When asking if it's safe to touch mold, the hard rule is: never let mold touch your skin. That means if you're trying to get rid of mold yourself, you need to wear protective gloves. Waterproof rubber gloves offer sufficient protection for your skin and any chemicals you might use to clean the outbreak.
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.
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.
How harmful is black mold? All types of mold can affect people who have mold allergies. However, black mold isn't any more dangerous than any other types of mold.
Don't Touch Mold. Some varieties of mold are serious and infectious. These can cause skin rashes, irritation, and fungal infections on open wounds. Even further, one should never touch mold with bare hands or get it on your skin.
Toxic black mold mycotoxins can be breathed in, ingested, or absorbed through a person's skin or eyes. Eventually the mycotoxins find their way into the person's blood.
Black mold, as the name implies, is often dark in color. 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.
Bacteria mold spores will come off your fingers quite safely with soap and water, but that's just non-living object. To touch your face, or God forbid, anything inside you, you need to let your actual flesh air out in a natural atmosphere a bare minimum of 5 hours to be able to safely touch your other flesh.
Getting rid of black mold with white vinegar
'Bleach will kill mold spores growing across a hard surface, but if the mold has extended below the surface, then white vinegar is the best choice,' she says. 'The vinegar will penetrate to kill the mold and mildew at the root, preventing it from regrowing.
Some people have an immediate reaction when exposed to mold, while others may not experience symptoms for days, weeks, or months.
There is no special hand washing protocol that needs to be implemented if you touch mold. Just make sure to thoroughly wash your hands with soap as soon as possible.
If you're not wearing any Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), you're inviting all of those mold spores to settle on your clothing, the area you're cleaning, your shoes (allowing mold to travel to other areas in your home), in your eyes, and up your nose into your upper respiratory system.
Pain (especially abdominal pain, but can include muscle pain similar to fibromyalgia) Unexplained weight gain or weight loss. Numbness and tingling in extremities or other areas of the body. Metallic taste in the mouth.
Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, exposure to molds can lead to symptoms such as stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes, or skin. Some people, such as those with allergies to molds or with asthma, may have more intense reactions.
If the skin has been exposed, wash the area with soap and water then rinse it off thoroughly with clean water. You can also use some hydrogen peroxide for added sterilization if needed. After washing yourself or your clothing, you will need to treat the affected area with anti-fungal medication.
The only other thing mold needs to reproduce and grow on human skin is moisture. If you don't dry thoroughly after bathing, the moisture can create an ideal condition for mold growth on your skin.
Pay attention to the color and consistency: We already talked about black mold above, though it's more accurate to say that Stachybotrys chartarum has a greenish-black hue. Toxic mold can also have a grayish, soot-like texture, or a slimy, wet surface. In some cases, you may even notice furry orange or brown spots.
Those who process toxins well can see their symptoms disappear as quickly as a few days. Others who eliminate toxins slowly can experience symptoms for much longer. They could be ill for months or even years after the source of mold is eliminated.
People who live or work in buildings with black mold are at risk for developing hypersensitivity pneumonitis, an immune system disorder that causes chronic lung inflammation. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is an allergic reaction that occurs after sustained exposure to a particular irritant or allergen.
So, if you are sleeping in a damp or mouldy room, you're spending about a third of your time inhaling dangerous mycotoxins spores. Frequently inhaling these spores leads to a plethora of health problems for both healthy and vulnerable people.
Mix a few drops of dish detergent with some water and dab the solution onto the surface with a sponge, being careful not to saturate the wood. Rub gently to remove mold spots. 3. Rinse with a clean, damp cloth.
In most cases, it is safe to return home after mold remediation is complete. You should follow your mold remediation technician's recommendations, but most pros request that homeowners wait one day after the process is complete to move back in.