Healthy Indoors Magazine
Issue link: https://hi.iaq.net/i/680154
Healthy Indoors 9 ducted epidemiology studies in several countries have consistently shown that exposures from building/house dampness and mold have been associated with increased risks for respiratory symptoms, asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, rhinosinusitis, bronchitis, and respiratory infections. In studies conducted in the non-industrial workplace, individuals with asthma or hypersensitivity pneumonitis were found to be at risk for progression to more severe disease if the relationship between illness and exposure to the damp building was not recognized and exposures continued." Deniers insist that mold spores are everywhere and, with the exception of a few pathogenic species that might end up in critical healthcare environments, typically don't pose a health risk to "normal" people. Of course, you need to clearly define "health risk" here. If occupant exposures in a non-critical indoor environment adversely affect the health of a portion its occupants, even minimally, isn't that some sort of health risk? Do We Even Understand the Parameters? Mold is a lay term for fungal organisms that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. In contrast, fungi that can adopt a single-celled growth habit are called yeasts. Damp indoor environments can also play host to bacteria that can pose even greater, immediate health risks. This may be especially true in the aftermath of flooding from catastrophic weather events that intro- duce unsanitary Category-3 (black) water into a building. Simply assessing structures for the presence of mold may omit uncovering a significant portion of a potential indoor environmental problem. The IAQ (indoor air quality) industry typically uses fungal spore counts collected on spore traps or result- ing colony forming unit (CFU) counts on culture media from an air-impaction collection device on a petri dish to identify potential airborne occupant exposure. Other parameters that are regularly looked at involve fungal surface colonization. Such tests for this can include sticky clear tape lifts or sterile surface swabs, or chemical tests to collect microscopic deposition and/or growth. These common investigative methodologies beg some questions. For one, how do surface samples relate to concurrent air samples in a given environment? More importantly, how do indoor environmental samples relate to potential occupant exposures, and how do such exposures affect occupant health? Are mold spores, for example, even the right parameter to be measuring with Y ou've likely heard a bunch about indoor mold over the past several years--from deadly toxic hysteria to total dismissal by purported experts. Both camps appear to have vested interests in promoting their positions, and commercial or residential consumers are often left to sort out the subsequent messes on their own. Powerful lobbies from the insurance and commerce sectors have often gone to extremes in an effort to limit or totally squash liabilities stemming from indoor mold-related issues, citing a lack of medical science to support such claims. Many indoor environmental practitioners and related product manufacturers have made a good deal of money riding the wave of the "Mold Rush of 2000." This has been especially true after major disasters like hurricanes, where would-be solution providers seem to spring up faster than microbes. As a result, the government responds with legisla- tive mandates under the veil of consumer protection, in many cases in an attempt to curtail what has been described as predatory marketing tactics in the mold industry. While the intent of reining in renegade con- tractors and consultants is positive, such actions by state or local officials generally fall short of the desired results, often leading to additional regulatory hoops to jump through and higher costs, with little effective benefit for consumers. Do mold and other moisture-related indoor microbial activity pose serious occupant risk, or is it just a fabricat- ed ailment for a new snake oil sales industry? The truth likely resides somewhere in the middle of the din, with many gaps still lurking in the science. How Bad is it? With the exception of the rare, extreme cases, environ- mental exposure to indoor mold probably won't kill you. For most people without compromised immune systems or serious pulmonary ailments, the "deadly black mold claims" are simply scare tactics, utilized by unscrupulous vendors. But, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that indoor environments with elevated moisture conditions, which lead to subsequent microbial amplification, are potentially unhealthy. According to the American Industrial Hygiene Associ- ation (AIHA) from their 2013 Position Statement on Mold and Dampness in the Build Environment, "Well con-