Even though mold has been around almost since the beginning of life on this planet, we have only just begun to understand the true hazards of mold and started to classify it into different groups depending on what it does to us and to other organisms on the planet. Depending on the effect that mold has on the health of human beings, hazardous molds are put into three categories: toxic, pathogenic, and allergenic.
The least serious of these seems to be the allergenic, as they only tend to either cause allergies or aggravate the allergies a person already has. Asthma and other respiratory diseases and disorders can also be aggravated by the presence of mold in a home or in a business. Anti-histamines can be taken to help with the symptoms, but these do not tend to do a lot of good. Getting rid of the infection is generally the best way to deal with these symptoms and prevent them from coming back. As with any mold, the people most at risk to show symptoms are young children, pets, and the elderly, although those who are pregnant and especially those with HIV or AIDS can also be effected.
Pathogenic molds are not as common as toxic or allergenic molds, but these can be the most dangerous threats to anyone who has HIV, AIDS, or another type of immunodeficiency. Anyone that has just had surgery of any kind should also be wary of getting around any kind of mold, even if it is just the mold spore count on the news that is high for the day.
Toxic molds are molds such as Stachybotrys atra that produce mycotoxins and while these kinds of molds are not as common living in our homes as others, they can cause significant damage to our health and can even cause death in the most extreme cases. Penicilliosis is an opportunistic infection mostly affecting HIV patients and even though this disease is endemic to Southeast Asia, anyone with an immunodeficiency traveling to or from that area is at risk for infection.
The bottom line is that no matter what kind of mold you have in your home or your business, it is a serious health threat to you, your family, your pets, or your workers. If you can see mold growing anywhere in your home or you are experiencing strange symptoms, purchase some do-it-yourself mold testing kits.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.waterbasementct.info and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
What Mold Has Done For Us
Mold can cause all kinds of negative health effects to us and it has done this for thousands of years, but what about all the good things that we have gotten from the presence of mold? We have been using mold to make different foods and medicines for years, but these days on the news most of what we hear about mold is negative. Perhaps we do not hear about the benefits of this organism so much because they have become such a part of our daily lives.
There are a lot of different foods that have been produced using mold for many years and the most famous seems to be cheese. Blue cheese was accidentally invented a long time ago when mold had contaminated a block of cheese that had been left sitting out to age. Most people either love or hate this cheese because of its salty taste and crumbly texture and because of the blue veins of mold that run throughout the block. It has also become very popular as an ingredient for salad dressing. Since it was first invented, experiments have been done to culture just the right mold to make the cheese taste just right. Gorgonzola and Roquefort cheeses are also produced using molds. These three cheeses are often called the “kings” of cheeses.
The mold Aspergillus oryzae is used in Japan to make the alcoholic beverage called sake. Sake is an acquired taste for those who are used to other European liquors, because sake is made with rice. The mold used to ferment the rice is referred to in Japanese as “koji” and the development of this mold has been almost perfected over the years, even though there are different ways to culture it. This mold begins to break down the rice and produce the sugar that the yeast used to ferment the rice needs in order to keep growing. The process of growing the mold can be extremely effected by temperatures, the type of rice that is used, and the kind of water, among other factors.
One of the most famous uses of mold was the invention of Penicillin by Alexander Fleming back in the first half of the 1900’s. This has been used since then to help in the fight against bacterial infections, even though it has been discovered that some people are allergic to the medicine and cannot receive it due to their skin breaking out or in rare cases, hospitalization or even death.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
There are a lot of different foods that have been produced using mold for many years and the most famous seems to be cheese. Blue cheese was accidentally invented a long time ago when mold had contaminated a block of cheese that had been left sitting out to age. Most people either love or hate this cheese because of its salty taste and crumbly texture and because of the blue veins of mold that run throughout the block. It has also become very popular as an ingredient for salad dressing. Since it was first invented, experiments have been done to culture just the right mold to make the cheese taste just right. Gorgonzola and Roquefort cheeses are also produced using molds. These three cheeses are often called the “kings” of cheeses.
The mold Aspergillus oryzae is used in Japan to make the alcoholic beverage called sake. Sake is an acquired taste for those who are used to other European liquors, because sake is made with rice. The mold used to ferment the rice is referred to in Japanese as “koji” and the development of this mold has been almost perfected over the years, even though there are different ways to culture it. This mold begins to break down the rice and produce the sugar that the yeast used to ferment the rice needs in order to keep growing. The process of growing the mold can be extremely effected by temperatures, the type of rice that is used, and the kind of water, among other factors.
One of the most famous uses of mold was the invention of Penicillin by Alexander Fleming back in the first half of the 1900’s. This has been used since then to help in the fight against bacterial infections, even though it has been discovered that some people are allergic to the medicine and cannot receive it due to their skin breaking out or in rare cases, hospitalization or even death.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
Cell Phone Water Damage Indicator
While I did not pay over $100 for my cell phone, a lot of other people have paid hundreds for theirs and have ended up dropping them in the toilet, the bath tub, the kitchen sink, or even the river or a number of other bodies of water large enough for a phone to be submerged in. There are a lot of places you can get your cell phone wet, but what you probably might not realize is that your cell phone’s warranty does not cover water damage. Manufacturers are even beginning to install these stickers on the insides of the phone in not one, but at least two different places so that if your phone gets wet, you cannot tell the repair technician that it did not. The technician will know if your phone is water damaged simply by the fact that the sticker on the inside of your phone has changed color.
This might be a great thing for manufacturers having to deal with a lot of returns by consumers dropping their phones in the pool and claiming the phone was never wet, but unfortunately for honest consumers, these stickers are so sensitive that they often trip when the humidity is just too high wherever you might be. There is a powdered dye underneath the sticker and when moisture builds up inside the phone, the sticker and dye both get wet and the dye disperses on the sticker, changing it. One of these is typically located on the battery compartment, but another (usually more difficult to access) is located on the circuit board of the phone.
So, how do you get around this? Well, if you want to make both stickers ineffective, you will have to break into your phone quite skillfully, but it can be done. The first sticker is not difficult to reach. Take a piece of scotch tape with a satin finish and cover the sticker with it. If your phone suddenly stops working for no apparent reason, remove the tape and take it back to the manufacturer. I doubt this will help you much if you drop your phone in the bath tub, because it is not likely that a piece of scotch tape will keep the sticker from getting wet, but it will help protect it from moisture due to high humidity. As for the location of the other sticker, you will probably have a hard time getting to it because it is located on your circuit board.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
This might be a great thing for manufacturers having to deal with a lot of returns by consumers dropping their phones in the pool and claiming the phone was never wet, but unfortunately for honest consumers, these stickers are so sensitive that they often trip when the humidity is just too high wherever you might be. There is a powdered dye underneath the sticker and when moisture builds up inside the phone, the sticker and dye both get wet and the dye disperses on the sticker, changing it. One of these is typically located on the battery compartment, but another (usually more difficult to access) is located on the circuit board of the phone.
So, how do you get around this? Well, if you want to make both stickers ineffective, you will have to break into your phone quite skillfully, but it can be done. The first sticker is not difficult to reach. Take a piece of scotch tape with a satin finish and cover the sticker with it. If your phone suddenly stops working for no apparent reason, remove the tape and take it back to the manufacturer. I doubt this will help you much if you drop your phone in the bath tub, because it is not likely that a piece of scotch tape will keep the sticker from getting wet, but it will help protect it from moisture due to high humidity. As for the location of the other sticker, you will probably have a hard time getting to it because it is located on your circuit board.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
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