How harmful is black mold to your health?

Do you suffer from black mold? This not only harms your home, but can also cause health problems. Fungal spores can end up in your lungs, among other things. But how dangerous is that? We explain the effect of black mold on your health and which complaints you should watch out for.

How can you safely remove mold from your home and prevent it from occurring in the future?

How harmful is black mold to your health?

Black mold on the walls doesn’t look very nice, but it doesn’t benefit your health either. When you inhale the fungal spores, they end up in your lungs. This can cause you to experience respiratory problems, such as shortness of breath, coughing fits, asthma pain, or feeling irritated in your airways. Do you usually have trouble breathing? Then black mold can aggravate symptoms. You can also have a stuffy nose and sneezing.

Furthermore, black mold has a high content of mycotoxins, which can cause skin irritation and itching. Don’t you do something against mold in the house? Then the complaints can get worse and this can be really dangerous. Especially people with poor health and irritated lungs are more susceptible to infection. Finally, you could also be allergic to mold. In this case, complaints are often more severe than others.

How does black mold develop in the home?

Black mold grows well in a humid environment between 17 and 25 degrees. This makes the bathroom in particular the ideal place for this fungus, but it can also develop in other areas such as the kitchen or bedroom. High humidity, high moisture content in new homes, and leaks can increase the risk of mold.

Read also: Super cleaning tip: This cheap remedy helps get rid of mold in the bathroom

Mold identification

Therefore, black mold is harmful to your health and therefore it is important to contact immediately if you suffer from this. At first, black mushrooms are often not clearly visible, but you can see small black dots on your wall, for example. If this continues to grow, you will soon see larger dots and the entire wall can turn black in no time. In addition, the unpleasant smell can spread throughout the house and you can suffer from the health problems mentioned above.

delete yourself

Since black mold can cause annoying health problems, it is best to hire a professional. Would you rather deal with it yourself? Then be sure to wear good protection, such as covering clothing, gloves, and a mouthpiece. Then you can try to treat black mold yourself with the following tips:

• Make sure you remove as much moisture as possible from the rooms in your home, so that it’s more difficult for mold to spread.
• Dissolve a spoonful of soda in one liter of hot water and rub it vigorously on the mushrooms with a sponge.
• Doesn’t this work? Then dissolve 250ml of bleach in a bucket of water. Rub the mold and let it soak in. Then you can try to rub it gently.
• For glass or tiled surfaces, it is better to use detergents or ammonia. With detergent, you don’t kill the mold, but you do wash it away. Ammonia is more aggressive, so it is less suitable for porous materials such as wood.
• Finally, you can use either detergent or pure vinegar to scrub the black mold.

Mold prevention

To prevent black mold in the home, it is especially important to be vigilant in damp areas, such as the bathroom. Make sure that the walls do not stay wet for a long time. It is also important to ventilate well, so make sure the window or door is always open. It’s a good idea to let the moisture seep in, especially after a shower. Do you suffer from leakage? Please consider this as soon as possible.

source | Pest ControlAnd water- dicht.beAnd HG
picture | Getty Images

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