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Apartment buildings may look crisp outside but individual rental apartments may be discovered by their tenants to have suffered leak damage and extensive hidden mold - here we give some basic advice Health Risks to Tenants in Moldy in Rental
Homes, Apartments, Offices

This document discusses possible mold-related health risks in moldy apartments or rental homes.

We note that certain individals may be at much higher risk of serious health consequences when exposed to toxic or allergenic molds, increasing the health risk to those individuals and the liability risks for landlords.

An easy-to-print PDF version of this article is here.

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Health Risks for Tenants in Rental Apartments - Compromised immune system increases vulnerability to mold-related illness

Moldy apartment (C) Daniel Friedman

In an area of flooding even if the visible mold on drywall is less than 30 sq.ft. (thus defined as a small conventional clean-up job) you must be alert for larger hidden mold reservoirs such as in a wall or ceiling cavity that has been wet.

Removing clean -looking insulation over a wet crawl space can disclose moldy wood such as shown in our photo above: this is certainly a health risk for occupants in the space above.

The fact that a building occupant's immune system is compromised places that person at extra risk and means that s/he and the contents of their apartment need to be protected carefully.

People at extra risk of health problems if exposed to moldy dust and demolition debris include elderly, infants, immune-compromised, asthmatics, people suffering from COPD or other respiratory illness, and possibly others.

While chronic exposure to high levels of toxic or allergenic mold can make even some healthy people become sensitized as well, the people I just listed should be particularly careful about exposure.

This article continues by discussing the risk of hidden mold reservoirs.

Don't assume that the mold you see is the only, or even the most important problem in your rental space.

Photograph: typical mold on floor joists and subflooring over a wet crawl space - © Daniel Friedman

 


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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

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On 2012-02-21 by (mod) - what does a mold count of 24,000 mean?

The airborne mold level you report for Pen/Asp is high enough that if the test was even half-way reasonably accurate then there is a health concern with airborne mold in the building and professional (and more-useful) inspection is needed along with a mold cleanup or remediation plan.

See AIRBORNE PARTICLE & MOLD COUNT NUMBER GUIDE

but

Watch out: be sure to read ACCURACY OF AIR TESTS for MOLD

On 2012-02-21 by Jas

Hi, we just found out that my daughter's room has a count of Aspergillis/Pennicillium of 24,000 m3.

This is because of water damage to the room next door that happened 2 years ago. Does that mean she's been exposed to that level of mold spores these past 2 years? Also, she has a dry cough that increases with activity that also started about 1.5 years ago.

If this is mold related, will removing her from this situation (which we've done) eventually lead to a decrease in her symptoms? She has otherwise been healthy. Thanks.


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