The Issue
Water-damaged buildings are not just stinky, they are a
health problem. It is now quite apparent that people who have been diagnosed as
having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromylagia, Post Lyme Syndrome, Myalgic
Encephalitis or any other similar inflammatory condition who are not being
helped by their treatment, should take a look around them and see if they might
be living, working or being educated in a water-damaged building.
What If You Are Ill From A Water-damged Building
For many
people, removing themselves from these buildings will remedy their condition.
For others, they can recover faster with treatment. However, for 25% of these
people they may have a genetic susceptibility to the mycotoxins, endotoxins and
volatile organic compounds found in these buildings that keeps them from
removing these toxins from their bodies adequately. This group of people will
not recover fully after removing themselves from the water-damaged building and
they usually need treatment to recover.
What Causes the Health Problem
These water-damaged buildings contain mycotoxins, endotoxins
and volatile organic compounds that are released from the mold and bacteria.
Additionally, there may be release of toxic chemicals from the building
materials. Depending on the types of building materials and the type of molds
and bacteria as well as their stage of growth, the toxins in the air can vary
greatly. Volatile organic compounds are released in water-damaged buildings by
all three of these troublemakers. So, the person living in a water-damaged
building may be living in an environment where tiny bits of microscopic toxins
as well as toxic, volatile organic compounds are floating around in the air
getting in their lungs and landing on their skin.
How Does This Happen
Almost all modern buildings experience minor to more serious
water damage during their life time. Any time a building has a moisture issue
that is unattended or is not remediated appropriately it can lead to increased
levels of microbial, and fungal agents along with the toxins and volatile
organic compounds that they release into the air. This exposes those living,
working or schooling in these buildings to unhealthy levels of inflammatory
toxins. This exposure can lead to respiratory as well as non-respiratory
complaints. The symptoms are quite diverse and you can find a list of them at this link.
Details on Mold/Bacteria And Their Toxins
Molds make both mycotoxins and microbial volatile organic
compounds (VOCs). The VOCs are
chemicals with low molecular weights
(don’t weigh much compared to other molecules), a high vapor pressure
(will vaporize easily like essential oils) and are not very water soluble. This
means they will evaporate into the air easily. These volatile compounds that
fungi release are alcohols, aldehydes, amines, ketones, terpenes, aromatic,
chlorinated hydrocarbons and sulfur-based compounds. They are all variations of
carbon based molecules. They usually have some sort of odor.
Fungal VOCs come both from their primary and secondary
metabolism. In primary metabolism, they are breaking food down from their
environment to use nutrients needed to maintain themselves. This creates fungal
VOCs in the process. In secondary metabolism the VOCs are due to competition
for resources in a nutrient-poor environment.
In studies, the greatest production of VOC production seems
to happen during spore formation (especially terpenes and sesquiterpenes) and
mycotoxin production. Mycotoxins are different from VOCs in that mycotoxins are
relatively large molecules that are not volatile and do not easily evaporate or
“off-gas” into the air. This means what you smell in a “musty” house is the
VOCs from mold, bacteria or chemicals and not the actual mycotoxins. However,
if you smell fungal/microbial VOCs there are also mycotoxins/endotoxins there
and the fungus may be actively making spores. Remember that bacteria and many
chemicals in building materials also give off VOCs, it is not just mold. Each
of these organisms effect each other as they compete for nutrients in the
environment. Additionally, the building materials they are growing on can make
a difference in which VOCs or how much VOCs are released. The building material
itself gives off VOCs. There is even a
theory that building materials that have some type of antifungal and/or
antibacterial chemicals built into them will kill off many of the fungus and
bacteria and select for only the strongest to live. Thus creating super
bacteria and fungi that end up populating the building when it becomes
water-damaged and is not properly remediated.
If you want to know more about mold illness or moldy
buildings, let me know by responding at the bottom of this article.
