INDOOR AIR QUALITY

It is estimated that about 80% of modern life is lived indoors. Indoor air quality and indoor air pollution is as important an issue for home inspectors today as electrical or structural issues. While electrical and structural problems are certainly a safety issue, having toxic mold present in a home can quickly impair the health of those that live there. For those with weakened immune systems, toxic mold can be fatal.

The air you breathe in your own home can be making you sick. Sometimes mold is easy to detect with a distinct musty smell. When mold spores are present in the air, you may notice sneezing, irritation of your eyes and throat, fatigue, or even slight fever-like symptoms. Depending on what time of year, you may assume a cold or allergy to pollen is what’s plaguing you. The place to start looking is in the air right inside your home.

While it’s true that seasonal allergies to pollen and mold outside your home will cause discomfort, you should be able to recover by going indoors. Chronic toxicity from mold occurs when the air that you breathe most of the time continually doses you with airborne mold spores, which can be up to 100 times more concentrated than airborne mold outdoors.