For people sensitive to mold, inhaling or touching mold spores can cause allergic reactions, including sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash.
This mold is often green or black in color and can sometimes cause health problems for people exposed to it. When black mold grows in your shower, it can release spores into the air. These spores can then be inhaled by you and your family members, leading to respiratory problems.
Inhaling or touching mold or mold spores may cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Allergic responses include hay fever-type symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash (dermatitis). Allergic reactions to mold are common. They can be immediate or delayed.
Black mold is a fungus that grows in warm, damp areas. Its spores may mistakenly trigger an allergic reaction in your immune system. An allergic reaction to black mold may cause various symptoms, including coughing, sneezing, congestion and irritated eyes. However, it rarely makes people very sick.
When searching for black mold, look for circular-shaped spots that are black, dark green or dark brown. Some black mold can also take on shades of orange or have flecks of white within it. Most of the time, black mold has a slightly furry appearance.
Visually, it may be greenish-black, grayish-black, slimy, or more furry than other forms of mold or mildew. If you try to clean it with a heavy-duty cleaner, you might find that it remains on the surface and doesn't completely wipe away.
Here are some steps you can take to make the job safer: Protection your lungs — Breathing in mold spores can trigger all sorts of health problems, including breathing difficulties, allergic reactions, illness and for the very sensitive, mold can be deadly. Protect your skin — Avoid touching mold with your bare hands.
Sensitive people who have touched or inhaled mold or mold spores may have allergic reactions such as a runny nose, sneezing, nasal congestion, watery eyes, skin rash and itching (dermatitis). Molds can trigger asthma attacks in people who are allergic to molds, causing wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath.
The best way to avoid getting ill from mold is to keep your home clean and dry. If you do find yourself feeling unwell after touching mold, wash your hands immediately with soap and water.
Mold can also grow on showerheads, which can also cause health issues, such as lung irritation, coughing and wheezing.
Mold growth in the bathroom is one of the most common complaints for homeowners and tenants alike. This isn't surprising – bathrooms contain just about every conceivable source of moisture. Cracked grout, missing caulking, failed toilet seal ring, high humidity – the list of potential moisture problems is long.
The most common type of mold to form on a shower curtain is the kind that causes body odor, so it is not going to put you in any great danger. However, if you have a suppressed immune system, it's more important to avoid inhaling mold and you may need to take extra precautions (check with your health care provider).
According to OSHA, the EPA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the recommended protective clothing for small area mold cleanup (less than 30 square feet of mold) include the following: Non-vented goggles for eye protection. Long rubber gloves. Disposable coveralls.
However, the second you start to clean mold from your home surfaces, the mold spores start to spread. Mold spores are so tiny that you won't notice them in the air surrounding your home, or even if they attach to your clothes or hair. Gloves and a full protective suit can help you stay safe from mold spores.
Prevent mould
Dormant mould spores are on all things at all times. They can easily be carried on air and transferred through contact. There are 3 key things that mould needs to become active and grow: spores.
For people sensitive to mold, inhaling or touching mold spores can cause allergic reactions, including sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash. People with serious mold allergies may have more severe reactions, including shortness of breath.
While symptoms to mold exposure are not uncommon (some studies suggest that mold allergies may affect up to 24% of the population), many health care professionals struggle to pinpoint the cause behind these symptoms. Often only a few people or one person and not everyone, in a home or workplace experience symptoms.
Other types (like black mold) can produce mycotoxins, which are very dangerous and can even be fatal. Your body can absorb mycotoxins through your airways, skin or intestines.
Some people find that they also develop dry, itchy or scaly skin as a result of a mold allergy. This is often a result of mold spores coming into contact with the skin. If you are very sensitive to mold or come into direct contact with it, you may develop a rash known as atopic dermatitis, or eczema.
These mycotoxins may be inhaled or may penetrate the body through mucosa and skin. Not even respiratory tract involvement but also musculoskeletal and neurologic symptoms have been reported.
According to McElroy, the first is an immune reaction to mold, which typically involves allergy-like symptoms such as sinus issues, runny nose, itchy skin and eyes, asthma, shortness of breath, and more.
Overview. If you have a mold allergy, your immune system overreacts when you breathe in mold spores. A mold allergy can cause coughing, itchy eyes and other symptoms that make you miserable. In some people, a mold allergy is linked to asthma and exposure causes restricted breathing and other airway symptoms.
If the mold is on a hard surface, which includes paint on a wall, use a cloth or sponge dampened with water, or water mixed with a little detergent, to wipe it off. Rinse out the cloth or sponge and wipe again.