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Providing asbestos, lead and mould remediation services for the Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Brantford, Hamilton, Burlington, London, Milton, Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto and surrounding areas

Toxic Materials Library: Mould

Mould Grows When Moisture Is Trapped

Where Is It Found?

Moulds are fungi, a group of organisms that include mushrooms and yeasts. Mould can grow and reproduce quickly in buildings in areas of excessive moisture. High moisture levels may indicate a weakness or failure in the building structure where water comes in from outside, through the floor, walls, or roof, from plumbing leaks. Moisture also accumulates when the structure doesn’t have enough ventilation to expel it from daily activities such as bathing, washing, and cooking.

Why Is It A Dangerous Toxin?
Moulds release chemicals and spores causing a health risk to pregnant women, infants, the elderly, those with health problems such as respiratory disease, asthma, and those with a weakened immune system. Common symptoms to mould exposure can include headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, sinus congestion, coughing and sneezing, eye, nose, throat and skin irritation, dizziness and nausea.

Staining or discolouration or a musty and earthy smell can indicate mould, though mould can be any colour and may even be odourless. Painting over mould only masks the problem because paint does not kill mould. Mould will reappear until its source of moisture is removed and a proper fungicide is applied.

New homes are also subject to mould problems because of the following:

Mouldy building materials are often received from the builder’s supplier. Today's timbers are not kiln-dried as in earlier times, and thus contain a high internal moisture content that makes mould growth possible in the timbers.
The builder and its supervisors and employees fail to do quality control to inspect for, and, thus, prevent mouldy building materials from being used in the home’s construction.
The builder stores the inventory of building materials on the outside ground with no plastic sheeting to protect the building materials from rain which supplies the necessary water to enable mould to grow in and on the materials.
the construction crew fails to cover the entire home under construction with plastic sheeting at the end of each construction day to protect the building materials from rain which supplies the necessary water to enable mould to grow in and on the materials. The roof and side walls need to be protected against rain until the entire roof, siding, windows, and doors are totally installed to seal out rain.
The builder fails to inspect and test the home for mould growth while it is being constructed and at the home’s completion.
Use of modern building materials like chip wafer boards, drywall (plasterboard) and plywood, all of which are favoured mould habitations.

What Can I Do?
You can clean small areas of mould in your home using a strong fungicide; however, an area more than a square meter in size should be assessed by a professional. Our qualified staff at Reitzel Bros. Environmental can help you to determine if you have mould, assess the risk, select the most appropriate method of managing the problem, and perform the abatement operation.

age of building

Hospitals and schools often use insulation or ceiling / flooring materials containing asbestos. The dust from these materials is a carcinogen

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Reitzel Bros. Environmental is bonded and certified by the Ministry of the Environment for asbestos and PCB removal and disposal

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Household interior and exterior paints contained lead up until the 1970's