Black molds commonly grow in damp areas of houses, such as bathrooms, basements and trash cans. While molds require high humidity, they enjoy a wide temperature range for growth, living in cold refrigerators and around warm clothes dryers.
Molds thrive in the type of sustained humidity brought on by flood damage or leaky pipes. Besides degrading the substrates they inhabit, such as carpeting and wall board, indoor molds create health risks for sensitive and immune-compromised people who inhale their allergenic spores.
Skin Problems
People who have mold sensitivities and true allergies experience the same inflammatory symptoms when exposed to threshold levels of black mold. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, itchy, watery eyes and skin redness and inflammation may occur first or comprise the extent of symptoms in those with moderate mold sensitivity.
Breathing Symptoms
People with lower tolerance for black mold may also experience inflammation of the respiratory tract. Widespread respiratory irritation and allergic reactions can occur even when mold is not visible, meaning that colonies have not yet reached large enough size, but still produce allergens.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, list breathing problems such as coughing, wheezing, runny nose and nasal congestion as common symptoms of indoor mold inhalation. More extreme health risks include shortness of breath following exertion and reduced lung function in people who have asthma, which can lead to medical emergencies.
Respiratory Disease
Long-term respiratory inflammation can cause lung tissue to scar and sustain irreversible damage. The CDC considers the growth of indoor molds around the home a serious respiratory health risk that warrants mold prevention and removal.
Leaving persistent symptoms from black mold untreated raises the danger of developing chronic respiratory conditions such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. Young children may have a greater chance of contracting lifelong respiratory diseases than adults with stronger immune systems.
Acute Lung Infection
The greatest health risks, however, consist of complications and infections in individuals who already have cancer, HIV or recent organ surgery. Fungal infection from a pulmonary infestation of Alternaria or Aspergillus mold strains can cause widespread damage throughout the body, as the Merck Medical Library reports.
An infection that takes hold in the lungs may show no symptoms, or it may present as a combination of fever, chest pain, breathing trouble and coughing up blood. Infections caused by indoor molds can spread to other organs and produce blood clots, internal bleeding, organ failure and death.
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