Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Info on Mold Allergies

There are people who have allergies all over the world and no matter what the allergy may be, anyone with one will tell you just how much of an inconvenience it tends to be. Symptoms usually show themselves the most often during the early spring through the late fall, whether it is an allergy to grass, pollen, or mold. Pet dander can be a problem with some individuals and this is one of the only allergies that is really only an inconvenience year round. Molds living in your home can also aggravate your allergies and even bring about new ones and are also one of the only allergies that are a threat the whole year, since molds that live indoors do not freeze like those outside.

A high mold spore level in your home can do a lot to aggravate your already existing allergies and can even cause an allergy to the specific kind of mold living in your home to develop. The symptoms from mold exposure can range from a common episode of sneezing or a runny nose all the way to a reaction that requires an ambulance. Children and elderly people in particular need to pay careful attention to the level of their allergen that they expose themselves to every day. Watch the news for each of the pollen, mold spore, and grass counts. If the counts are high for that day, consider not letting children or elderly people with allergies or respiratory conditions go out that day.

If you have mold allergies and think you are having symptoms, you should avoid eating foods that contain mold, such as cheeses that are made with it, bread, beer, and even other funguses like mushrooms. All of these can make your symptoms even worse.

Most types of mold in the world are not harmful to human beings and while there are a few different ones that can cause serious medical conditions, only a few tend to cause allergic reactions immediately. The most common molds that produce allergic reactions are those in the Penicillium, Alternaria, and Clasosporium genii.

If you are concerned about mold living in your home, you should do your best to reduce the humidity level in it. Keeping your home bone dry is not practical, since air that is too dry can also cause problems like nosebleeds, but keeping it at a healthy medium is best for all. A home that is too moist inside is a breeding ground for mold.

Dror Klar is a writer and promoter of
Manhattan Water Removal
and
Elizabeth NJ Flood Cleanup Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.

Child Mold Exposure

When you have children, you realize that the most important thing to you at that point is making sure that they stay healthy and that if there is anything that you can do to improve the quality of their health, you make sure that you do that. No matter what happens, your foremost concern is their health and welfare.

Having mold growing in your home is a pretty heavy inconvenience for any homeowner, but for parents of small children, it can be a nightmare. The health of small children is very fragile at that point of their lives and most parents understand this, but do not tend to realize just how serious of a threat to their health can exist inside their own homes. We tend to be the most concerned with the threats that come from outside our homes, but one of the most serious threats can be growing almost anywhere.

The areas of our homes that are the most moist also tend to be the ones that we frequent the most, such as the bathroom and the kitchen, and unfortunately, these are the two areas of the home that are the most at risk for mold growth. The food that your children eat is not the only thing in your home that can become moldy. The ceilings, floors, and walls can become just as moldy as a stale loaf of bread, but you may not notice it until it is too late. Symptoms of mold exposure often show themselves in those members of our households that are the most sensitive to environmental changes, such as children, pets, and elderly people.

Symptoms of mold exposure are very similar to the symptoms of most allergies that involve pollen, grass, or pet dander and can include sneezing, runny noses, blocked noses, eye irritation, itchy skin, and etcetera. Infants are in the most danger and if you discover mold growing anywhere in the house, your baby needs to be taken to a clean environment quickly and needs to stay there until the contamination is removed. Infants are susceptible to developing hemorrhagic pneumonia from mold exposure among other conditions, so it should be taken very seriously. Even if the mold growth is old and dead, it can still cause allergy symptoms, reactions, and can aggravate any pre-existing respiratory conditions that may exist in your home.

To keep your children healthy, do not allow them to stay in a home that is contaminated with mold and any items in your home that are found to be molded, especially toys, should be thrown away. Porous items like stuffed animals and bedding need to be thrown away, since it is difficult to completely disinfect these items and small children often put these things in their mouths.

Dror Klar is a writer and promoter of
Westchester County Water Damage Repair and
Elizabeth NJ Water Damage Repair Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.

Sanitizing Your Well Water

If you live outside the city limits, you may be among the thousands of people that have to rely on well water to drink and to bathe in. There are filters that can be put on your well to get rid of any mineral deposits, rust, or soil that may get into your water, but actually disinfecting your water if it is contaminated with bacteria is a somewhat different matter. You can clean your well water out by chlorinating it and this process is fairly simple.

Chlorinating well water is usually done to get rid of bacteria, to disinfect after you make some kind of repair to it, to disinfect after it has not been used in a while, such as the well of a vacation home, or the removal of hydrogen sulphide.

The first thing that you need to do is to get enough water saved up in your house by using milk jugs or whatever else you have to put water in to last your home’s needs for at least the next 24 hours.

Depending on how deep your well is, you will want to put a different amount of bleach into the water. The bleach that you will want to use is a simple, unscented household bleach. This should contain about 3 to 5 percent sodium chlorite. As far as just how much bleach you need to use, it varies. If your well is less than 50 feet deep and is 6 inches in diameter, you will want to use 3.5 liters of bleach in it. A well that is 100 feet deep and 6 inches in diameter will require 7.

You should not use the water system of your home for at least 8 hours after doing this. 24 hours is usually the recommended time, but this might not be practical for you if you have a large family.

By the time the process is over, your water should not smell like chlorine. The water may look similar to a tea color, but this will go away after a bit of use. Do not drink the water until the chlorine smell is gone.

If the process helps your water’s quality, but the problem comes back in a few weeks, you will need to repeat this process and possibly add more bleach per application. This should result in a water supply quality that is much better than it was before.

Dror Klar is a writer and promoter of
Queens Water Removal
and
Elizabeth NJ Wet Basement Flooding Emergency Service Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.