So I just got back from vacation and learned the hard way that leaving a fridge off and closed for a month is not a good idea. Everything is completely covered in mold. I remember hearing that mold spores can be quite toxic. Is it a bad idea to start cleaning it off without a protective mask of some kind?
They’re not nerve gas, but I wouldn’t want to breath large quantities of mold spores. Especially if you have a weakened immune system, it can lead to really nasty fungal ling infections.
I’d get a decent tight-fitting dust mask (not one of those “surgical” masks), designed for protection against hazardous dusts (like sand blasting), and then spray down the inside of the fridge with a dilute bleach solution, until everything is soaking wet.
There are no national action levels for mold, and the toxicity is way overblown, even for stachybotrys, or so-called “black mold”. Unless you have severe allergies to mold, the worst that can happen is that you may cough or sneeze a bit.
OP just went ahead and did it, ask the thread be closed.
So ordered. samclem