Exposure Standard of Mold in Air
There is no health based standard or a specific level that defines either of safe or unsafe mold exposure inside a home or other building. Because of the huge discrepancies person to person in mold sensitivity, what might be a harmless amount of mold exposure to one occupant can be devastating health-wise to another person. Usually, mold infestation is considered to be high if indoor mold samples show higher mold counts and different types indoors than in an outdoor mold control test. Mold infestation usually affects pregnant woman, infants, elderly and people with severe immune deficiency, such as bone marrow transplant patients. But day in and day out, cumulative exposure to mold infestation can make healthy adults quite sick.
Possible Health Effects of Mold Exposure
Health effects associated with mold fall into four groups as follows:
- No effect: Physiological mechanisms in healthy people may allow exposure to mold at low and high levels.
- Allergic sensitization and immune responses: These can include allergic rhinitis (hay fever), asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis (inflammation of lung tissue), and allergic skin diseases.
- Infectious growth of the mold in or on the body: People with compromised immune systems may be more vulnerable to infections by molds. Healthy individuals are usually not vulnerable to infections from airborne mold exposure.
- Disruption of cellular function: This level occurs with toxigenic effects by toxic compounds produced by certain molds.
Read more about Interpretation of Sampling Results