Mold News Archives - Page 3 of 7

Michigan Mold: The Good and the Bad

Good Mold Mold gets a bad rap of late, but good mold does exist. Penicillium is the typical “blue” mold found on food. Bread that sat too long in the pantry typically develops penicillium. In fact, as the name implies, the very tasty blue cheese is derived from this particular strain of mold. In this day and age, cheese makers now add a commercially reproduced and freeze-dried culture, but originally, penicillium was procured from dark, damp caves and adding to...

Carpet Mold and Fungus

If you can’t seem to get that musty smell out of your home, mold and fungus in old carpet and rugs may be to blame. Fungus and old can develop under rugs that are exposed to water–bathroom rugs, for example, can be a hotbed for mold–as well as in dry areas that aren’t cleaned regularly. Shampooing and steam-cleaning the carpets alone won’t kill off mold; when carpets are still damp, mold colonies can redevelop fairly quickly. You may need to...

Toxic Mold Song

Artist Ethan Gold‘s new album, appropriately titled “Songs from a Toxic Apartment” was literally written and recorded by Gold while he was living in a toxic apartment. The album, complete with 12 songs, is an interesting mix of emotions and sad lyrics all that came about while Gold was hallucinating from exposure to mold in his dilapidated apartment. The album is a combination of natural and electronic sounds, and talks of feelings about isolation and angst. Though Gold was forced...

Preventing Mold on Clothes

If you have mold growing on your clothes it's probably because you left them in a damp pile for a few days or more. Every time you wash your clothes you should hang them on the line or dry them in the drier as soon as you can. Clothes that have been washed and then left wet for a day or more are at risk of mold starting to grow on them. The same applies for clothes that have gotten...

Mold Can Cause Serious Health Problems, U of M Expert Warns

Wet, mild winter may lead to difficult springtime for allergy sufferers. ANN ARBOR, MI – Geri Isaacson’s son first noticed that something was wrong in their basement. Earlier this year, he discovered a problem with the carpet – a squishiness, a sign of moisture in the house that Isaacson hadn’t noticed previously because of the dark color of the flooring. That early sign of trouble was a bad omen of things to come. When fans and dehumidifiers didn’t take care...

Statistical Blip or Cancer-Causing Mold?

Dr. Schwartz says that the unusually high number of cancer cases coming from employees at the Buffalo D-District precinct is probably a statistical fluke and unrelated to the mold found in the building or the three feet of standing water found in the basement. But the city is not taking any chances and evacuating the building. Over the last ten years in the building’s 14 year history, at least ten Buffalo Police Officers and staff have been diagnosed with chest...

Bungled Cleanup Reminds Us to Leave it to the Professionals

Two faculty members and a student at Ohio State University have been diagnosed with histoplasmosis, a fungal disease caused by inhaling hisplasmosis spores growing on bird or bat droppings. Originally diagnosed as lung cancer, two hospitalized employees at Hitchcock Hall have had parts of their lungs and lymph nodes removed. The employees believe they were poisoned during a botched cleaning effort to dry flooding in the hall after a valve on a high-pressure waterline to a coffee maker broke. Soaked...

Brittany Murphy: Death By Mold?

The mother of Brittany Murphy says her daughter and son-in-law were both felled by the same culprit: mold. Read on to find out what she plans to do about it. When Brittany Murphy died two years ago it was chalked up to a tragic accident: Undiagnosed pneumonia compounded by an accidental overdose on prescription meds. Then, less than five months later her husband Simon Monjack was found dead in the same house of similar causes. Coincidence? Murphy's mom says no...

Moldy Moods: Mold Possibly Linked to Depression

It is documented that mold can negatively affect your physical health, but what about your mental health? But now a recent study furthers the evidence that there may be a direct link between mold and depression. The study, performed by Brown University epidemiologist Edmond Shenassa and published in the American Journal of Public Health, showed a link between mildew and misery. The study questioned 6,000 adults, men and women from 18-104 living in eight different European cities, about their mental...

Your HVAC system and Mold Growth

A properly functioning HVAC may be one of the best ways to prevent mold growth in your home or office. But because of the air distribution system of an HVAC, a malfunctioning system may be the perfect vehicle to spread mold spores throughout the building. Often, the difference between the two comes down to a small detail – which is why HVAC requires proper design, assessment, and maintenance to keep it preventing – not exacerbating – mold growth. While there...

Category: Mold News