Friday, October 12, 2007

A Clean Fridge Is A Mold Free Fridge

Cleanliness in the kitchen is one of the most important things that you can train yourself to practice if you want to keep not only a healthy home, but also a slightly more padded wallet. The medical issues that can come about because of moldy or spoiled food in your refrigerator are not pleasant in any way and if they are severe or common enough, it can start to drain your bank account. Salmonella poisoning is not fun to deal with and it can possibly lead to death if you are not careful, but one of the most commonly occurring things that you do not want in your refrigerator is mold.

Mold starts to grow inside jelly jars or tubs of sour cream after they have been in your refrigerator for a while and if you are in the habit of buying a larger jar of something that you need, try buying a smaller one if it exists. Also clean out your refrigerator of outdated and spoiled items often.

One of the most important things that you can do to keep a clean kitchen is to keep a clean and well organized refrigerator. Keep Ziploc bags to store things like meat that do not have re-sealable containers, such as packs of bologna that you have to cut open with a knife. The longer a food remains uncovered, the sooner it will dry out and no one will want to eat it except the mold and bacteria that exist in your refrigerator. The unwanted top piece is left in the refrigerator in the hopes that someone else will eat it, but this rarely happens.

Produce like vegetables and fruits that are put into plastic sacks when you are gathering them in the produce aisle at the grocery store should be removed from these sacks when you put them in your refrigerator. Always refrigerate vegetables if possible; leaving them out at room temperature will encourage mold to grow on them. If you have grains such as flour or cornmeal (and you should), putting them in the refrigerator or freezer can also help keep mice, bugs, and mold away from them. However, remembering to allow the necessary portions of these to warm to room temperature before cooking with them is essential to good food.

Clean your refrigerator and wash it on both the inside and outside as often as you need to. Doing this will help keep your refrigerator as bacteria and mold free as possible and your food will taste better and be healthier for you because of it.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Houston Fire Damage Water Restoration Contractor companies and
Los Angeles Water Damage and Restoration Services.

The Three Ways Mold Affects Us

Mold has been around since before us and has been having an effect on us since the time of Moses, yet we have only recently begun to see the true effects of mold on the human body. Mold not only affects the human body, but also the bodies of animals, such as our dogs, cats, and even our birds. We have become aware that mold is not something that we want living where we do, but a lot of us do not feel that there is much that we can do about it. Most molds fit into three different categories and are classified according to what kind of effect they have on us and our health.

Molds that are considered toxic produce what are called mycotoxins and even though these molds rarely occur where we live, they can cause all kinds of health complications and some of these can lead to death in the most serious of circumstances. Penicilliosis is native to the region of Southeast Asia and has a fairly high mortality rate without treatment, but even with treatment the number of deaths total about one in five. Another serious occurrence associated with mold is called aspergilloma and it happens when fungus begins to grow in balls inside any cavities existing in the body, particularly the lungs. Stachybotrys mold produces mycotoxins and is the most famous of the different black molds that exist and has been referenced by the media as “toxic black mold”.

Allergenic molds seem to affect people the most often and as their name implies, they usually cause some common allergy symptoms, but can be quite a nuisance. They can aggravate existing allergies or asthma, making the symptoms that a person already has become worse over time. Anti-histamines may help a small amount, but getting rid of the contamination is usually the only way to keep the symptoms from returning.

Pathogenic molds are less rare than toxic molds or allergenic molds, but they can be just as dangerous in people that have compromised immune systems such as those who are HIV-positive or has AIDS, cancer, or is recovering from surgery of any kind. The elderly, pets, and small children are also more at risk than a normal healthy adult person would be.

If you believe that mold exists in your home, you should perform some do-it-yourself mold tests and when you get the results back, hire a professional to get rid of the infestation as soon as possible.



Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors.

The Dangers Of Mold, What You Should Know About Mold

A lot of people, including insurance companies, would like you to think that mold isn’t as dangerous to your health as all the media hype would have you believe, but actually mold is just as harmful as people say that it is. Mold has been around longer than human beings have, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t cause us problems both medically and financially. If anyone tries to tell you that mold isn’t going to cause any damage to your health, you might want to tell them some of the things that mold has been known to do.

Mold has been known to cause an excess amount of fatigue, sinusitis, allergy symptoms, and damaged vision. The allergy symptoms are one of the most common results and it can occur either in the form of a runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, or even skin rashes that are unsightly and tend to be very itchy. If you do not experience any of these symptoms while you are outside of your home, it might be mold or something else in your living environment that is causing you to have these reactions. Either way, you should probably see a doctor as soon as you are able to determine that something in your home is causing you to have these symptoms.

It has been known to kill our pets and cause lung bleeding, especially in infants. Elderly people, particularly those in poor health or with any respiratory problems, are at risk for the health effects of mold. Anyone who is HIV-positive, have AIDS, or those who are in the process of recovering from surgery are also at a high risk for mold-related infections and health complications.

Some of the most dangerous infections in the world are caused by mold and in the region of Southeast Asia, this includes a condition that affects mostly HIV-positive and AIDS patients called penicilliosis. It is caused by a mold in the genus penicillium, a genus which is most famous for including the species of mold responsible for the “miracle drug” penicillin that was invented back in the 1940’s.

There are actually a lot of things that you can do to make your home and workplace mold-free. Taping a do-it-yourself home mold test to the grill of one of your air conditioning vents is a good idea; it will test to see if your air conditioner is responsible for spreading the mold around your house. Putting tests in other rooms after you’ve stirred up the air for a few minutes with a house fan is also a good way to test for mold. If you see mold growing visibly on your wall, use rubber gloves and scrape a small bit off onto the test and send it to a mold laboratory.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Emergency Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.