Alternaria alternata is a fairly common indoor mould. In one study it was found in 87% of the homes examined. It is considered one of the most important fungal allergens. Alternaria alternata has been implicated as the cause of allergic diseases in people exposed to wood and sawdust during paper production in paper mills. It is regarded as the main cause of allergy and asthma in children aged 6–11 years.

It is known to produce over 70 various mycotoxins with tenuazonic acid being the most commonly known.




Do you have a mould question? Call us today at (905)290-9101

We got this email from one of our readers…..
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Sir or Madame:
My asthmatic husband, 5 year old granddaughter and I were advised to vacate a rental house by a health inspector. We had been experiencing health problems - my husband was having serious respiratory problems, and my granddaughter had recurring body rashes. By the time we moved I also had to seek medical attention for cough and throat problems.

We subsequently found out that the house had been re-rented by the landlord without a follow-up inspection (after he did clean-up) after the previous tenants had been experiencing health problems and advised to move out by the same inspector. We sent mold samples from the basement to a lab. An engineer, a clean-up business and the health inspector all advised we remove our possessions from the house asap and put them in storage. Suddenly we found ourselves without a house and without furniture or belongings to move to another property while our retirement home was being built.

It has been several weeks since the upheaval and we just now have verbal results from the lab. The written report is in the mail. We are informed that there was a 15,000 count (whatever that means) and that Aspergillus and Penicillium were found. Can you please provide any information about what this means for clean-up of furniture, clothing, books, photo albums, etc. We are not willing to move anything into another house if it means contaminating another home. Any information and advice will be appreciated. We have just retired for health reasons!

Thank you.
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Dear Madam:
I can understand the situation you are in. Personally, I try not to create panic. Your dilemma is whether to throw away your furniture, clothing, books, photo albums, etc. I have no idea how contaminated these items are and so it would be hard for me to tell you to throw them away or not. However, in most cases, it is not necessary to throw away such items especially if they were not water-damaged. Do they appear like they have mould or damaged? Probably what you need is to have them HEPA vacuumed and those which can be cleaned (such as clothes), cleaned and dried before moving them to your new home.

Hope this helps,

Jackson.




Do you have a mould problem or do you want samples tested for mould? Call (905)290-9101 now.

We would like to be sharing some of the questions we receive from our readers and the responses that we give. There may be some people out there who may benefit from these questions and answers. Please feel free to send your questions even though we may not have answers to every question.
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-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: November 16, 2005 7:16 AM
To: info@moldbacteria.com
Subject: Pollutants is my house

Dear mr. Jackson Kung'u",

My apartment is still not well cleaned of all the stuff that causes me to cough (my lungs out somewhat) constantly. I was in the house without a mask for an hour and a half and had coughs for half a day and headaches again.

I would like to discuss what was found in the air and determined in the first place:
1. LIVING ROOM
aspergillus niger (105 cfu), eurotium emstelodami (11 cfu), penicillium chrysogenum (23 cfu).
2. BEDROOM
aspergillus niger (110 cfu), aspergillus chraceus (2 cfu), cladosprorium herbarum (29 cfu), eurotium amstelodami (40 cfu), eurotium chevalieri (12 cfu), eurotium herbariorum (15 cfu), penicillium chrysogenum (40 cfu), penicillium corylophilum (10 cfu).

A cleaning company with good reputation suggested a (rather expensive) way of cleaning my apartment of all the pollutants. The owner voted for a cheaper version and following is the result after cleaning:

1. LIVING ROOM
aspergillus niger (21 cfu), aspergillus versicolor (5 cfu), cladosporium sp.
(42 cfu), eurotium chevalieri (9 cfu), penicillium chrysogenum (17cfu) and penicillium glabrum (2 cfu).
2. BEDROOM
aspergillus niger (43 cfu), aspergillus versicolor (6 cfu), cladosporum sp.
(50 cfu), eurotium emstelodami (4 cfu), eurotium chevalieri (13 cfu), mucelia sterilia (5 cfu), and penicillium chrysogenum (68 cfu).

So, HOW CLEAN IS MY HOUSE. I believe there is still too many pollutants to call it "safe to live".

Also, there have been some tests from the stuff that is visible and these contain the same names. But in the air is what I breath and what gives me the headaches and coughs. Please advise.

Thank you very much for your understanding and help in this matter. I need to educate myself or I may (sooner or later) die if and when I am forced to breath in all these pollutants.


Best regards,
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Dear:
Two of the reasons why it is difficult to deal with health problems associated with mould are because people differ in levels of mould they can tolerate and it is difficult to completely eradicate mould from our living environments. I have no information on which method was used to sample (i.e., settle plates or volumetric sampling) air in your apartment so I may not be able to comment on your results. However, some of the moulds reported are known to be a health hazard. You may want to find out from the company that did the clean-up whether it is possible to reduce the counts further to a level you can tolerate. You may also consider moving to another apartment if this could help.

Different categories of moulds have different water requirements. Some moulds such as Stachybotrys, Ulocladium, Acremonium, Fusarium, Trichoderma and Chaetomium thrive well on very wet building materials. Some of these moulds have come to be associated with water damaged buildings and their presence in a building is an indication of a moisture problem.

The picture on the right shows both Stachybotrys chartarum and Ulocladium chartarum on the same lift tape sample taken from a water damged building. Stachybotrys is also commonly found together with Chaetomium spp, particularly Chaetomium globosum.





Do you have a mould question? Call (905)290-9101

The US DHHS, Center for Disease Control & Prevention has released a report entiltled "Mold: Prevention Strategies and Possible Health Effects in the Aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita". The link to the report is http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/mold/report/pdf/2005_moldreport.pdf



Do you have a mould problem? Call (905)290-9101.

During winter the outdoor air spora is usually below the detection limit (if not zero) of the current test methods. Unfortunately, it is during the winter when we spend most of our time indoors. Depending on how well the building is insulated condensation tends to occur indoors during winter resulting in mould growth. Therefore, concentrations of airborne mould spores in indoor environment during winter can be very high.

The following strategies can help reduce indoor mould growth during winter:

• Use exhaust fans whenever cooking, dishwashing, and cleaning to reduce condensation.
• Add more insulation to reduce the potential for condensation on cold surfaces (i.e., windows, piping, exterior walls, roof, or floors).
• Provide adequate ventilation and maintain indoor humidity levels between 30-60%.

Do you have a mould problem? Call us at (905)290-9101.