The How and Why of Black Mold Removal

The top search results for black mold removal on Google suggest a number of different approaches for removing toxic black mold from your home - but with so many different options, how do you know which will be most effective? When it comes to your health, no mold is more important to remove promptly than black mold, so we’ve created a short guide to the hows and whys of black mold removal to walk you through our process of eliminating this unwanted guest in your home.

Black Mold Removal Methods

The first thing we noticed when Googling black mold removal was that there were a LOT of suggestions for using common household chemicals like bleach, vinegar, ammonia, tea tree oil and even baking soda - the bad news is that none of these products will remove your mold for good. What they will do, however, is kill or injure the top layer of growth without affecting the roots. Those roots will come back and continue to grow - and the sponge or brush you used will help spread spores to other parts of your home, compounding the problem.

At MoldTech, we have a number of different black mold removal methods that will remove the entirety of the mold infestation.

Chemical Treatment: This method is our favourite - not only is it the most time and cost-effective method for our customers, but this sprayed-on fungicide works better than any other chemical wash or treatment that we’ve tried. As one of the first companies in Canada to use this method, we tried many different brands until we found our ideal product that is both non-toxic to humans and superbly effective on mold.

HEPA Sanding: This traditional method of black mold removal has been in use for a long time, and we use it occasionally during indoor mold remediation where the extra HEPA filtration, to capture any stray particles and spores, comes in handy.

Media Blasting: For a large space, nothing beats media blasting. This process uses small particles to literally blast mold from a surface such as attic rafters; those particles can be made of sand, glass, or dry ice, and each has an ideal usage and application.

Black Mold Symptoms

Knowing the symptoms of black mold can help you identify a problem that you may not even be able to see - mold can grow without sunlight and favours dark, damp places. We often find it hiding in the baseboards and behind drywall, so knowing what kind of symptoms it causes may be the only evidence you have a problem.

There are a number of common types of symptoms experienced by people suffering from mold allergies, but black mold has specific effects on a number of different parts of the body:

Respiratory Effects

The main mechanism for toxic black mold exposure is through your lungs, when you breathe in spores and mycotoxins. The sensitive membranes of your lungs are easily irritated and can cause a range of symptoms:

• Coughing or wheezing
• Shortness of breath
• Burning sensation in the mouth, throat, nose, or chest
• Bleeding gums
• Itchy, stuffy, or blocked nose
• Nose bleeds
• Pulmonary hemorrhage or edema

Circulatory Effects

Once ingested or absorbed into the body, black mold can find its way into the blood stream, where it can cause hemorrhaging and unexplained bleeding, as well as:

• Low blood pressure
• Clotting problems
• Blood in vomit
• Damage to the heart and other organs
• Irregular heartbeat

Neurological Effects

The brain is the most sensitive and least understood part of our bodies - it’s also the most susceptible to the neurotoxic mycotoxins produced by black mold. Neurological effects can be experienced as:

• Depression
• Hallucinations
• Anxiety
• Personality changes
• Brain fog or confusion
• Memory loss
• Slowed reflexes
• Trembling or shaking
• Numbness
• Seizures

Unfortunately, the effects of toxic black mold are widespread and easily confused with everything from the common cold to cancer, dementia, and other serious diseases. The effects of black mold exposure also affect the delicate tissues of your eyes, cause tiredness and discomfort, can cause weight gain or loss, and even effect your reproductive system or a developing foetus. These wide ranging effects make black mold important an absolute imperative to deal with as soon as you suspect you may have a problem.

Why is Black Mold so Toxic?

Black mold has a toxic effect on humans because of a mycotoxin known as trichothecene. Beyond black mold (Stachybotrys chartarum) there are approximately 60 types of mold that produce the neurotoxic spores called Trichothecene, one of the most dangerous types of mycotoxins in nature. In fact, Trichothecene is so dangerous, the United States government was reported to have used it as a biological agent during war with Vietnam!

While mold removal is sometimes jokingly referred to as a war, the risks of exposure to mycotoxins is a real risk. Trichothecene is neurotoxic, meaning that it destructs nerve tissue and affects neurons in the brain, impairing not only our short term abilities, but our long term health as well.

The Importance of Safe Removal

The reason we recommend a professional mold removal isn’t just because home remedies are ineffective - it’s because safety is the most important part of any mold removal.

At MoldTech, safety isn’t just about wearing rubber gloves, it means we’ll be:

• Protecting you and your family, as well as our inspectors, with specialized equipment
• Minimizing disturbance to prevent the mold from spreading
• Using air scrubbers and negative pressure to prevent cross-contamination
• Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning, to ensure that we haven’t missed a speck and that the mold is gone for good.

Black Mold Removal

Removing mold will improve your environment and protect your health from unwanted allergies and sometimes even more serious health effects. MoldTech has been a leader in southern Ontario black mold removal and remediation for over a decade, and we’ve seen it all - we regularly work with home and business owners, realtors, and insurance companies to quietly and efficiently remediate their buildings. If you have a specific allergy or own a heritage property, that’s no trouble either, we’re happy to work with you to find a solution that meets your needs and effectively removes the mold. For more information about our black mold removal services, give us a call at 1-866-684-7684.