Even people who don't have allergies can experience significant health symptoms from contact with black mold and other household fungi. It may take a certain level of fungal spores in the air for those with sensitivities to acquire temporary mold illness. Individuals with allergies, however, can develop symptoms from inhaling even tiny amounts of fungal allergens. The physical consequences of brief mold exposure resemble those of hay fever and asthma. Intense or long-term exposure can cause serious complications and chronic diseases.
Itching
The Mayo Clinic reports that the body's response to black mold exposure sends histamines into the blood, which inflame areas such as the nose and throat and cause itching. The eyes also experience inflammation and itch during a reaction to airborne mold. Handling moldy items such as plants, yeast or food can give some patients allergic contact dermatitis, or an itchy rash on the fingers or other points of contact. These and other health symptoms of mold illness usually occur immediately after touching or ingesting a threshold level of fungal particles.
Fluids
Itching and inflammation may represent the extent of mild mold illness, but more severe reactions may cause excessive fluid production. Histamine compounds in the blood also affect the accumulation and migration of fluids in the mucous membranes. This produces symptoms such as watery eyes, which can become worse when patients rub them due to itching.
Hay fever-like symptoms such as runny nose and postnasal drip can occur after moderate mold exposure, notes the Mayo Clinic. These problems may last as long as the environmental level of fungal allergens stays the same; therefore, medication alone won't eliminate black mold illness symptoms. In order to overcome them, patients must improve the air quality or avoid the infested environment.
Breathing Problems
The inflammatory response may extend to the nasal and sinus passages, causing congestion when large amounts of mucus clog the swollen upper respiratory tract. These nasal breathing problems can spread to the bronchial tubes. Coughing and sneezing mechanisms may succeed in clearing the airways. If not, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath can occur. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention link black mold exposure to an exacerbation of these health symptoms in children and adults who have asthma.
Difficulty breathing is also typical of long-term or high-level mold exposure, such as that incurred in occupational settings. Chronic inflammation irritates the lungs, causing symptoms of hypersensitivity pneumonitis to arise several hours after mold contact, as the University of Maryland Medical Center relates. Persistent conditions of pneumonitis can permanently damage lung tissue.
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