Mold

I am living in an apartment that has mold. What are my rights as a tenant, as far as health issues?

You have the right to clean up the mold if it's in the bathroom (or any other high humidity room); a combination of bleach and water will take care of it although hydrogen peroxide and water is a better solution from having it return.

If due to a water leak you have the right to request that the landlord repair the leak and any damage done to the wall because of this.

As to health issues...you need to prove that 1. this mold is one of the few (out of many hundreds of strains of mold) that may pose a health risk to humans and 2. any symptoms you have are directly linked to this mold.

Gail

If you want help, you need to make your questions specific, such as, "I've discovered mold in my bathroom. What do I do?"

If you're bathing or showering, you should leave the door or window open a little to allow the humidity to escape. Or you should run the bathroom fan for the duration of the bath/shower. Afterwards, you should wipe down the sides of the shower stall or walls framing your tub. You should leave the doors open after you exit the bathroom.

Mold forms in damp areas, so you have to be vigilant about keeping things exposed to air and drying out damp items.

Some people think the discovery of mold ultimately means a payday and the chance to vacate their apartment or house without penalty. The mold needs to be tested by pros who can determine if it's dangerous or merely one of hundreds of different kinds of mold that we live with on a daily basis. Don't trust the mold testing kits sold by hardware stores. Get a professional.

shortstuff1957 said:

I am living in an apartment that has mold. What are my rights as a tenant, as far as health issues?

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**A: it depends on the extent of the problem, the casue of the mold and the type of mold.

Before you accept the notion that household bleach will do the trick Google and read articles under “mycotoxins fungal spores mold lethal”

I have a retired judge friend whose daughter’s face is slowly but literally rotting from the inside out and is widowed because of household mold.

No known cure or medical procedure to arrest the growth and reproduction of certain airborne fungal spores once they invade the respiratory system. (So sayeth the Mayo Clinic.)

Certain fungal spores are also known to retard mental development in children as documented on an often repeated A & E documentary where a $1M plus Louisiana home had to be destroyed.

latigo said:

Before you accept the notion that household bleach will do the trick Google and read articles under “mycotoxins fungal spores mold lethal”

I have a retired judge friend whose daughter’s face is slowly but literally rotting from the inside out and is widowed because of household mold.

No known cure or medical procedure to arrest the growth and reproduction of certain airborne fungal spores once they invade the respiratory system. (So sayeth the Mayo Clinic.)

Certain fungal spores are also known to retard mental development in children as documented on an often repeated A & E documentary where a $1M plus Louisiana home had to be destroyed.

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Informative.

OP better get to cleaning that mold then.

Wherever in the world she is.

Banned_Princess said:

Informative.

OP better get to cleaning that mold then.

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Inasmuch as this is a rental I wouldn’t be cleaning. I would be moving!

Convincing enough would be one look at the horribly disfigured face of the child shown at Toxic Black Mold Inspector, Mold Testing, Mold Test Kit, Mold Training & Education

No proof has been presented that the mold in the OP's rental is "Black Mold."

Hot Topic said:

No proof has been presented that the mold in the OP's rental is "Black Mold."

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Nor is there any evidence that it isn't!

But I tell you what. You roll the dice and wait for the expensive mycology testing results; the costs of which are not likely to be absorbed by the landlord.

I say the tenant with little or nothing vested in the premises doesn’t put the family to the known health risks.

And remember that your expert has a vested interest (meaning making money) from his mold expertise.

I question the motives of anyone who publishes a picture of a disfigured girl to illustrate the danger of molds.

Get the mold tested by a professional who can determine if it's a common mold or a dangerous one. Don't run around like a chicken with its head cut off because the word "mold" is mentioned.

safety tip

do not mix bleach with peroxide .... you'll get ClO2 gas ... very very deadly