If rainwater or leaking pipes have created the damp-and-dewy conditions for a mold intrusion in your clients’ homes, it’s crucial that you help them engage in safe mold removal. That means making sure homeowners are well aware of the fact that mold removal is not, by any means, a DIY job.
Here’s a rundown of the dangers of mold cleaning without the proper expertise, experience and equipment:
Mold strikes with stealthy inconsistency.
Mold affects each person differently. For example, someone with asthma or other respiratory problems, mold allergies or a weakened immune system should never attempt to remove a mold colony. These risk factors greatly increase the danger of ingesting mold spores.
Not all mold is created equal.
The type of mold in your clients’ homes affects how dangerous it is to remove it. Toxigenic molds, like Stachybotrys chartarum (“black mold”), are much more dangerous than pathogenic molds, while pathogenic molds present more danger than allergenic types. These distinctions should not, and actually cannot, be made simply by searching through and comparing mold images online. Only an expert in mold classification can accurately determine the exact type of spore that’s wreaking havoc on your clients’ homes.
Mold spores with serious symptoms.
Whether allergenic, pathogenic or toxigenic, all mold types carry health risks. However, some strains are especially harmful.
Toxic black mold, the type that’s often found in damp or water-damaged buildings and homes, causes serious symptoms and health problems.
Symptom categories:
- Mental and neurological symptoms
- Respiratory symptoms
- Circulatory symptoms
- Vision and eye problems
- Skin problems
- Immune system problems
- Reproductive system problems
- Tiredness and discomfort
- Other illnesses/health effects
Many people are surprised to hear that mold can cause mental and neurological symptoms, so make sure you make your clients aware of this frightening fact.
While the black mold is not toxic itself, it produces trichothecene mycotoxins — and these toxics are not only toxic, but also neurotoxic. This means they have the potential to kill neurons and impair mental functioning for either the short or long term.
Mental/neurological symptoms:
- Confusion
- Brain fog
- Shortened attention span
- Difficulty concentrating and paying attention
- Slowed reflexes
- Disorientation
- Dizziness
- Memory loss and memory problems
- Impaired learning ability
- Hallucinations
- Shock
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Aggression and other personality changes
- Tingling
- Trembling
- Shaking
- Seizure
- Numbness
No spore must be left behind.
In order to remove a mold colony and guarantee that it doesn’t come back to rear its potentially toxic head, you must remove 100% of the spores. This is why mold-removal specialists 1) have to use such corrosive disinfectants and 2) completely seal off mold-infested environments to prevent spore spreading.
If your clients try to remove mold themselves, they may be successful and get it all expunged from the home or building. But then again, what if they don’t get all the spores? With spores spreading by wind and reproduction, they could unknowingly turn a one-colony situation into several-colony devastation.
By entrusting your clients’ mold removal to AOA Restoration Navigators™ — who are up-to-date on industry standards and have access to the proper remediation equipment — you guarantee that all infected areas are 100% treated and spores are not further disseminated throughout the home or building.
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