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For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term Aspergillosis, it is “a group of illnesses caused by a certain type of mold. These illnesses usually affect the respiratory system. The mold that triggers the illnesses, aspergillus, occurs widely indoors and outdoors. Most strains of this mold are harmless. But a few can cause serious illnesses when their spores are inhaled by people with a weakened immune system, underlying lung disease or asthma.
The following is an excerpt from an article titled “Useful Fungi” found in Biology @Suite101
You might remember the term chitin from Biology class when discussing the exoskeletons of insects, crustaceans, and spiders. Basically, it is a polysaccharide (sugar) responsible for “storage materials, structural components, or protective substances.”(1) However what you may not know is that chitin is also found in the cell walls of fungi.
Have you ever received a mold report back from the lab that had an abundant number of hyphae/hyphal or mycelial fragments listed, yet the mold spore count was realatively low? Or even better, you performed an inspection with VISIBLE cottony mold growth, but the lab report came back without any specific mold spore type listed?
When dealing with mold, mold contamination and clean up, inevitably a couple of terms will enter the conversation: mycotoxin and bleach. Consultants probably deal with this situation just as much if not more than we do at the lab. But any IAQ professional who has presented a client a lab report with positive mold results, has had this same conversation over and over. How many times have you heard “well, I’m just going to … or can’t I just pour some bleach on it?” Too many times to count right?
Garlic and Aspergillus Niger
This resource allows to you click on your area of the US and find out what the reported mold and pollen counts are daily.