Environmental
Scientists and Engineers
"Protecting People in their Environments"

Home | Environmental Services | Consulting Services | Laboratory Services | Field Operations | Training Services

About Us | Contact Us |  UST Test Forms and Scheduling  | Links | Site Map

MOLD AND FUNGUS

  
Above: Lynn Serpa - Microbiology Director, examines all mold specimen samples in-house at Brooks Laboratories.

 Environmental Services 
 [Quick Links]
 [ Asbestos Services ]
 [ Drinking Water Analysis ]
 [ Water Analysis Terms ]
 [ Environmental Remediation and Real 
   Estate Property Transactions ]
 [ Indoor Air Quality ]
 [ Lead ]
 [ Leaking Underground Storage Tanks ]
 [ Mold and Bacteria ]
 [ OSHA Compliance ]
 [ Site Assessments, Phase I, II & III. ]
 [ Storm Water Permits ]
 
 In this section:
[ TOXIC MOLDS ]
[ DO IT YOURSELF - Mold Sampling Kit ]
[ Additional Mold Information ]

  Related Information on the web:
 [ EPA ] [ CT Dept of Health ]

FUNGI as a source of allergies and BACTERIA as a source of diseases can be identified and controlled.

MOLDS, which play a part in making 37 million Americans sick each year, are subset of fungi.

Fungus - any of a major group of saprophytic and parasitic spore-producing organisms usually classified as plants that lack chlorophyll and include molds, rusts, mildews, smuts, mushrooms and yeasts." -Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition.

Fungi and molds are found in every ecological niche, and are necessary for the recycling of organic building blocks that allow plants and animals to live. Included in the group "fungi" are yeasts, molds and mildews, as well as large mushrooms, puffballs and bracket fungi that grow on dead trees. Fungi need external organic food sources and water to be able to grow. Molds can grow on cloth, carpets, leather, wood, sheet rock, insulation (and on human foods) when moist conditions exist (Gravesen et al., 1999).

Because molds grow in moist or wet indoor environments, it is possible for people to become exposed to molds and their products, either by direct contact on surfaces, or through the air, if mold spores, fragments, or mold products are aerosolized. Many molds reproduce by making spores, which, if they land on a moist food source, can germinate and begin producing a branching network of cells called hyphae.

Molds have varying requirements for moisture, food, temperature and other environmental conditions for growth. Indoor spaces that are wet, and have organic materials that mold can use as a food source, can and do support mold growth. Mold spores or fragments that become airborne can expose people indoors through inhalation or skin contact. Neither mold nor spores cause illness, other than allergy and/or infections. It is the mycotoxins released when the molds' food source (moisture) is severed that are toxic. However when the molds food source moisture organic matter) is no longer available, Mycotoxins are released. In indoor spaces these toxins accumulate to high concentrations and can cause illness.

Indoor mold spores indicate mold growth, which indicates mycotoxin production. Currently, we can measure spores, identify spores, but it is difficult to measure mycotoxin. Stachybotrys produces at least 170 known mycotoxins, and probably more that have not been identified.

A 1999 Mayo Clinic Study cites molds as the cause of most of Americans chronic sinus infections. Recent studies also link molds to the soaring asthma rate. Molds have been an under recognized health problem, but that is changing. Health-care professionals now know that molds can cause allergies, trigger asthma attacks and increase susceptibility to colds and flu. Anyone with a genetic predisposition can become allergic if exposed repeatedly to high enough levels. Dr. David Sherris at the Mayo Clinic performed a study of 210 patients with chronic sinus infections and found that most had allergic fungal sinusitis. The prevailing medical opinion has been that mold accounted for 6 to 7 percent of all chronic sinusitis. The Mayo Clinic study found that it was 93 percent - the exact reverse. Newsweek, 12/4/00.

Brooks Laboratories, Inc. is fully prepared to help you with your mold problem. Our professional staff of Scientists and Engineers have conducted several hundreds inspections on commercial, municipal, school and residential buildings. We can assist you from the preliminary inspection stage through the remediation and final clearance.

For more information please call Michael Zubarev or Steve Dinapoli at 800-843-1631.
For more information on Do it yourself Mold Sampling Kits
CLICK HERE
back to top

TOXIC MOLDS
Aspergillus - Aspergillus is a group of molds which is found everywhere world-wide, especially in the autumn and winter in the Northern hemisphere. The genus includes over 150 species but only a few of these molds can cause illness in humans and animals. Most people are naturally immune and do not develop disease caused by Aspergillus. However, when disease does occur, it takes several forms. The type of diseases caused by Aspergillus are varied, ranging from an "allergy"-type illness to life-threatening generalized infections. Diseases caused by Aspergillus are called aspergillosis. The severity of aspergillosis is determined by various factors but one of the most important is the state of the immune system of the person.

Stachybotrys Chartarum: (atra) is a greenish-black fungus found worldwide that colonizes particularly well in high-cellulose material, such as straw, hay, paper, dust, lint, and cellulose-containing building material such as fiber board, and gypsum board that becomes chronically moist or water damage due to excessive humidity, water leaks, condensation or flooding . Stachybotrys chartarum grows and sporulates in the temperature range of 2-40°C. It is also capable of producing several toxins, however, many researchers still know little about the temperature and moisture conditions under which these toxins are produced. It has been postulated that moist high-cellulose and low-nitrogen materials at a temperature range of 0-40°C can provide sufficient condition for production of Stachybotryotoxins. Areas with relative humidity above 55% and are subject to temperature fluctuations are ideal for toxin production. Individuals with chronic exposure to the toxin produced by this fungus reported cold and flu symptoms, sore throats, diarrhea, headaches, fatigue, and dermatitis.

Chaetomium - Chaetomium is a large ascomycetous fungus producing perithecia. It is found on a variety of substrates containing cellulose including paper and plant compost. It can be readily found on the damp or water damaged paper in sheetrock. It is characterized by densely hairy, egg-shaped fruiting bodies, which in turn enclose 4-8 brown spores. The hairs can take a variety of forms, depending upon the species. The spores collect in a dense mass outside the body. Most species are strong decomposers of cellulose and occur wherever this material is abundant, such as in soil, dung, or rotting plants. In addition to being a contaminant, Chaetomium are also encountered as contributory agents of infections in humans.
back to top

Do it Yourself
Mold Sampling Kit

1.) Easier to do.

2.) Measures both living and dead molds.

3.) It is less subject to previous contamination.
 

Mold Sampling:
In some cases you can collect the sample yourself.

Upon request, we can mail you a "Do it Yourself Mold Sampling Kit".

You can either complete the form provided, or send us a message with your name, mailing address, number of kits, and include a check payable to Brooks Laboratories for $4.95 per kit.

Once you have collected the sample, return it to our lab with a check  or credit card, and our Microbiologist will send you a report identifying your mold, and inform you whether or not it is toxic.

Kits can be dropped off in person or mailed to the lab. 

Click here to download a request form.

Please send your request to:

Brooks Laboratories
C/O Mold Kit Request
9 Isaac Street
Norwalk, CT 06850

back to top