Mould Cleaning and Remediation
Moulds are ubiquitous in the biosphere, and mould spores and other associated by-products are a common component of household and workplace dust. However, when these substances are present in unspecified quantities, they can present a health hazard to humans, resulting in a variety of illnesses and responses:- Mould contamination, resulting from the actual organism, spores, hyphal fragments and other cellular debris, toxins and volatile compounds can have a significant negative impact on the health and welfare of building occupants and other persons.
Whilst we cannot be sure as to what these impacts are due to a number of other contributing and complicating factors, we should treat all contamination carefully and with due diligence.
Health Impacts
The symptoms and impacts to health can vary quite considerably from groups of people to individuals depending on a wide variety of medical and environmental factors. Health impacts from mould include:
Cosmetic mould
“Cosmetic mould” refers to mould genera or species which are unlikely to be a health hazard nor to cause damage to the building structure. A common example found on timber, often from time of construction, is black mould in the Ophistomacae group including Ophistoma spp. and Ceratocystis spp. which are commonly known as “blue stain” fungi. If these are present in the finished living space it may be appropriate to clean and coat the stained areas for cosmetic reasons. More costly measures are unlikely to be justified.
Allergenic mould
“Allergenic mould” is not normally dangerous in small quantities, but can be a problem for people who are particularly allergic to mould or who have asthma. In large quantities it is more likely to be a problem for these individuals. Allergenic mould can be cleaned or removed by people who are not personally mould-sensitive by using ordinary cleaning methods and while wearing appropriate respiratory protection and gloves. People who are particularly mould sensitive should avoid working with or disturbing mouldy materials which might cause a reaction or increase their sensitivity. Where large areas of this mould are involved, e.g. in excess of 10 sq.m., professional decontamination and cleaning is likely to be needed.
Exposure to mould
You can become exposed to mould in many different ways:
- Breathing mould spores from the air
- Skin contact from touching mould or handling an item that has mould growing on it
- Eating without properly washing your hands after handling mouldy objects
Mould definitely has the potential to cause health problems and even make a home uninhabitable. However, everyone is affected differently when in contact with mould. With exposure, even in small amounts, mould may cause:
- Frequent headaches
- Mysterious skin rashes
- Fatigue
- Chronic aches and pains
- Upper or lower respiratory infections
- Digestive problems
- Irritation of the nose, eyes, throat or skin
- Sinus infection or congestion/sinusitis Trouble concentrating, memory lapses, confusion
- Mood swings, anxiety, depression
- Respiratory problems (sneezing & coughing)
Anyone with health problems believed to be due to moulds should consult a medical professional.
Hazard Classes
Hazard Class A – Moulds in this group are either directly hazardous to health due to risk of infection or creation of mycotoxins. They should not be in homes or workplaces and should be removed right away if found. High risk individuals should not be exposed to this hazard class
Hazard Class B – Moulds in this group can serve as irritants and cause allergic reactions in persons, especially over longer periods of time. High risk individuals should not be exposed to this hazard class
Hazard Class C – Moulds in this group aren‟t known to cause any health risks or reactions in humans, however high risk individuals should not be exposed to any hazard class*
*Please note, however, that even moulds in this category can potentially cause structural damage to materials that they are growing on, and should still be removed.
As a Professional organisations undertaking work with hazardous biological substances we are required by legislation to develop, implement and review procedures to prevent or reduce reasonably anticipated exposure to our employees – these procedures and principles are known as an „Exposure Control Plan‟
Remediation Levels
- Level I – contamination with a total surface area less than 1 square metre
- Level II – contamination with a total surface area between 1 and 10 square metres
- Level III – contamination with a total surface area greater than 10 square metres
- Level IV – contamination within a HVAC system
Methods of Compliance
General All employees undertaking mould remediation are required to comply with the content of the exposure control plan and other company policies and procedures.
- Methods of Compliance include the following:
- Engineering and Work Practice Controls
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Labels and Signage
- Housekeeping
Engineering and Work Practice Controls Engineering and work practice controls are to be used to eliminate or minimise employee exposure for each task within the work area. Where occupational exposure remains after implementation of these controls, personal protective equipment must be used. Engineering controls are precautionary measures designed to eliminate or reduce exposure to a chemical or physical hazard through the use or substitution of engineered machinery or equipment.
Work practice controls are precautionary measures designed to prevent or reduce exposure by altering the way the work or task is performed
Organisations are required to list the engineering controls used to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of exposure. These include but are not limited to:
- The use of limited or full area containment
- The use of HEPA filter air scrubbers and vacuums
- The use of dehumidification
- The use of cleaning equipment (steam cleaners, extractors etc.)
- The use of PPE/RPE
Engineering controls should be examined and maintained or replaced on a regular schedule by the organisation and employee to ensure their effectiveness.
High risk groups
A high risk group is defined legally as „A group of people in the community with a higher-than-expected risk for developing a particular disease, which may be defined on a measurable parameter–eg., an inherited genetic defect, physical attribute, lifestyle, habit, socioeconomic and/or educational feature, as well as environment.‟
High risk groups include but are not limited to:
- Babies, infants and young children (below 5)
- The elderly (above 60) and infirm
- New, expectant and nursing mothers
- Immunocompromised individuals and groups
- Individuals (and groups) recovering from illness and operations etc.
- Those with physical and/or mental impairments
The primary objective of mould remediation is to safely and completely remove the contamination and to return the environment back to an acceptable level of cleanliness…
Quality & Validation
All bio safe services -Decontamination and specialist cleaning work is fully documented to validate the cleaning process.
All our work exceeds the best practice defined within the British Standard PAS 64 professional damage mitigation and initial restoration of properties guidelines. We are also ISO 9001:2008 registered (Certificate Number GB00930) in the provision of property damage remediation and associated services.
Eco-friendly sanitising
We sanitise the property using some of the most sophisticated advanced steam cleaning technology, which means there’s no need for chemicals and disinfectants
**Just because something looks clean doesn’t necessarily mean it is! **
The methods we use to ensure your property is completely clean include:
- Multi detailed cleaning, this means continuous cleaning with onsite swab analysis using ATP bioluminescence Rapid Bio-trace. Final odour destruction and sanitisation.
- For your peace of mind Final swabs may be taken for clearance
- When we are completely satisfied that your property is fully clean you are supplied with a certificate of hygiene.
Our health and safety policy method statements, MSDS documents are all continually appraised and updated and will be supplied whenever required. For peace of mind, why not consider our services! We are ready to help! We provide Industrial bio safe services -Decontamination and specialist cleaning services nationwide to commercial and large domestic properties and over the past 10 years have helped thousands of policy holders.
Although we help in many types of claims, over the years we have particularly built our reputation and customer base with:
- Hotels
- Offices
- Shopping centres
- Construction companies
- Schools, colleges, universities
- Pubs & clubs
- Facilities managers
- Insurance companies
- Loss adjusters
- Housing associations
- Landlords and home owners
Our clients come back to us again and again because they can rely on us to complete the bio safe services -Decontamination and specialist cleaning project quickly within the budgeted timescale. We provide bio safe services -Decontamination and specialist cleaning services for commercial and domestic properties throughout the UK, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The growth and reproduction of fungi and moulds are quite unique and as different from other plants and animals as is their general and sometime specific biology. Many organisms
Growth Conditions
Moulds are a lot more adaptive than the larger macroscopic fungi
Moulds are found everywhere inside and outside, and can grow on almost any substance when moisture is present. Moulds are essential to the natural breakdown of organic materials in the environment and that includes the indoor environment. Damage to mould (and fungi) in buildings around the world runs into billions of pounds
Fortunately mould is normally found indoors at levels that do not affect most healthy individuals; and unfortunately the same mould in the same buildings may have an impact on the health of those groups that are considered at ‘high risk’.
To eliminate and control fungal/mould growth we have an understanding of its growth conditions. In reality the growth conditions are specific to each species and more importantly to the environmental conditions in which it „exists‟.
In general mould requires three elements for initial germination and growth:
- Spores – these MUST be present for a mould germinate and grow
- Water – an essential element
- Food – typically an organic food source
These three underlying elements constitute the „Mould Triangle‟. Take away any one of the elements and the organism will not germinate and grow. Temperature is a deciding factor for many organisms – most of them favouring warm conditions 20 to 25 C. However, the elements for growth under specific environments are quite different
Our indoor environment is an ecological system of our physical environment interacting with our biological (living) environment, and their components and/or products. Our indoor environment includes airflow, moisture, temperature, light, all structural materials and finishes as well as. Our biological indoor environment includes all and micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, insect etc.). Organisms (humans, plants and animals). The products and components of our biological indoor environment include proteins, enzymes, glucans, endotoxins, spores, mycotoxins and volatile organic compounds.
It must be understood, that mould remediation will almost completely change the microbial and fungal ecology to as low as is practicable without sterilisation of the environment. This is NOT a normal fungal ecology – it is a FALSE ecology.
A normal fungal ecology is one that is in ‘equilibrium’ with the environment under ‘normal conditions’.
Generally, successful decontamination and cleaning will be based on the removal of identified contamination, and the removal of unacceptable associated odours.
