Mould. Could it be causing your symptoms?

Mould. It could be making you sick.

I was lying on the sofa reading a book the other day and suddenly heard birdsong loud and shrill as if the bird was right next to me in the room.

Was this a spooky blackbird apparition?

No, the blackbird was sitting on the chimney stack singing it’s little heart out, the delightful little tune was being channelled into the room via the giant open ventilation duct commonly known as a chimney.

Most modern homes are free from draughts – and bird song! – are central-heated, well insulated and cosy. This is a win for your bank account from the resulting reduction in energy bills and apparently it’s also saving the planet by reducing the use of non-renewable energy. But is it good for YOU?

In your Parent’s or Grandparent’s era, most homes were draughty, were heated by open fires and the floors would be wood or slate-covered in rugs. Our homes were made of stone or wood and plastered with natural breathable materials like lime, earth and horsehair. The open fire would draw stale air from the room and shoot it up the chimney and fresh air would fill the room through the gaps in the windows, doors, floors and ‘breathe’ through the walls. The moisture created from living would usually be quickly removed with this air circulation. In a world where nobody wears the same clothes on two days running, has to shower twice a day and considers washing dishes by hand slave labour, is it any wonder we are now generating more water in our homes?

We live in our homes differently now too. Most people go out to work and shut off the heating during the day allowing the walls to cool down. When we get home we come in, cook dinner on the hob, take a shower, put the dishwasher on, stick the clothes in the wash and dry them on the radiator! All this water has to go somewhere.

Modern building materials are designed to repel water. Plaster, cement, concrete, PVC, acrylic paints, carpets, and vinyl are all designed to keep water out – the problem is they’re keeping it in too! The water condenses out of site in the ducts, in your loft and behind the cold walls; mould goes wild and before you know it you have a home full of the nasty mycotoxins that moulds expel.

The negative health effects of mould are becoming better understood all the time and are linked to everything from asthma and allergies to brain fog and dementia.

http://www.cdc.gov/mold/dampness_facts.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19854819
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/10/fungus-hiding-in-your-house-and-making-you-ill.aspx

‘Sick building syndrome’ is the term being cover these range of symptoms when they are caused by your workplace or home. It could be a bit more complicated than just assuming it’s the mould that’s doing the harm though. Modern building materials, paints and home furnishings give off compounds that are harmful to health too. Some of these ‘volatile organic compounds’ or VOC’s are toxic gases emitted from many modern buildings and the substances we use in our homes too.

It could be that the mould makes you sick and more vulnerable to these nasty gases or perhaps it’s a combination of both, either way, many people are getting sick in their homes.

Dave Asprey has firsthand experience of becoming sick through mould exposure and has made a film to try and raise awareness of the issue. I have had my own ‘mouldy journey’ which started a few years ago upon undertaking a renovation of part of our historic house. As the plasterwork fell away I began suffering from severe allergies. I wheezed, my eyes ran, my nasal passages were inflamed and I felt dreadful. Anti-histamines dampened the symptoms but for a couple of years I was hypersensitive to many things; the dogs set me off, my hay fever became a three season nightmare, a glass of wine made me sneeze uncontrollably and worst of all I became intolerant to all my favourite foods! I have been on a path of healing and self-discovery ever since which involved everything from trigger food elimination and ancestral eating to supplementation including activated charcoal and glucosamine.

So I was understandably concerned when Stephen and I moved into our new (old) house and embarked on a major renovation project. Was I going to revert to a horrible red, itchy, snotty mess again?

The answer is NO! It’s all good so far, even though I have found a huge patch of black mould in the kitchen; not a nose drip in sight! I attribute this to two things; First, I am happier and healthier than ever before and secondly our home is a listed building and has been lovingly maintained with traditional materials. Lime plaster has been used on all the walls, the windows are ‘gappy’ wood sashes, the huge flags on the floor sit directly onto the earth and the upper floors are huge ancient oak boards with large gaps within which sit centuries of lost property!

Our gorgeous home feels like it’s living and breathing – at times it’s a bit uncomfortable and cold but there are always consequences to convenience and comfort – it feels like a ‘healthy home.’

New homes can be healthy too, the use of natural materials are gaining popularity again for this reason. It’s particularly important if you are looking at building a home with a high level of air tightness and insulation to give careful thought to how effective your ventilation systems are and to what the toxic burden of the materials could potentially be.

Caroline