A house fire is one of the worst things that can befall a person and their family and the cleanup afterward can wreak even more havoc, but more on the wallet than anything else. You can hire someone to assist you in cleaning up your home after a fire has damaged the inside or you can do the majority of the cleanup yourself, depending on whether you are physically able or not. You can save a lot of money by doing most of the work yourself, but if there is anything that you are unsure of your ability to do, let the professionals handle it.
Do not enter the house without turning the electricity off, especially if there is standing water from the fire truck left. You need to record any damage that occurred to the home with a video or still camera. This will help you when you need to file a claim with your insurance company in the very near future. Locate the important papers in your home, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, insurance papers, and etcetera. If you did not have a fireproof and waterproof safe to store these in, you should purchase one as soon as you can. The odds of a house fire happening to the same person twice may not seem that great, but it does happen. Learn from the past and protect your valuables.
Do not walk on carpets that have ash and soot on them. Use a vacuum cleaner (not an upright) to clean this up, since an upright has bristles that will only drive the ash further into the fibers of it.
Anything damaged by the fire or the water sprayed into the house by the fire truck should be removed and taken outside. Wet items of furniture should be taken outside and let to dry out as soon as possible. Items with a heavy amount of padding that have been soaked with water must be dried out as soon as possible or they will mold within a few days. This is different than in a situation where a sofa or chair is flooded by water from a river or the ocean due to a hurricane or other storm, since those waters contain mud, silt, bacteria, and etcetera. There is not much danger of a large amount of bacteria being in the water from the truck, so you are more able to save your furniture.
Unfortunately, the smoke damage to your ceiling and walls will have to be painted over. Most of the time, attempts to wash this off the walls only succeed in spreading the soot around.
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.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Rooms at Risk for Mold
There are a number of different rooms in your home that can harbor mold, but a good way to guess where it might be is to look at the rooms of your house that are naturally moist. This is any area in your home that water comes out of the plumbing system and these are usually only the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, and basement. Bedrooms and common areas can also be at risk for mold growth, but nowhere nearly as much as the other rooms in your home.
One thing you do not want to have in either the bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room, is carpet. This is just not a practical choice, since these rooms usually have large amounts of water going through them at least once a day. If the dishwasher or clothes washer malfunctions and spills water all over the floor, it will be much more difficult to clean up than if it was spilled onto a tile or linoleum floor. Mold starts to grow after about 48 hours and if you do not completely clean up the water, this is most likely to happen.
If you have a large appliance such as a dishwasher or clothes washer (and if you run a full household with spouse and kids, you should), and it malfunctions, you really need to get it replaced as soon as possible. The cost of repairing the water damage done to the floor by both over time will probably outweigh the cost of a new appliance. Cut back on some spending in other areas and purchase a new one as soon as you can.
Your bathroom is another important area to take care of. If your bathtub or toilet overflows, the damage to the floor can be substantial if it is not waterproofed. This means that there should be no missing areas of grout, no cracked tiles, and no missing or loose caulking around the base of the toilet or bath tub.
Something that you should purchase for all the moist rooms of your home is an exhaust fan. Most building codes require that there be an exhaust fan or a window in the bathroom, but you should really have both, since leaving a window open for the steam to escape is not always practical. It could be too cold, too hot, or raining outside, so having the exhaust fan helps with this inconvenience. The reason for the fan is to keep the steam from being soaked up by the ceiling and causing it to become discolored. If it soaks up enough water over time, it could start to sag and even collapse on you.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
One thing you do not want to have in either the bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room, is carpet. This is just not a practical choice, since these rooms usually have large amounts of water going through them at least once a day. If the dishwasher or clothes washer malfunctions and spills water all over the floor, it will be much more difficult to clean up than if it was spilled onto a tile or linoleum floor. Mold starts to grow after about 48 hours and if you do not completely clean up the water, this is most likely to happen.
If you have a large appliance such as a dishwasher or clothes washer (and if you run a full household with spouse and kids, you should), and it malfunctions, you really need to get it replaced as soon as possible. The cost of repairing the water damage done to the floor by both over time will probably outweigh the cost of a new appliance. Cut back on some spending in other areas and purchase a new one as soon as you can.
Your bathroom is another important area to take care of. If your bathtub or toilet overflows, the damage to the floor can be substantial if it is not waterproofed. This means that there should be no missing areas of grout, no cracked tiles, and no missing or loose caulking around the base of the toilet or bath tub.
Something that you should purchase for all the moist rooms of your home is an exhaust fan. Most building codes require that there be an exhaust fan or a window in the bathroom, but you should really have both, since leaving a window open for the steam to escape is not always practical. It could be too cold, too hot, or raining outside, so having the exhaust fan helps with this inconvenience. The reason for the fan is to keep the steam from being soaked up by the ceiling and causing it to become discolored. If it soaks up enough water over time, it could start to sag and even collapse on you.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Molded Foods in Your Fridge
You do not normally think of mold as a part of your diet and you probably should not, but the fact is that foods have been made with mold in them for millennia. Most of the time, though, molded food in your refrigerator does not work in your favor and ingesting it can very well make you sick. This usually comes from outdated items or fruits and vegetables and most of the time, you will have to throw these things away.
Molded bread needs to be thrown out, because it is a porous food and any mold that grows on one piece will contaminate the next one to it. You cannot be sure how far the mold has embedded itself into the loaf, so it is best to just throw away the whole loaf.
Jellies and jams in the refrigerator are also notorious for mold growth. We tend to forget about old jars of grape jelly stuffed into the back of the fridge behind everything else and they mold after a while. Throw these out. These contain a large amount of moisture and cannot be saved. If you notice that this happens every time you purchase a certain kind of jelly, jam, or other item in your fridge, try to buy things that you know your family will eat before they become moldy. This will help with the problem.
Other items like sour cream and mayonnaise, like the jams and jellies that we mentioned earlier, cannot be saved. You can use outdated sour cream for a while, since sour cream is already sour, but molded sour cream should be thrown out as soon as it is discovered.
Some items in your fridge that become molded can be saved, though, if you know what to do with them. Items like hard salami and blocks of cheese can be salvaged if you cut around the molded spot and throw it away. Cut off at least an inch around and under these areas and do not touch the knife to the mold itself and then touch another part of the food. Cross contamination is a real problem here.
You can cut down on the amount of molded foods in your fridge by making sure that your family eats the leftovers that get stored there and by purchasing smaller containers of foods that you find are becoming molded the most often. You will save time and the money necessary to replace the molded food.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Orlando water damage restoration companies and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
Molded bread needs to be thrown out, because it is a porous food and any mold that grows on one piece will contaminate the next one to it. You cannot be sure how far the mold has embedded itself into the loaf, so it is best to just throw away the whole loaf.
Jellies and jams in the refrigerator are also notorious for mold growth. We tend to forget about old jars of grape jelly stuffed into the back of the fridge behind everything else and they mold after a while. Throw these out. These contain a large amount of moisture and cannot be saved. If you notice that this happens every time you purchase a certain kind of jelly, jam, or other item in your fridge, try to buy things that you know your family will eat before they become moldy. This will help with the problem.
Other items like sour cream and mayonnaise, like the jams and jellies that we mentioned earlier, cannot be saved. You can use outdated sour cream for a while, since sour cream is already sour, but molded sour cream should be thrown out as soon as it is discovered.
Some items in your fridge that become molded can be saved, though, if you know what to do with them. Items like hard salami and blocks of cheese can be salvaged if you cut around the molded spot and throw it away. Cut off at least an inch around and under these areas and do not touch the knife to the mold itself and then touch another part of the food. Cross contamination is a real problem here.
You can cut down on the amount of molded foods in your fridge by making sure that your family eats the leftovers that get stored there and by purchasing smaller containers of foods that you find are becoming molded the most often. You will save time and the money necessary to replace the molded food.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Orlando water damage restoration companies and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
Mold and Water Damage In Your Home
All homeowners should do an inspection of their property for mold at one point or another, especially if you own an older home. Even newly constructed homes are not able to escape mold growth if they are not taken care of or were not built properly. There have been incidents of contractors using cheap, low quality materials and these end up causing mold to grow in your home. Even though the materials were cheap and low quality, there is nothing that you can do as long as the building was constructed up to your local building codes. You can try to pursue a legal case against the contractor, but you are not likely to get anything if they did everything up to code.
If you suspect that there is mold in the house due to a musty smell or sudden symptoms that do not appear when you are out of the house, there are a few different places that you should start. Look around in the areas of you home that large amounts of water pass through every day, like the bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, and basement. These are areas where water is likely to be and where there are water leaks, mold will soon follow.
The bathroom is the worst offender when it comes to mold. This is usually where mold is found when it is found inside a home, since so much water goes through this area every day, especially if you have 2 or more people living with you. The floor of your bathroom should be completely water tight and if it is not, you need to do what you have to in order to get it that way. Water getting under the tile or linoleum or whatever you have on the floor in your bathroom will rot the floor joists over time. Whether the floor is waterproofed or not, try not to leave the floor wet. Your bathroom should also have a window or an exhaust vent installed in the ceiling, since most building codes require one of the two.
Exhaust vents should also be in the kitchen, laundry room, and basement. These will help remove the excess humidity from the room and stop it from collecting on the ceiling. Ceilings will soak up a huge amount of water over time and this both discolors and weakens them. This can eventually cause the ceiling to collapse and as you might guess, this is very dangerous.
Replace any appliances that use large amounts of water if they malfunction on a regular basis. You will be better off replacing them than repairing the water damage they do to your floors later on.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami water damage restoration companies and
mold remediation companies across the united states.
If you suspect that there is mold in the house due to a musty smell or sudden symptoms that do not appear when you are out of the house, there are a few different places that you should start. Look around in the areas of you home that large amounts of water pass through every day, like the bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, and basement. These are areas where water is likely to be and where there are water leaks, mold will soon follow.
The bathroom is the worst offender when it comes to mold. This is usually where mold is found when it is found inside a home, since so much water goes through this area every day, especially if you have 2 or more people living with you. The floor of your bathroom should be completely water tight and if it is not, you need to do what you have to in order to get it that way. Water getting under the tile or linoleum or whatever you have on the floor in your bathroom will rot the floor joists over time. Whether the floor is waterproofed or not, try not to leave the floor wet. Your bathroom should also have a window or an exhaust vent installed in the ceiling, since most building codes require one of the two.
Exhaust vents should also be in the kitchen, laundry room, and basement. These will help remove the excess humidity from the room and stop it from collecting on the ceiling. Ceilings will soak up a huge amount of water over time and this both discolors and weakens them. This can eventually cause the ceiling to collapse and as you might guess, this is very dangerous.
Replace any appliances that use large amounts of water if they malfunction on a regular basis. You will be better off replacing them than repairing the water damage they do to your floors later on.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami water damage restoration companies and
mold remediation companies across the united states.
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Prevention of Water Damage
Unless a flood or a hurricane is what causes the water damage to your home, the water damage that we have to deal with is usually highly preventable. Most kinds of water damage that are not caused by mother nature are things that we can prevent, although sometimes we tend to forget just how to go about stopping these things from happening. You can prevent water damage to the inside of your home from most sources, but the question is just how do you do it?
One thing that you can do is pay attention to your water heater and make sure that it is located on the lowest floor of your home, preferably the basement. It should be elevated off the floor and in some kind of large drain pan connected to plumbing in the floor so if it does begin to leak, any water will go straight from the unit down into the plumbing system. This will stop most water damage to your floor, especially if your water heater is located on top of a wooden floor instead of a concrete one.
The pipes and hoses that lead to your dishwasher and your washing machine can be some of the worst offenders. These leak more often than people realize, but keeping a check on them regularly for cracked spots or weakened areas can be the key to preventing a huge spill. If it busts and you are not home, even a crack just 1/8 of an inch wide can leak up to 250 gallons an hour into your floor.
If you live in a home and not an apartment, you probably have to deal with cleaning our your rain gutters every fall when the leaves change color and begin to fall from the trees. These gutters are important to keeping the rain from settling around the foundation of your home and allowing it to sink into the ground. Clean out these gutters fully every year and make sure that the downspouts are also clear of any debris.
Repairing any leaks that might be in your roof is also essential to preventing water damage to your ceilings and the insulation in your attic, especially if the insulation is fiberglass. Once this insulation gets wet, it does not work anymore and will eventually cause your ceiling to collapse if it is not removed and replaced as soon as possible.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
One thing that you can do is pay attention to your water heater and make sure that it is located on the lowest floor of your home, preferably the basement. It should be elevated off the floor and in some kind of large drain pan connected to plumbing in the floor so if it does begin to leak, any water will go straight from the unit down into the plumbing system. This will stop most water damage to your floor, especially if your water heater is located on top of a wooden floor instead of a concrete one.
The pipes and hoses that lead to your dishwasher and your washing machine can be some of the worst offenders. These leak more often than people realize, but keeping a check on them regularly for cracked spots or weakened areas can be the key to preventing a huge spill. If it busts and you are not home, even a crack just 1/8 of an inch wide can leak up to 250 gallons an hour into your floor.
If you live in a home and not an apartment, you probably have to deal with cleaning our your rain gutters every fall when the leaves change color and begin to fall from the trees. These gutters are important to keeping the rain from settling around the foundation of your home and allowing it to sink into the ground. Clean out these gutters fully every year and make sure that the downspouts are also clear of any debris.
Repairing any leaks that might be in your roof is also essential to preventing water damage to your ceilings and the insulation in your attic, especially if the insulation is fiberglass. Once this insulation gets wet, it does not work anymore and will eventually cause your ceiling to collapse if it is not removed and replaced as soon as possible.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Renting a Water Damaged or Moldy Apartment
If you are renting an apartment or a house for the first time, you should view the apartment before you move in and make note of any damages that might already exist in the apartment. For most people this is common sense, but if this is your first time renting, you might not think about it until later on when the landlord tries to say that damage that existed before you moved in was actually caused by you afterward.
If there is any water damage to the kitchen or the bathroom, take pictures of it and show it to the landlord before you move in. Date the pictures and if possible, have your new landlord sign them. If your landlord will not put his signature on the back of the image, be wary about renting from him or her.
If you discover that mold is growing in the apartment shortly after you move in, you will want to inform your landlord immediately that there is a problem. Do not wait. If it is caused by wet clothing or towels that you left on the floor of the bathroom for several days, then the landlord is not likely to be very sympathetic to the problem, but if it is on the ceilings or in the ventilation system, then it is probably not due to anything you have done since you have been in the apartment.
The first thing that you need to do after you discover mold is growing in your apartment or rented home is to notify the landlord immediately. Do not do this by phone, do it by certified mail so that you have a legal record that the letter was received. If your landlord does not contact you or come over to see about the problem, send another notice via certified mail. Tell him that you are withholding your rent until the problem is addressed. If the complaint is still not acknowledged, send yet another letter via certified mail and tell him that you are moving out within a certain amount of time and he will be liable for your moving costs and rent differential if he does not take action.
It is the landlord’s responsibility to provide you with a safe and healthy place to live. Repairs on the facility must be kept up because even after you leave, these problems will still exist on the property. It makes no sense for you to repair something that does not belong to you if you were not the one who was responsible for its damage.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Orlando water damage restoration companies and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
If there is any water damage to the kitchen or the bathroom, take pictures of it and show it to the landlord before you move in. Date the pictures and if possible, have your new landlord sign them. If your landlord will not put his signature on the back of the image, be wary about renting from him or her.
If you discover that mold is growing in the apartment shortly after you move in, you will want to inform your landlord immediately that there is a problem. Do not wait. If it is caused by wet clothing or towels that you left on the floor of the bathroom for several days, then the landlord is not likely to be very sympathetic to the problem, but if it is on the ceilings or in the ventilation system, then it is probably not due to anything you have done since you have been in the apartment.
The first thing that you need to do after you discover mold is growing in your apartment or rented home is to notify the landlord immediately. Do not do this by phone, do it by certified mail so that you have a legal record that the letter was received. If your landlord does not contact you or come over to see about the problem, send another notice via certified mail. Tell him that you are withholding your rent until the problem is addressed. If the complaint is still not acknowledged, send yet another letter via certified mail and tell him that you are moving out within a certain amount of time and he will be liable for your moving costs and rent differential if he does not take action.
It is the landlord’s responsibility to provide you with a safe and healthy place to live. Repairs on the facility must be kept up because even after you leave, these problems will still exist on the property. It makes no sense for you to repair something that does not belong to you if you were not the one who was responsible for its damage.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Orlando water damage restoration companies and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
Mold in the Winter
If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow cover during the winter, but it thaws out during the spring, you might be familiar with this problem. Sometimes there can be a quite unwelcome guest underneath all that beautiful snow and you are not likely to find out that it is there until after the snow has already thawed and it has already done the damage it came to do.
If a blanket of snow fails to melt for quite a while after it has fallen, then you might have to deal with mold after it finally does begin to thaw out. When a thick and wet blanket of snow settles on ground that is not frozen, snow mold becomes quite a problem. It begins to decompose the grass under the snow and after the snow begins to melt, it is usually too late to do anything about it.
The main symptom of snow mold is typically a large number of circular patches of deceased grass that can be between 3 to 12 inches in diameter. In some of the most extreme cases, these patches might not look like circles at all because most of the grass on your lawn has died. When pink snow mold has matured, it takes on a pale pink to salmon-like color. This is caused by the mold Microdochium nivale. This is the most serious kind of snow mold because it can completely kill the roots of the grass it affects if it is not treated as soon as possible.
Gray snow mold is caused by different species in the genus Typhula and can be colored from gray to white. These molds usually do not cause damage to any other part of the plant than just the blades. The root usually remains unaffected.
Snow molds tend to grow in temperatures just above freezing and in semi-wet conditions. While it is most commonly associated with snow cover, it can also occur when fall leaves cover a certain spot on the lawn for a long period of time. Kentucky bluegrass-type grasses are less likely to suffer as much damage as others.
If you want to prevent snow mold from growing on your lawn, do not fertilize it less than six weeks before the cold weather begins to roll in and the grass dies. Also, as long as your grass is still growing, you should continue to mow it.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
If a blanket of snow fails to melt for quite a while after it has fallen, then you might have to deal with mold after it finally does begin to thaw out. When a thick and wet blanket of snow settles on ground that is not frozen, snow mold becomes quite a problem. It begins to decompose the grass under the snow and after the snow begins to melt, it is usually too late to do anything about it.
The main symptom of snow mold is typically a large number of circular patches of deceased grass that can be between 3 to 12 inches in diameter. In some of the most extreme cases, these patches might not look like circles at all because most of the grass on your lawn has died. When pink snow mold has matured, it takes on a pale pink to salmon-like color. This is caused by the mold Microdochium nivale. This is the most serious kind of snow mold because it can completely kill the roots of the grass it affects if it is not treated as soon as possible.
Gray snow mold is caused by different species in the genus Typhula and can be colored from gray to white. These molds usually do not cause damage to any other part of the plant than just the blades. The root usually remains unaffected.
Snow molds tend to grow in temperatures just above freezing and in semi-wet conditions. While it is most commonly associated with snow cover, it can also occur when fall leaves cover a certain spot on the lawn for a long period of time. Kentucky bluegrass-type grasses are less likely to suffer as much damage as others.
If you want to prevent snow mold from growing on your lawn, do not fertilize it less than six weeks before the cold weather begins to roll in and the grass dies. Also, as long as your grass is still growing, you should continue to mow it.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Mold in Human History
Mold manifests itself in our world no matter where we happen to be and while we will never really be able to get rid of mold, we can continue to educate ourselves about it and understand what it does.
The Bible has the oldest mention of mold and mildew as problem in the household and recommends that any home that is contaminated with it have the materials inside the home that are infected completely removed and taken far away from where people live. Some insurance claims adjusters dismiss mold as a serious health risk, but many of those clam up when they are read that particular scripture out of the most sold book in the world.
What exactly does the Bible say about mold and where? The text mentions mold in the Old Testament in the book of Leviticus in chapter 14:39-47. Priests were told to go into the home and remove the infected stones and other items that were infected with mold. These were to be taken far away from town and dumped in what was called an “unclean” place. The house was watched for seven days and if the mold came back, then the entire structure was to be torn down and rebuilt with different materials. All of the old material was to be removed and taken to the same unclean place the first set of materials was taken to. Any clothing that was contaminated had to be taken to the priest, examined, and then thrown away.
Some scientists today say that the plague of Egypt responsible for killing the first born child of every Egyptian family was due to mold contaminating the grains that were stored underground because of the plague that had come before it, the locusts. Stachybotrys atra in particular could have contaminated this food and if a child consumed enough of it, death was a very real possibility. In those times, the eldest Egyptian child was given a second portion of his food and this would have been enough to cause the child to fall seriously ill and probably die. The Hebrew children of those days did not get such a serving and ate things like unleavened bread and lamb, which were not subject to contamination.
Any insurance adjuster that says mold is not a serious health problem for human beings should be taking a few notes from the Bible, especially if he counts himself a Christian. Even if he doesn’t, the text is still an ancient one and contains the first known mention of mold and mildew contaminating a home and the procedures used to rid the home of the infection.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
The Bible has the oldest mention of mold and mildew as problem in the household and recommends that any home that is contaminated with it have the materials inside the home that are infected completely removed and taken far away from where people live. Some insurance claims adjusters dismiss mold as a serious health risk, but many of those clam up when they are read that particular scripture out of the most sold book in the world.
What exactly does the Bible say about mold and where? The text mentions mold in the Old Testament in the book of Leviticus in chapter 14:39-47. Priests were told to go into the home and remove the infected stones and other items that were infected with mold. These were to be taken far away from town and dumped in what was called an “unclean” place. The house was watched for seven days and if the mold came back, then the entire structure was to be torn down and rebuilt with different materials. All of the old material was to be removed and taken to the same unclean place the first set of materials was taken to. Any clothing that was contaminated had to be taken to the priest, examined, and then thrown away.
Some scientists today say that the plague of Egypt responsible for killing the first born child of every Egyptian family was due to mold contaminating the grains that were stored underground because of the plague that had come before it, the locusts. Stachybotrys atra in particular could have contaminated this food and if a child consumed enough of it, death was a very real possibility. In those times, the eldest Egyptian child was given a second portion of his food and this would have been enough to cause the child to fall seriously ill and probably die. The Hebrew children of those days did not get such a serving and ate things like unleavened bread and lamb, which were not subject to contamination.
Any insurance adjuster that says mold is not a serious health problem for human beings should be taking a few notes from the Bible, especially if he counts himself a Christian. Even if he doesn’t, the text is still an ancient one and contains the first known mention of mold and mildew contaminating a home and the procedures used to rid the home of the infection.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Mold and Aflatoxins
Some people are aware that different kinds of mold produce what are called mycotoxins, but some of these (particularly Aspergillus flavus) can produce some very lethal toxins that are called aflatoxins. These are some very potent mycotoxins and even when they are consumed in minute amounts, they can cause some serious disease. They have been known to cause either chronic or acute liver cancer or liver disease.
Birds are particularly sensitive to Aflatoxins and many pets can become diseased and die if they come into contact with molds that produce these toxins. Its toxicity to the liver can also bring about many different liver diseases including cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, and hepatic fibrosis. These are also known to cause a number of different kinds of cancer and blood disorders. Small arteries that are affected become blocked due to the presence of clots.
Unfortunately, once a fungus grows on food and produces an aflatoxin, the concern is that this toxin is on the item for good. No amount of freezing or cooking can destroy it and they will stay on the food in definitely.
Aflaatoxins also grow mainly on different grains and legumes like peanuts. Peanuts often have alfatoxins present upon them and while the peanuts that are intended for consumption by people are tested for these toxins, there is no law stating that they must be tested for consumption by animals. Aflatoxins usually grow most effectively while the item is in storage, so in order to limit the growth of fungi that causes these toxins, these items must be stored correctly. Aflatoxins are also known to grow in items like pecans, walnuts, corn, or even sometimes milk.
Any pets that you have that have any pre-existing liver conditions should not be fed items that are common to contain aflatoxins, such as whole grains, nuts, and foods that are not approved for human consumption. There are a lot of commercial foods developed for pets and these will almost always contain some level of aflatoxins, but the body can usually detoxify a small amount of these. If the food you are feeding your pet contains a higher level of aflatoxins and you continue feeding it this food over a long period of time, some significant health complications can occur.
If you have pets, especially birds, be attentive to what you feed them. Birds should be fed fresh seeds or grains whenever you can and try to limit your bird’s commercial diet to no more than around 10 to 20 percent.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Birds are particularly sensitive to Aflatoxins and many pets can become diseased and die if they come into contact with molds that produce these toxins. Its toxicity to the liver can also bring about many different liver diseases including cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, and hepatic fibrosis. These are also known to cause a number of different kinds of cancer and blood disorders. Small arteries that are affected become blocked due to the presence of clots.
Unfortunately, once a fungus grows on food and produces an aflatoxin, the concern is that this toxin is on the item for good. No amount of freezing or cooking can destroy it and they will stay on the food in definitely.
Aflaatoxins also grow mainly on different grains and legumes like peanuts. Peanuts often have alfatoxins present upon them and while the peanuts that are intended for consumption by people are tested for these toxins, there is no law stating that they must be tested for consumption by animals. Aflatoxins usually grow most effectively while the item is in storage, so in order to limit the growth of fungi that causes these toxins, these items must be stored correctly. Aflatoxins are also known to grow in items like pecans, walnuts, corn, or even sometimes milk.
Any pets that you have that have any pre-existing liver conditions should not be fed items that are common to contain aflatoxins, such as whole grains, nuts, and foods that are not approved for human consumption. There are a lot of commercial foods developed for pets and these will almost always contain some level of aflatoxins, but the body can usually detoxify a small amount of these. If the food you are feeding your pet contains a higher level of aflatoxins and you continue feeding it this food over a long period of time, some significant health complications can occur.
If you have pets, especially birds, be attentive to what you feed them. Birds should be fed fresh seeds or grains whenever you can and try to limit your bird’s commercial diet to no more than around 10 to 20 percent.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
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