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 Enviromental Consulting 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.

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.