The Microbial Status and Remediation of Contents in Mold-Contaminated Structures

Abstract

Publisher Summary Damp and moldy structures are potentially harmful to the occupants. A related major and largely uninvestigated subject also relevant to the occupants of mold-contaminated structures is the status of their contents inside these structures. The possibility exists that the contents may be contaminated by fungal colonies or conidia and mycotoxins. This chapter discusses the issue of the contents potentially being contaminated by mold conidia and mycotoxins, presents some recent research performed in this area, and examines some sterilizing procedures that have been found to be effective in eliminating fungal conidia and mycotoxins on home contents. The obstacles regarding the determination of levels of conidia/mycotoxins and fungal fragments on contents are such that it is possible that those levels are never determined. The strategy in light of this deficiency is to assume that the contents can potentially have high numbers of conidia, mycotoxins, or fragments and to use a cleaning technique on them. Although no technique is perfect, a few can inactivate conidia and mycotoxins from a wide range of organisms.