Can A Mold Infestation Kill You?

Beyond the damage it causes to your home, the number one reason for mold removal in Toronto & the GTA is health. It’s easy to focus on the remediation costs when it comes to your budget, but many homeowners don’t consider the expense to their health. Mold testing in Toronto can help you detect mold fungi and the spores they produce. Spores are easy to breathe in, and while our immune systems generally prevent them from taking hold, people with reduced immunity or suffering from illness may not be as lucky. While there’s no yes-or-no answer about whether mold growth can kill you, at MoldTech, we think there’s still plenty to be cautious of. 

Mold and Lung Health

One of the primary places that mold growth affects are the lungs and respiratory system, including the nose and mouth. When spores settle on our tissue, they can cause irritation and inflammation, causing symptoms like: 

• running nose
• congestion
• sneezing
• wheezing
• coughing
• shortness of breath

Even in the healthiest person, a mold infestation can cause disruptive and uncomfortable allergic reactions that have a marked effect on your day-to-day. 

Who Should Be Extra Cautious

Because mold infestations are easy to miss and hard to detect without professional testing, we advise the following groups to be especially cautious: 

• parents of new babies
• people with compromised immune systems
• cancer patients
• transplant recipients
• the elderly

In fact, earlier this year, states across India began to report “black fungus” epidemics in covid hospital wards. Usually extremely rare, mucormycosis results in mold growth in the nose, eye sockets, and brain — and has a chilling 50% mortality rate. While healthy people can fight it off, the fungus can spread quickly in those with suppressed immune systems due to diseases like covid-19. 

How to Minimize Your Chances of a Mold Infestation

While mucormycosis is extremely rare in Canada, there’s still a valuable lesson to be learned, and that’s to take mold growth seriously. Minimizing your chances of a mold infestation starts with mold testing in Toronto. At MoldTech, we do a careful visual and physical inspection of your home to assess any problem areas or visible infestations. If need be, we take samples that are then laboratory-confirmed to identify species and mold type. 

When we positively identify mold, the best thing to do is book a mold removal in Toronto & the GTA as soon as possible. Not only with this stop the physical damage to your home, but it’ll also eliminate harmful mold spores in your airways, resulting in healthier lungs, better sleep, more concentration, and clearer skin, among other things. Mold’s effects are insidious and can be hard to differentiate from the common flu or seasonal allergies, making mold testing your best tool. If you have questions about mold removal in Toronto or want to ask about MoldTech’s mold testing services, use our contact page to reach out.