We had such a case in our practice: a young family came for an air examination. They had been suffering for a long time with their child’s allergies and severe headaches. No doctor could help them – the symptoms were relieved, but not for long, but at the dacha their health improved dramatically. The parents thought that the problem was in the air, bought a humidifier and purifier, began to do wet cleaning even more often, and disinfected all surfaces. But this did not help either. Then they decided to call for reinforcements – us.
We arrived at a perfectly clean apartment – it would be great for a commercial for a cleaning product! The test results showed an ideal balance of all parameters. But here’s the problem – while Sergey was taking samples, he was also constantly sneezing and rubbing his watery eyes. We didn’t give up so easily, so we decided to play detective and look for non-obvious reasons for such a sharp deterioration in the condition. And we found it! Right under the bathtub. It was black mold that appeared due to ventilation problems and a small leak under the bathtub. Our clients eliminated the cause of the increased humidity, and called in professionals to remove the spores – and the allergy subsided.
Such stories are not uncommon. People often blame their poor health on a neighboring boiler room, a highway, or poor-quality building materials, but the problem turns out to be banal mold or poor-quality household chemicals. So that you are fully armed, let’s figure out where fungi, bacteria, and microbes can hide.
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Mold: habitats and consequences for the body
Everyone has seen mold at least once in their life, but usually, all housewives are very worried when we assume that somewhere in their apartment a fungus could appear. Do not worry, most often it forms for reasons beyond our control. Mold spores in small concentrations are always present in the air, they just take root only in damp, warm, poorly ventilated places. All three components of this formula are usually found in bathrooms, kitchens, and heated basements.
Fungus is very insidious: the body’s reaction to it rarely appears immediately. But if you live in a moldy room for a long time, you can easily get some kind of disease:
- respiratory – asthma, allergies, bronchitis, or laryngitis;
- skin – dermatitis or eczema;
- oral – stomatitis;
- eye – conjunctivitis;
- fungal;
- or get other complications in the form of cough, shortness of breath, digestive disorders, rhinitis, etc.
What should you do if you have already discovered mold on your own or through microbiological testing? The action plan is simple:
- To begin with, reduce the humidity and temperature in the room, ensure sufficient ventilation;
- if the affected area is small or the fungus has appeared recently, try to deal with it using special “chemicals” – you can find them in any hardware store or on marketplaces;
- the affected area is large or treatment with antifungal agents did not help? Then call the relevant specialists as soon as possible.
In comfortable conditions, mold grows quickly, so it needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
For prevention, we recommend following the simple tips from our guide:
- provide air access to all damp places. After a shower, leave the bathroom door open, do not close the washing machine and dishwasher completely until all the water has dried in them;
- Pay special attention to potential mold growth areas: bathroom walls and joints, areas around sinks. Wash them frequently with disinfectants and wipe dry, and wash your shower curtain regularly, if you have one;
- improve ventilation in the bathroom, kitchen and basement, check the tightness of window frames;
- Maintain humidity in your apartment at a level of 30 to 45%.
Microbiologically contaminated places in the house
Mold is not the only threat to cleanliness and well-being. You will be surprised how many microbes live on some surfaces in our apartments. For example, on a washed cutting board we found about 1,000 units of microorganisms, on a gaming joystick – about 8,000, on the armrests of chairs and sofas – more than 19,000. At the same time, a surface with a result of 10 units is considered clean.
Three high-risk groups can be identified:
- door handles, buttons and protrusions of household appliances, switches, chargers, computer mice, etc. – all those objects that we constantly touch when we perform some daily actions;
- towels: kitchen, bath, body and face – the less often you change and dry them, the more bacteria accumulate, especially in the bathroom, where it is warm and humid;
- washing machine parts: the main breeding ground for microorganisms here is, of course, the drum rubber. This device is a real hiding place for unpleasant surprises. Remember how in the 00s there was an advertisement about limescale and the owners of the equipment were surprised by how much sediment had formed in their machine? Our clients are usually just as shocked when they see the results of washings from the surface of the cuff or even find mold there themselves.
In order not to become a happy colonizer of harmful bacteria. We recommend not only wiping all potentially dangerous surfaces with a damp cloth, but also using a quality disinfectant. But to make sure that it works, it is better to order a microbiological analysis. There are many cases when our clients regularly treated the entire apartment with cleaning chemicals. But it did not kill the bacteria.
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The bottom line is simple: even if you regularly do general cleaning and wash your entire apartment until it shines. This may not protect you from mold and microorganisms. Follow our advice and carefully monitor your health. If you have signs of allergies, skin diseases, breathing difficulties, etc. without any objective reasons, call the specialists. We will not only help you find the hidden causes of health problems. But also recommend additional research and measures to improve the environmental situation at home, if necessary.
