Negative Health Effects of the Exposure to Toxic Mold At Home

The infestation of mold can grasp you anywhere. At times, the mold is unnoticeable but, if you have a damp basement, the spores of the mold spread rapidly. The health effects of the exposure to toxic mold are quite severe. The severity and the types of effects differ from one person to the other. The toxic black mold symptoms or effects are usually divided into various categories. Read on to learn about 7 most noteworthy symptoms of exposure to toxic mold.

Respiratory health effects of exposure to toxic mold

If your home is toxic mold infected, it means you are breathing in poisonous toxins. The toxic mold toxins create a burning sensation and irritation in the air passage of the individual like the throat, mouth, or nasal cavity. The mold toxins also lodge in the sinuses, lungs, and the mucus membranes, which causes breathing issues, bleeding and burning sensation in the lungs. Runny, itchy, stuffy nose, coughing, wheezing, sore throat, are common respiratory health effects of exposure to toxic mold. The pulmonary hemorrhage or edema, bleeding gums or nose are also few other symptoms caused by toxic mold.

Mental and neurological health effects of the exposure to toxic mold

The black toxic mold is powerful enough to kill or harm the nerve cells present in the brain and damage the mental ability of a person. The trichothecene mycotoxins can also cause irritability, mood swings, personality or other nervous disorders. Other neurological health effects of the exposure to toxic mold are anxiety, shock, depression, dizziness, numbness, and slowed reflexes.

Vision and eye health effects of the exposure to toxic mold

When the air of your home is infected by the toxic mold it may come in contact with your eye cells and cause inflammation and injury to your eyes. It also creates vision difficulties. The symptoms of vision health effects of the exposure to toxic mold are red bloodshot eyes, blurry vision, soreness and eye inflammation, yellow eyes (jaundice).

Circulatory health effects of the exposure to toxic mold

When you breathe in the toxic black mold spores, it gets absorbed and ingested in your blood through your eyes and skin. While entering your body, the toxic mold causes blood clot problems, external or internal hemorrhaging, and heart damage. It also leads to low blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, bone marrow disruption, bleeding in the brain or other organs, etc.

Immune system health effects of the exposure to toxic mold

The chemicals released from the toxic black mold spores suppress the immune system. The improper functioning of the immune system and reoccurring infections are some of the immune system health effects of the exposure to toxic mold. As a result, certain groups of people, including recent transplant recipients or people suffering from severe neutropenia, should avoid mold-contaminated environments entirely (more on the topic on Center For Disease Prevention And Control website).

Tiredness and discomforting health effects of the exposure to toxic mold

When confronted with toxic mold, your immune system releases a sedative called Chloral Hydrate. It is a defense mechanism aimed at reducing the health effects of the exposure to toxic mold. On the flip side, it can cause swelling in joints and muscles and make you feel fatigued and tired. In addition, it leads to other health effects like nausea, diarrhea, fever, vomiting, headaches, abdominal pain, and much more.

Reproductive health effects of the exposure to toxic mold

The toxic mold harms a woman during pregnancy by affecting the fetus. The damaged fetus can lead to birth defects, miscarriages, or infertility. Impotency and fetal development problems are also common health effects of the exposure to toxic mold.

Conclusion

Discussing all the problems in one article is quite difficult. There are various other health effects of the exposure to toxic mold. They range from weight loss, hair loss, anorexia, liver disease to hearing loss, and more. Taking preventive measures and following the best practices to stop the growth of the toxic mold, and hiring professionals to get rid of the mold becomes highly important to ensure the good health of your loved ones.

Moupriya Das

Acknowledgement:

• "Featured photo": for source click here.

• "Picture no.1": for source click here.

• "Picture no.2": for source click here.

This article was originally published in 2018 on SPIC AND SPAN. Home & Office Cleaning blog.