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Home owners are always wise to continually consider the issue of mold inspection. This is an issue that earns urgent consideration – and even then, it is not as straightforward as all that.

Mold, alternatively spelled mould, is defined as a microscopic fungus appearing as a multi-cellular filament known as hyphae, while single-cell microscopic fungi are known as yeasts. A colony of yeasts (or a mycelium) forms when there becomes a connected network of these tubular branching hyphae.

There are several hundreds of species of molds that contains saprotrophs, opportunistic pathogens, Calders, aquatic species, and thermophiles.
“Certified mold inspectors” exist because of the illnesses associated with mold; asthma, allergies, lung complaints and neurological problems all belong to the list.

Molds “work” by getting their energy from the organic substances, where they survive, and as such they are highly effective decomposer’s. Typically, they secrete hydrolyctic enzymes, from the hyphal tips, and these enzymes break down complex polymers (starch, cellulose, lignin etc.) into less complicated substances that could be ingested by those hyphae.

The worst kind of mold is black mold, toxic in nature. This kind is likely to be more common than one would expect given that many molds secrete mycotoxins together with the hydrolytic enzymes, suppressing the development of the competing microorganisms.

People must train to become certified mold inspectors, and http://www.planetmold.com is an example of an online list of mold inspectors.

Study biology and microbiology to learn more about molds, whether or not you intend to become a mold inspector yourself.

Tags: mold, mold inspection, mold inspector, molds

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Do-It-Yourself. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.