WHERE ARE MOULDS IMPLICATED IN ALLERGY FOUND?
Moulds are highly adaptable and versatile organisms. For every ecological niche, there is probably a mould which will survive or even flourish. Some survive, and produce spores under very specific conditions of temperature, moisture or light. Others, by contrast, are fairly tolerant creatures and, although they have preferences, will function happily across a wide range of environments and habitats. They feed on almost any material containing carbon – plants, leather, paper, fabric. Some can even break down the strong resistant fibres of wood and hair.
Four moulds implicated in allergy, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium and Penicillium, tolerate a very wide range of conditions and are found worldwide. They are present in the UK throughout the year in many situations; they have peaks at certain times and in specific conditions. These are known as ‘universal dominant’ or ‘perennial’ moulds.
As a broad guide, however, most moulds like warmth and humidity.
A temperate, moist climate, like the UK’s, sustains them very well. Hot, moist environments, such as swimming baths, saunas, hairdressers, greenhouses, bathrooms, launderettes and kitchens, encourage mould growth. Very dry weather, such as the summer of 1976, or prolonged hard frosts, inhibit the production of spores, and many allergy-sufferers feel better in such conditions.
Moulds also multiply where nutrients are readily available to them, such as where well-rotted decaying material abounds. So they thrive in rubbish bins, dustbins, compost heaps, in fallen leaves and humus, in rotting wood, in hay or straw, in cut grass, in mossy dark corners, in crops. Their food does not have to be badly decayed – even a slight deterioration provides enough food potential for some moulds, early colonisers, who thrive on slightly decaying material and will cling invisibly to leaves that are starting to turn on the tree; to the skin of fruit and vegetables; to food which has just been chopped or cut; to processed food which has been opened, such as tins or jars, or a loaf of bread. Sometimes you can also find them growing visibly – grey or green growth on decaying fruit or bread.
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