Mould illness – its more common than you think
The image adjacent is of a patient, Mark Macduffie, in hospital for surgery in 2013 to clear out a spinal blockage restricting blood flow to his brain (image courtesy of Mark Macduffie via a Channel Nine news piece by Emily McPherson: ).
This blockage turned out to be one of the many confusing symptoms, and not the cause of his illness as thought at the time. One medical examination lead to another, until finally a link was made to Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS – Mould Illness).
According to Dr Shoemaker, a prominent US physician and specialist in CIRS, up to 24% of the US population have a genetic susceptibility to mould and associated microbial “stews”, emanating from Water Damaged Buildings (WDB). Certainly this translates to an Australian context, with a common issue of water damaged buildings providing the environments for mould proliferation.
Damp, condensation, and poor ventilation are the main contributors to mould growth, especially when it remains undetected or untreated. Water damage occurs from common building failures including poor waterproofing in wet areas, leaking pipework, or moisture ingress from outside. Ultimately the effect is poor indoor air quality, and compromised occupant health.
Some common health issues evolve from mould allergies causing headaches, rashes and itches, tiredness, coughs, sinus problems, respiratory illness, or asthma.
Health effects and severity vary depending on many factors including:
- an individuals genetics (their immunity response),
- an individuals health at the time of exposures (whether they are immuno-compromised or not i.e. the sick, young or old),
- how long they are exposed for (duration and regularity – do they live or work in water damaged buildings?),
- the species of mould present (how toxic or allergenic are they?),
- the confluent “stew” of micro-organisms (bacteria and yeasts), airborne fragments and spores, mycotoxins, microbial volatile organic compounds and;
- concentration of exposure (ultimately quantifying how bad is the indoor air quality).
Those with a genetic susceptibility may suffer from the general symptoms of allergy as a pre-cursor to a worsening condition if left unchecked.
Rule no. 1
As the saying goes, if a health problem exists (or persists), seek medical advice. This is the most important rule to follow.
Rule no. 2
It is important to address the building issues, eliminate the source moisture problem and remediate the mould instead of continuing to live in a moisture laden environment, promoting microbial growth, exacerbating possible health issues, and allowing further building deterioration. Proper remediation alone can resolve many less threatening mould related ailments and allergies, which leads us to the next rule.
Rule no. 3
If you are the one suffering the ailment or allergy you should not be the one doing the clean-up or remediation. Regardless, seek professional advice.
Because of the variables, medical diagnosis is challenging. Mould related illness can be overlooked, one, because it is less known, and two, it is difficult for physicians and their patients to recognize hidden moisture problems in buildings along with the causal relationship – especially when most doctors don’t step into your home. It’s not like on a TV drama where the chief of diagnostic medicine instructs his impressionable team of interns to to sift through your personal belongings,to find the forensic answers to “..solve pathological enigmas.” – after illegally breaking into your home (of course), a sordid love affair (it’s standard), and all while the patient is lying unaware in a hospital bed (refer Wikipedia and the “House” series, actor Hugh Laurie aka Gregory House).
It’s important not to jump to conclusions also, as common symptoms for mould related illnesses may instead be attributable to a more common cold or flu, general eczema, or allergies to pollen, animals, or foods. Conversely, there is nothing wrong in mentioning possible mould concerns to your doctor, in fact it’s quite sensible, particularly in the absence of other reasons for illness, symptoms are beyond simple explanation, or you know of damp issues in your building.
Medical treatments may be somewhat thwarted, for example, for serious exposure responses such as chronic fatigue or other crippling inflammatory disorder, because a patient may unwittingly continue to live or work in adverse moisture/mould conditions. Click the link below for the Channel 9 news piece by Emily McPherson: regarding Mark Macduffie.
I stress “may” in the example above because a person’s genetics, case history, environment and diagnosis is unique to every individual and should be explored in consultation with medical professionals – and not by Dr Google and the many “mould causes nearly everything” advocates, or “mould is harmless” naysayers. Balance, science and research (and second/third professional opinions) are everything. It maybe difficult at first to find assistance, as generally mould may not be on many practitioners’ radar. Try this link.
Having said that – inspection to suspected water damaged buildings is often invaluable, particularly when typical medical diagnosis and treatment options have been exhausted by doctors and patients alike, looking for an alternate causative agent. Inspection, mould sampling, moisture measurement, and laboratory analysis of the workplace or home helps provide data to medicos to tailor patient evaluation and establish a link if one exists. This can either help with targeted treatment or eliminate this aspect to move onto another assessment protocol…and we don’t need to break-in to your house, unlike the dramatic TV series!
Irrespective, site evaluation provides the opportunity to ascertain the correct mould remediation approach, relative to the extent of building damage, indoor air quality, and health risk profile. Remember, water intrusion and persistence causes mould growth, and building damage full stop. At some point (preferably sooner than later) remediation is required as a course of prevention to possible on-going exposures and health concern to address building failures. (Rule no. 2). Irrespective of whether a current relatable health condition exists in the family or not, this aspect is sometimes forgotten behind the whole mould/health debate. Moreover, water damage can be a subject of building disputes, for example, where covering it over quickly with plasterboard before proper mould treatment or moisture management is performed.
Quite often we work in tandem with a building consultant to address this concern including using pressure tests to assess pipework, evaluating water-proofing membranes, sourcing moisture intrusion, assessing structural damage, and providing building remedies. Successful remediation relies on the building AND the mould remedy. They are not mutually exclusive – the mould will continue to prosper if the shower alcove still leaks into the wall cavity next to the bedroom where the asthmatic sleeps, despite cosmetic clean-up attempts. Mould spores may re-populate or sporolate to other locations under the right conditions if not cleaned-up properly.
Post Remediation Verification, as implied, is carried out to ensure the property is fit for on-going habitation using comparable sampling methods, moisture measurements, and inspections (i.e. was remediation acceptable?).
Hazmat Australia has occupational hygienists available to assess site situations, assist medical process by providing field data to practitioners, or provide consultancy reports on water damaged buildings. We do not provide medical advice and any information herein is for general information and of a general nature only.
Any link to other web-pages or parties are for information only, for your own evaluation, and are not endorsed/associated with our company. In all cases, consult medical advice if you have concerns (Rule no. 1).