribute to a rye crop infected with ergot.
For more information on the book, including the complete table of contents and an extended preview of many pages, check out Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics, and History on Google Books.
Now you will have to blame those moods on something else!
Air Matters LLC has performed mold testing services in the Raleigh NC area since 2002. The owner, Renee D. Ward, has over 22 years of safety and environmental experience and holds both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in engineering. Renee is also a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Indoor Air Quality Council. You may contact Air Matters at (919) 961-2221 or info@AirMattersMoldTesting.com.
I recently came across some information on a book called Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics, and History. In this story published twenty years ago by Yale University, history professor Mary Kilbourne Matossian presents a large amount of evidence that the population of Europe was held down for 500 years by endemic mold-induced food poisoning called ergot or ergotism.
Although most sources attribute this long epidemic to fungi in the genus Claviceps, she also gives credit to the genus Fusarium. Both genera infected rye kernels before and after harvest, producing toxic, long-acting alkaloids (e.g., ergotamine).
Professor Matossian's preface of her book starts off with "People make history, but not just as they please. However strong and intelligent they may be, human beings are vulnerable creatures. . . They may even be laid low by organisms too small to be seen by the naked eye."
She goes on to explain how the poor in northern Europe, who lived on rye bread and little else, were the most affected by molds and the mycotoxins they produced. Grains were truly considered the staff of life, and the poor ate 2-3 pounds of it per day.
Wealthy households were never affected as much as poor households, because their servants prepared the grain as gruel, boiling it over a fire for about a half hour, which broke down the toxin. They also enjoyed a more diverse diet, including meat and white bread.
Poor women miscarried and children died frequently. Those who survived childhood had chronic illnesses, gangrene, and mental disturbances. The hallucinations and seizures experienced were often interpreted as witchcraft, possession, or divine inspiration. Neither the people affected or those around them could explain the uncontrolled behaviors.
No one knew that their diet was responsible for their misfortune. Not until wheat and potatoes began to replace rye did the epidemic abate.
There is even a section on how ergotism may have played a significant role in the Salem Witch Trials. The early settlers of Massachusetts planted rye, ate rye bread, and experienced hallucinations and seizures that are documented to be just like those of the Europeans.
Further discussion examines the growing season, winter and summer temperatures, soil composition, and drainage in the Salem area as likely to contribute to a rye crop infected with ergot.
For more information on the book, including the complete table of contents and an extended preview of many pages, check out Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics, and History on Google Books.
Now you will have to blame those moods on something else!
Air Matters LLC has performed mold testing services in the Raleigh NC area since 2002. The owner, Renee D. Ward, has over 22 years of safety and environmental experience and holds both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in engineering. Renee is also a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Indoor Air Quality Council. You may contact Air Matters at (919) 961-2221 or info@AirMattersMoldTesting.com.
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