What is Black Mould?
“Toxic black mould” – It’s the worst-case scenario and it’s everyone’s worst fear when discussing mould in their Building. Despite everyone’s familiarity with the term, there is a lot of misinformation on what black mould actually is and what it means if it’s found in your Building.
The color black has very little to do with identifying toxigenic moulds because moulds grow in many different colors and even change colors during different stages of their life cycle. The only way to positively identify a mould is under a microscope.
‘Black mould’ is a term usually used to describe mycotoxin producing moulds. These moulds are labeled ‘toxigenic’ rather than ‘toxic’ because although they have the capabilities to produce mycotoxins, they do not always produce them, and the specific environments that trigger the production of mycotoxins is still being studied.
Although there are multiple groups of toxigenic moulds, stachybotrys is a group of moulds that the term ‘black mould’ most often refers to. These moulds are hydrophilic, meaning that they love water and typically will only grow after 14 days of heavy water saturation. Stachybotrys moulds are toxigenic and are known to cause many health problems targeting the respiratory, immune, and neurological systems.
Service Overview
Treatment and remediation of toxigenic moulds is no different than other common moulds, but extra precaution should be taken with containment to prevent cross contamination to other areas of the Building.
If you find mould in your Building, do your best to disturb the spores as little as possible and call a professional to help establish an appropriate plan of action. This is especially important if you or people in your home suffer from allergies or weakened immune systems.
