by Lisa Chiplaskey

Created on: June 16, 2008   Last Updated: June 17, 2008

MOLD: The Harmful Effects of this Household Pathogen on Health

Mold Statistics:

Today, one in five Americans suffers from allergies. The incidence of allergies, asthma and some other health problems have doubled in the last decade, which research suggests is linked to an increase in airborne mold and modern energy-efficient homes. (www.mold.ph)

Objectives:

1. Define molds classification and species.

2. State how mold replicates.

3. Describe the ability of mold to infest the human body.

4. Differentiate between household molds and their effects on the human body.

Terminology:

Mold: A microscopic fungus/fungi that eats and grows on damp or high moisture decaying organic matter.

Classification: Classified as a fungus, plural fungi. Indoor mold can be considered a pathogen.

Species: Plant family.

Fungus: A parasitic plant lacking chlorophyll, which has a rigid cell wall, leaves, true stems and roots. It is multicellular, composed of tread-like hyphae (filaments), is difficult to kill and reproduces by spore production.

Pathogen: Disease producing organism.
Mold Spore: A small reproductive fungal cell that is resistant to unfavorable environmental conditions, such as no water, and is capable of mold reproduction of fungal growth when water and organic materials to eat exist.

Toxic Black Mold: A type of fungus that emits chemical mycotoxin poisons that become airborne or causes serious human health diseases. Toxic mold and black mold include brain-damaging Stachybotrys.

Allergen: Any substance, such as mold or fungi that can trigger an allergic response in humans.

Allergy: Common response to mold exposure.

Sick Building Syndrome: An environmentally unhealthy house containing mold fungal infestation, resulting in serious health problems for its occupants.

Mold Replication Cycle:

Mold is reproductively versatile. It puts out root-like rhizomes, releases spores, and lives in colonies. A mold species can reproduce by two or more different methods: budding from mycelial fragments, release of sexual spores, asexual spores and conidia.
Conidia are asexual spores that are not formed inside a sporangium (sac), but by budding out or converting from an existing cell. This produces a way of producing rapidly. Mold can also produce sexual spores in abundance, within specialized cells called asci. If mold lives in less than ideal areas, (little food and water, poor or too much lighting, or wrong temperature), they will use the non-sexual method of reproduction (not combining genetic material).
The

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