The Importance Of Los Angeles Black Mold Removal

Do you suspect that you have black mold in your Los Angeles home? Black mold is most commonly a greenish black color. In most cases, you can tell right away whether or not the mold in your home is black mold or not. While it is always advised that you get mold removed and taken care of, there are some types of mold that you should have removed right away. One of those types of mold is black mold.

One of the many reasons why Los Angeles black mold removal is so important is because of the health risks. Black mold is sometimes considered the most toxic of all molds. It has been known to cause serious health problems, particularly concerning one?s ability to breathe property. In some cases, particularly with infants or the elderly, black mold has contributed to death. That is why it is extremely important that your home undergo a Los Angeles black model removal project if it needs to be done.

Although the health dangers associated with black mold are the most important reason why your home should undergo a Los Angeles black mold removal project if you have black mold in your home, but there are other reasons as well. One of those reasons is the value of your home. Mold, particularly black mold, can significantly drive down the value of your home. One of the reasons for that are the dangers. Homeowners are advised against living in homes that have black mold. Therefore, if you are looking to sell your home, you should seriously consider having your home undergo a Los Angeles black mold removal project first.

If you are unsure as to whether or not the mold in your home is black mold, you may want to think about contacting a mold inspector. These inspectors have their knowledge plus a number of helpful tools that can be used to determine whether or not the mold in your home is back mold. Also, in many cases, you will find that many Los Angeles mold inspectors also double as Los Angeles black mold removal specialists; therefore, one phone call can get your black mold problem solved in no time at all.

When a professional Los Angeles black mold removal specialist shows up to complete the mold removal process, you may want to ask them a few questions. Many times, we create the black mold in our homes, by not focusing on the temperature or moisture in our homes. By speaking with a Los Angeles black mold removal specialist, you could get inside information or tips on how to prevent a black mold reoccurrence from happening. Most mold removal specialist would be more than happy to educate you on black mold, how to prevent it from returning again, as well as dangers of it.

Tobin Rutherford is a writer for Acme Abatement . com where you can find an accurate guide to Los Angeles Black Mold Removal and other related information.

The Benefits Of Professional California Mold Removal

Are you a California homeowner or business owner? If you are, have you ever taken the time to think about mold? If not, you are advised to do so. You will want to give your home or business a close look to see if you have mold lurking around. In fact, you may even want to contact a professional California mold inspector. Should you or a professional inspector determine that you have a mold problem; it is advised that you get your problem fixed. This is done by having the mold in your home or business removed.

When it comes to mold removal, you are advised to contact a professional. This professional is often referred to as a California mold removal expert or mold remover. One of the reasons why you are advised to do go with professional mold removal is because of the unlimited number of benefits there are to doing so. Just a few of the many benefits to having your home or business undergo a professional California mold removal job are briefly touched on below.

When it comes to removing mold, it can be dangerous; that is why it is advised that your home or business undergo a professional mold removal. California residents, at least most, are unfamiliar with how to properly remove mold. This not only means that the job may not be done the right way, but it may also mean that do-it-yourselfers may be putting their health at risk. There are certain steps that need to be taken to have mold removed from your home or business. If you do now know those steps or if you value your health, you are advised to go with professional mold removal. California residents are regularly impressed with the results that they get.

In fact, the results are another one of the many benefits to going with professional mold removal. California mold removers or mold removal experts are often trained and certified. This training and certification means that they underwent the proper amount of training. In training, many mold removers not only learn how to safety remove mold from a home or business, but they also learn how to do the best job possible. This is often what leads to better results for you; results that are worth paying a professional for.

Another benefit of professional mold removal is the time that you will be able to save. As it was previously mentioned, you are advised not to do your own mold removal unless you know what you are doing. Do-it-yourself projects, including mold removal, take time. By the time you learn what you need to do, buy the necessary supplies, and get started, a lot of time may have passed; time that could have been spend doing something else. If you regularly find yourself pressed for time or would like to spend your time doing something else, you are urged to go with professional mold removal. California residents who have gone with professional mold removal often enjoy they extra time they are able to spend doing housework, running errands, or spending with their family.

As you can see, there are a number of benefits to having your home or business undergo a professional mold removal project. California residents, at least a good number of them, have been turning to professional mold removers for years now and you may want to think about doing the same.

Tobin Rutherford is a writer for Acme Abatement . com where you can find an accurate guide to Mold Removal California and other related information.

 

Warning!!! Deadly Swimming Molds

Invades crops causes billions in lost revenues and millions starve to death.

Ok the title is a bit over the top but in a round about way it is true. Many swimming molds live in and swim through the thin film of water on wet plant leaves and ruin many important crops during extra wet growing seasons. These molds often have a very negative effect on agriculture and are directly responsible for the deadly Irish Potato Famine.

Some make their homes in moist frog skin and cause a deadly disease that has been decimating frog populations around the world for several decades now. While others cause a common fuzzy white growth of mold on tropical fish.

These molds in at least some stages of their complex life cycles propel themselves through water with the aid of tiny whip like structures called flagella. Flagella are those long whip like structures that are found on some cells such as sperm cells and are one celled plant like Eugenia protozoans which push themselves through water.

In his book The Fifth Kingdom Dean Kendrick noted mycologist (mold biologist) discusses three phyla (large groupings) of swimming molds.

1) PHYLUM CHYTRIDIOMYCOTA

The first group is known as chytridiomycota these are true fungi and they have a single flagellum at the rear of the cell, this flagellum propels the mold cell through the water just like the flagellum at the rear of a sperm cell propels sperm cells. Around 1998, Joyce Longcore determined that a type of chytridiomycete mold was causing the death of many frogs around the world by infecting their skin. You may not have heard of it but widespread frog deaths have been a serious concern for decades now.

2) PHYLUM HYPHOCHYTRIOMYCOTA

The 2nd group that Dean goes on to discuss is the kingdom Chromista phylum hyphochytriomycota. They have a single hairy flagellum at the front. Though similar to the above molds, these are not true molds.

3) PHYLUM OOMYCOTA

The Third group is the kingdom Chromista phylum oomycota, they seem to be split and cannot make a clear decision on if it is better to have one smooth flagellum at the rear or to have a hairy one at the front, so the oomycetes have opted for two flagella at the side, one of the two is a hairy flagellum that points to the front and the other is a smooth one that points to the rear.

Oomycetes make up the water molds that cause many common fungal infections in fish including tropical aquarium fish, as well as downy mildew that cause serious crop damage around the world every year. Most importantly oomycetes caused the Irish Potato Famine. This famine caused the death of one million Irish people and caused millions to emigrate from Ireland including the ancestors of Al McNamara of Abode Inspections, one of America?s first ASHI home inspectors. He was my mentor and introduced me to the home inspection field in 1993.

Some of the above organisms have a flagellum during its reproductive state only while a few exist as a single celled flagellated mold its entire life. Most of the above live in water, moist soil, or in the thin film of water on wet plant leaves. A few even live on the surface of single grains of flower pollen. Obviously, none of the above water molds are common in moldy homes. However, it is interesting to understand that these microscopic molds swim and cause serious negative impacts on humans, plants, and animals around the world.

Daryl Watters is president of A Accredited Mold Inspection Service, Inc. He provides home, mold, and indoor air quality investigations in South Florida. He is also the creator of MIR forms designed to aid inspectors in the production of computer generated indoor air quality and mold inspection reports. For more information visit http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us http://www.florida-mold-inspection.com

Mold Testing Methods Surface Samples

When a mold inspector takes bulk, tape, carpet/dust, or swab samples, spore numbers are not compared quantitatively to outdoor levels. Thus, the number of spores in these types of samples often are not as meaningful as the numbers found in air samples. Also, because the air is not being tested, your inspector cannot say for sure how much if any of the mold sampled from surfaces is in the air you are breathing. However, these samples can be helpful because they typically provide the analyst with more than just the mold spores so that identification of mold type can be more accurately conducted by viewing various structures of the mold, not just spores. In addition to providing more structure for direct microscopic examination, bulk samples are sometimes grown in the lab or run through PCR testing for analysis to the species level.

Mold Testing with Tape

When a tape sample of actual mold from a moldy surface is taken using Biotope, a clear piece of Scotch Tape, or a sticky Cyclex slide, the sample will often show entire mold structures including spore forming structures and hyphea. These can be used to confirm mold growth more confidently and rule out the possibility that the sample was just settled spores only.

Mold Testing of Bulk Samples

When a bulk sample of actual mold or moldy material is sent to a lab, the lab may use clear Scotch Tape to take a sample from the bulk mold material for examination under the microscope. The lab may culture some of the bulk mold specimen in a petri dish for analysis of the colonies to the species level.

Mold Testing of Carpet Dust

When a dust sample is analyzed it may be place on a slide for direct examination to view spores hidden in the dust directly. This is a very common method used by most mold inspectors labs and has become accepted in the industry. This popular method may be helpful but many spores are not seen because spores are hidden behind dust, or the spores blend in well with dust. The lab will often report very low spore levels even if the carpet sampled was obviously very moldy. This inspector has seen this happen many times with various dust samples tested at different labs. When studies are done on what are normal and what are elevated spore levels in carpet dust, the scientist working on the projects and the mold labs they utilize for dust analysis use very different methods for analysis.

They wash the dust and dust filter out of the collector with a mild solvent and culture the spores in a petri dish. This method will typically reveal tens of thousands of spores or even hundreds of thousands or millions of spores. Your inspector must be aware of the different methods and the different results to be expected when interpreting dust sample results.

Mold Testing with Swabs

A sterile swab provided by a microbiology lab is sometimes used for sampling. This inspector dislikes this method because unlike when using tape, the mold structures are always broken up when using swabs. Therefore, meaningful mold structure identification and spore counting cannot be done when testing mold with swabs. Many poorly trained mold inspectors will use a swab on nearly every inspection done, not because of a well thought out sampling plan, but simply because the lab gave them swabs.

Daryl Watters has a bachelors degree in education for teaching biology and general science and is a certified mold inspector, certified home inspector, and certified indoor environmentalist providing building inspections in South Florida since 1993. For more information visit http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us http://www.florida-mold-inspection.com

Will Toxic Black Mold In My Home Poison Me?

Toxic black mold or stachybotrys is found by certified mold inspectors about 6% of the time in indoor air samples and about 1% of the time in outdoor samples.

According to literature and according to this inspectors experience it grows almost exclusively on very wet cellouse containing materials including paper, carpet backings, ceiling tile, and especially on drywall.

It is the most feared of all molds, due to the numerous news reports, newspaper articles, and magazine articles attributing possible brain damage, infant deaths, expensive property damage and other horrible consequences surrounding its growth in residential settings.

Many molds produce mycotoxins (toxic chemicals that molds use in a type of microbial warfare). Living things that do not possess claws, fangs, or a hard shell to use in self defense or fast legs to run away from predators, will typically revert to the use of camouflage or the production of poisons. This is very common in nature.

In reality, toxic molds like Stachybotrys also known as toxic black mold and others may have to be either consumed in mold contaminated foods, or physically handled so that excessive physical contact is made between human skin and the mold in order for toxic reactions to develop. At this time most scientists do not believe that breathing in toxic mold spores can have toxic effects on humans when inhaled at the levels typically encountered in homes and offices.

Public opinion may not be in support of the above statement and in the future we may find that the above statement is not true and perhaps one day we will find that toxic molds cause toxic reactions via inhalation but currently scientific evidence does not support the view that toxic molds can poison you via inhalation at levels found in indoor environments. To support this statement please review the following abstract from the International Journal of Toxicology Volume 23, Number 1 / January-February 2004 pages 3 to 10.

"Risk from Inhaled Mycotoxins in Indoor Office and Residential Environments

Bruce J. Kelman A1, Coreen A. Robbins A1, Lonie J. Swenson A1, Bryan D. Hardin A1 A1 GlobalTox, Inc., Redmond, Washington, USA

Abstract:

Mycotoxins are known to produce veterinary and human diseases when consumed with contaminated foods. Mycotoxins have also been proposed to cause adverse human health effects after inhalation exposure to mold in indoor residential, school, and office environments. Epidemiological evidence has been inadequate to establish a causal relationship between indoor mold and nonallergic, toxigenic health effects. In this article, the authors model a maximum possible dose of mycotoxins that could be inhaled in 24 h of continuous exposure to a high concentration of mold spores containing the maximum reported concentration of aflatoxins B1 and B2, satratoxins G and H, fumitremorgens B and C, verruculogen, and trichoverrols A and B. These calculated doses are compared to effects data for the same mycotoxins. None of the maximum doses modeled were sufficiently high to cause any adverse effect. The model illustrates the inefficiency of delivery of mycotoxins via inhalation of mold spores, and suggests that the lack of association between mold exposure and mycotoxicoses in indoor environments is due to a requirement for extremely high airborne spore levels and extended periods of exposure to elicit a response. This model is further evidence that human mycotoxicoses are implausible following inhalation exposure to mycotoxins in mold-contaminated home, school, or office environments."

Regardless of if toxic mold can poison you with mycotoxins via inhalation, it is a fact observed by this inspector many times that mold can make some people very sick. Asthma attacks, allergies, and sinus infections from mold appear to be very common. Such conditions in turn can cause people to loose sleep, loose energy and concentration, miss work, and in general feel as if they were being poisoned by mycotoxins.

Daryl Watters has a bachelors degree in education for teaching biology and general science and is a certified mold inspector, certified home inspector, and certified indoor environmentalist providing building inspections in South Florida since 1993. For more information visit http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us http://www.florida-mold-inspection.com