It’s hidden between walls or under flooring, but mold affects around 70% of our homes.
Mom-of-two Susan, from Moorpark – we aren’t using her real name for legal reasons – says she’s had to move home after she and her children - both aged under 7 - suffered serious health issues caused by hidden mold.
She said she didn't realize what was causing her family to suffer.
"My eldest child started exhibiting all of these really unusual symptoms, like major behavior changes, rapid onset on ticks, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and he had a decline in his fine motor coordination," she told KCLU.
Susan said her health also suffered and she was screened for Multiple Sclerosis and Lupus, but it took a while for her to "piece together" what was going on.
"We had substantial mold in our ceiling and in our living room, in our walls, due to recurrent roof leaks," she said.
Mold is "sneaky stuff" said Susan – who told KCLU that she noticed a marked changed in her health and of the health of her children, when they spent more time indoors because of the pandemic lockdowns.
"I just had no idea that mold was so dangerous," said the licensed health professional. "We so often attribute respiratory issues to mold, but what was going on with my family...was a real lesson in what the impact of mold can be medically."
Michael Rubino – who has written a book called the Mold Medic – says people don’t consider how much indoor air quality affects our health and it’s not just causing respiratory conditions – but brain fog, chronic fatigue, and other serious conditions.
"Mold reproduced with spores, and these tiny particles traverse across the house and get opportunistically inside our system and wreak havoc on our immune systems," explained Rubino.
Despite remediation works, Susan took the step of moving home and she says they’re all feeling much healthier in their new surroundings.
"Even the dogs got better when we moved out," she said. "We were in hotel rooms and Airbnbs, it was incredibly stressful but I did notice that when we were out of the house, everyone felt better. It was pretty astounding."
