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Montezuma Mold - Friend or Foe?
7/21/2015 (Permalink)
There are thousands of species of molds, and they are everywhere.
Mold - Friend or Foe?
There are thousands of species of molds, and they are everywhere. Generally when we think of mold, we think of it as something bad - and sometimes it is - but there are useful Montezuma molds also.
Mold as Your Friend
There are also other benefits from some mold. Any medicine name that ends with "mycin" is made with mold. Without mold, we would not have beer, bread or mushroom pizza.
• Molds help to make cheese
• It speeds the decay of leaves and garbage, putting these back into the soil.
• It is helpful in producing antibiotics and hormones
• Red mold is being used in genetic experiments.
Montezuma mold does have a good place in or lives, but we don't want it growing in our homes.
Mold as Your Foe
As mentioned above, there are thousands of species of mold. Below are just a few of the more common molds:
• Penicillium /Aspergillus – allergenic; only a few are toxic.
• Cladosporium – allergenic.
• Curvularia – allergenic mold
• Chaetomium – can cause infections in individuals with weak immune systems.
• Stachybotrys – Toxic, but not all sub-species are toxic.
• Memnoniella – often grows with Stachybotrys and considered toxic.
Safe Mold Levels
An arid location will have a lower mold count than a hot, humid area. In northern climates, mold goes dormant at 39 degrees and beings growing again when the weather warms up. Now, take a hot, humid environment, such as Florida, and you have some happy, reproducing mold and evidence of mold damage! Because of these differences in the locality, a reading of the outdoor air count is considered acceptable for the indoor air.
The following mold spore ranges use the spore/m3 number and not the raw count for each species when interpreted in a lab’s “Air Sample Report”.
• 0-200 spores – the toxic mold species Stachybotrys and Memnoniella are the only species to be considered an issue at this level.
• 200-1500 spores – Penicillium/Aspergillus & Cladosporium levels are in this range and do not require remediation.
• 1500-3000 spores – this point indicates that an issue may be apparent. These levels can be achieved by a dusty home or A/C system.
• 3000-10,000 spores – A perimeter cleanup may be needed if a mold spore source has been identified. If water intrusion or mold issue wasn’t found, the home might need to be cleaned, and the duct system should be evaluated.
• 10,000-25,000 spores – a mold spore source is usually identified, and remediation is needed. If no water intrusion or mold issue was found, the duct system might need to be cleaned and a general cleaning of the residence.
• 25,000-1,000,000+ spores – mold issue will be evident. Remediation will be required and needs to be performed by SERVPRO.
If you suspect you might have mold or see mold damage, you need to call in an expert such as SERVPRO.
Locally Owned Company with National Resources
SERVPRO of Albany and Americus is locally owned and operated—so we live and work here too and are proud to be part of this community. We are proud to provide mold remediation services in our local communities:
We are proud to serve our local communities: