Damp buildings & Aspergillus

Aspergillus in the home

There is controversy over what exactly is causing illnesses for people and their pets in particular homes and places of work, and it will be the subject of debate for some years to come. There is increasing acceptance that moulds might be affecting health in damp homes, perhaps reluctantly at least in the medical communities of the European Union, and in the USA issues of litigation are foremost so perhaps the stakes are higher? A position statement by one of the foremost hospitals (Johns Hopkins) in the US served to muddy an already very murky mould waterway.

The way forward is perhaps becoming clearer though there is much yet to do, but a recent clinical trial seemed to offer direct evidence that fungi might be a factor in severe asthma. Likewise the is good evidence that investment in making homes less hospitable to mould growth has a direct effect on human health.

There are at least three potential causes for ill health for people with normal healthy immune systems after coming into contact with moulds: infection, allergy and toxicity.

Mould particles (spores and other debris) are readily released into the air on being disturbed and are easily breathed into the lungs and sinuses of anyone in the area. These particles can cause allergies or become established and grow in small areas such as sinuses - occasionally even in the lungs themselves (CPA, ABPA).

Many moulds can make toxins that have a range of effects in people and animals. There is a lot of discussion and litigation currently ongoing (particularly in the USA) around the possibility that in some mouldy buildings it is possible to ingest or breathe in sufficient fungal material to cause health problems. Suffice it to say that on current evidence it would have to be a very mouldy building with a LOT of airborne mould OR there are as yet undefined health problems that accumulate from long term exposure to mycotoxins at a level that is thought not to cause acute health problems. More...

Controversy aside, it is clear from our experience that a few points seem to be generally applicable:

No-one should live in a damp home – damp is bad. Damp is water constantly entering the building and there is no way you will be able to control the growth of fungi unless you can control (eliminate) the damp.
Microbes need water to grow. The main way all of our houses can stay healthy is to eliminate water seeping into materials that can support growth of fungi/other microbes. The best way to do this is to eliminate the source of water e.g. condensation not draining away properly, poor ventilation, showers that drain onto the floor instead of the shower tray, leaking plumbing, water retained in faulty air conditioning units and so on.
If there has been a temporary flood which has saturated a large area of a room, dry it out as quickly as possible and monitor it for fungal growth – green/white/black patches appearing is fungal growth. It might take days/weeks to appear. If it appears, remove it and the materials it grows on (best done by a professional wearing a HEPA-filtered face mask).
As some areas of mould growth are well concealed, before you spend lots of money looking for hidden bugs move out of the house for a few weeks to see if your health improves. If it does and then deteriorates when you re-enter the building, then there is clearly something there harming your health. If you are seriously ill, leave the house to improve your health rather than taking medications to stay in the house.
Tests to find out if a home has fungal material in it will always find lots of signs in dust, carpets, soft furnishings, etc. It is a waste of time and money doing this. The tests must look at how much people in the house are coming into contact with the fungus – it does little harm unless it is breathed in or eaten. There is also the consideration that if a carpet has just been vacuumed there will be far more fungi in the air than if the air had been still for some time as the action of brushing the carpet will release lots of spores into the air. You may notice a difference in your health at those times too.

There should also be a comparison done with air that is known to give no health problems to the inhabitant of the house being tested – quite often this could be a sample of the air outside. Then you will clearly be able to see by how much the air inside the house is different from the clean air and this will give you a much better idea if it is what is in the air that is causing the problem.