When did mold become evil?

Factual Questions
1

The question is prompted by this thread, about a story where a chiropractor is of the opinion that a patient’s incurable illness resulted from a cup whose top was unclean and contained mold. Although the unidentified illness was not attributed to the presence of mold, the tone of the referenced article is “of course that is the cause, it’s MOLD!!!11!.”

When I was a youngster, we were exposed to mold. It was on bread, on jams and jellies, cheese, and not only foodstuffs, but just about everywhere. People did not freak out about it, though. They would cut, scrape, or otherwise remove the mold and the unaffected material would be used, consumed, or eaten, as appropriate. We lived, nobody got sick, let alone, cause a epidemic.

These days, the mention of mold on anything that has to do with anything to be used for consumption, or even living around, generates comments like “it’s not worth your life, throw it out, burn the house down, whatever is necessary!”

When and why did this change?

Are the mold strains today different from the ones that existed in the 1960’s?

Did people 50 years ago get sick and die from mold and just didn’t realize the cause?

Are people today just more susceptible to illnesses caused by molds?

Or, are we just, as a population, more concerned about our health?

2

The majority of mold is non-toxic. It is an allergen however, both the incidence of allergies and the diagnosis of them has increased (the two are not always related).

To lesser degree, as with any health issue that has only been treated seriously in recent decades, before that you absolutely had people who died from it who were just chalked up to respiratory illness of some kind.

Also myself I have no problem with cutting off mold from food and eating it, the issue is mold in the environment a spot of mold on cheese is not going to increase the number of spores in the environment by any measurable amount.

3

While we’re on the subject, is black mold more common now, or are we just more aware of it?

I’m a library volunteer, and we occasionally get books and other items donated to us that are infested with it. Those go into the garbage (the recycler doesn’t want them either) and we can smell it in near-microscopic amounts.

4

It has become significantly more common due to modern home construction techniques. Homes built in the last few decades tend to be much more tightly sealed than older homes. While this is great for our energy bills, it also has the effect that newer homes can much more easily trap moisture, providing much better conditions for mold to grow in.

Black mold also grows much more easily on drywall than it does on old fashioned plaster and lath, due to the fact that drywall, being basically just gypsum and paper, much more easily absorbs moisture.

Black mold has been around forever. I think it is even mentioned in the Bible. But modern construction techniques have made it much more prevalent in the U.S. in recent decades.

5

When I was in the property management field in the 90s, we discovered stachybotrys (so-called ‘black mold’) during one of our renovation projects, and called in a mold expert. He told us that mold was becoming the new asbestos for lawyers everywhere, who were positively salivating over the income that might be produced by lawsuits. Then he told us that mold was primarily an allergy issue for some people and not some horrifying toxin that would kill us all. He then demonstrated that by wiping some off the wall with his finger and then cleaning said finger by sticking it in his mouth. We also learned that it was such a non-issue that there were no federal action levels established for treating the problem, and that it was basically a matter of money and allergies in the decision to remove it.

6

I think the hysteria dates from the publication on 17 Jan 1997 of a report from the CDC: “Update: pulmonary hemorrhage/hemosiderosis among infants–Cleveland, Ohio, 1993-1996.” The CDC and collaborators had been investigating clusters of cases of idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage/hemosiderosis among infants in Chicago and Cleveland for several years without finding a cause. In the 1997 paper, they reported the results of a small case-control study that found that case-infants were more likely than controls to live in houses with water damage. They also found that “the quantity of [airborne] fungi, including the toxigenic fungus Stachybotrys atra (whose toxins have been implicated in hemorrhagic disorders in animals) was higher in the homes of case-infants than in those of controls (OR=1.6; 95% CI=1.0-30.8).” This report got a lot of publicity. On 10 Mar 2000, after extensive additional analysis, the CDC reported that:“on the basis of the findings and conclusions in the reports of the CDC internal working group and the individual opinions of the external consultants, CDC advises that conclusions regarding the possible association between cases of pulmonary hemorrhage/hemosiderosis in infants in Cleveland and household water damage or exposure to S. chartarum [“black mold”] are not substantiated adequately by the scientific evidence produced in the CDC investigation. Serious shortcomings in the collection, analysis, and reporting of data resulted in inflated measures of association and restricted interpretation of the reports. The associations should be considered not proven; the etiology of [acute idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis] is unresolved.” My guess is that this report received significantly less publicity.
Today, almost two decades later, the CDC’s website says: “to date, a possible association between acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage among infants and Stachybotrys chartarum (Stachybotrys atra) has not been proved. Further studies are needed to determine what causes acute idiopathic hemorrhage.” The CDC further states that: “There are very few reports that toxigenic molds found inside homes can cause unique or rare health conditions such as pulmonary hemorrhage or memory loss. These case reports are rare, and a causal link between the presence of the toxigenic mold and these conditions has not been proven.” Facts about Stachybotrys chartarum | Mold | CDC

7

Mold is everywhere. Most of it you can’t see, and most of it is fairly harmless.

And that’s why those mold test kits are a joke: they always detect mold, because (as mentioned) mold is everywhere.

8

Mold is an allergen (as mentioned). Mold produces microscopic spores that float out and infest the air in heavily moldy buildings or in collections of “stuff” that have mold. As I understand it, it is not toxic -as in, you can eat it. (Blue cheese, anyone?) The problem is inhaling it, particularly in quantity or regularly. I assume it is an irritant, being quite small and so getting deep into the lungs. Not sure what else happens, does it start to grow, triggering an antibody response? Does its mere presence cause an immune response of some sort? I assume your body is hypersensitive to the presence of mold spores, as otherwise the lungs would be the ideal place for the stuff to grow.

And this is the problem with building mold. You will basically be constantly inhaling the spores for days, weeks, months; unlike say a moldy bread loaf or jam, whee you see it once and throw it out, likely in a bag or sealed jar to contain any more spores.

9

Some say mold was born evil.

10

On July 8, 1941, when the leader of Moldova declared in favour of the forced migration of the entire Jew element from the country. (Mostly, they were ‘migrated’ to various concentration camps.)

11

Mold is delicious.

Gorgonzola FTW.

12

FWIW mold certainly can be an issue…but not for everyone. It depends on a variety of factors. That said it should be mitigated in the home if you find it as it is certainly doing you no good and may harm you. If it is on your cheese then cut it off and don’t worry about it (unless it is a moldy cheese ala bleu cheese and such then enjoy).

13

Neither the CDC nor the WHO says that “mold should be mitigated in the home if you find it.”

14

“In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition. The IOM also found limited or suggestive evidence linking indoor mold exposure and respiratory illness in otherwise healthy children.” There’s more. I literally just quoted it above. Not to mention the page I linked includes advice on MOLD MITIGATION!

Good enough for me to want to be rid of it. It only causes problems but yeah, if you are a healthy adult with no allergy to it then apparently you will be ok.

Me…I’d get rid of it if I found it. I might be fine with it today but not tomorrow or if I expect to have family and friends visit. Not sure why you would want to live with it but YMMV. Enjoy the company.

15

[Moderating]

This is too serious to really work as a joke, too off-topic to work as anything other than a joke, and has the potential to drag politics into GQ. Knock it off.

16

No lawyer was salivating about the prospect of mold lawsuits. They’re a pain in the ass (for both sides). It’s certainly true that there was a mild panic about the effects of mold in the 1990s and 2000s but that was primarily among lay people.

You are oversimplifying. Mold remediation isn’t just “wipe with a damp cloth.” In US homes, it means removal of drywall and insulation, removal of flooring, replacement, spackle, painting and so on. For asthma sufferers the construction dust may have worse effects than the mold itself. I don’t disagree that it’s probably a good idea to get rid of it but there is more to the issue than “it doesn’t do you any good.”

17

I mostly agree with this, but as with most things, it depends largely on the specifics. Density, pH, and moisture content matter.

A block of hard or semi-hard cheese is likely too dense for mold to penetrate much further than the surface, and cutting away the moldy part, with a good margin, is perfectly fine. A loaf of bread or a tub of yogurt OTOH, if you’re seeing mold on the surface, it’s probably running through the entire thing, even if you can’t see it.

18

I said “mitigation” and not “remediation”. They mean different things and the CDC certainly does recommend mitigation. Remediation goes a lot further, as you noted. But that is not what I said.