Mold? Fungi? Are They All Dangerous?

6/29/2018 (Permalink)

I’ll be honest, whenever I hear the words ‘mold’ or ‘fungus,’ I think about the scene in Ghostbusters, where Egon is fixing Janine’s computer. She tells him that she likes to read and how she thinks it’s a fabulous time to spend her spare time, and she also plays racquetball. She proceeds to ask him if he has any hobbies. He looks up from the back of the computer and deadpans “I collect spores, molds, and fungus.”

Aside from Ghostbusters, we actually hear those words thrown around frequently. From articles on Facebook telling you all about the dangers of mold, or a special news report on your local news about it, it can be a little confusing. Are they all dangerous?

There are over 200,000 species of fungus in the world, including over 100,000 types of mold. Yep, mold is a subspecies of fungi! Other species include truffles, yeast, mushrooms and lichen.

We know that molds can be dangerous, even kill us if we come in contact with some species of mold. But there is a lot of fear mongering, especially from the sources listed above. Mold can actually be really helpful to us. When we pull out hamburger buns we forgot to eat last week and they’re moldy and gross and then we say “Look! I’ve been growing Penicillin!” That’s actually true. We use Penicillium to help create the antibiotic Penicillin. Penicillium can grow on bread, cheese, and other foods and has a distinct greenish/blue/white/grey color to it. Blue cheese anyone?

Mushrooms, truffles, and yeast are all fungi that we eat. Did you know that the European white truffle is the most expensive food in the world? One sold for $300,000 in 2012, and just a few shavings on top of your dinner can be hundreds of dollars. They’re expensive because of their rarity. They can only be found in Italy during the months of October, November, and December and they’re sniffed out by specialty trained dogs. Black truffles can also cost quite a bit of money but are more readily available.

We use yeast to help bread rise and to brew beer and we put mushrooms in our steaks, ramen, and on pizzas. There are endless possibilities.

So, the short answer is no! Not all molds or fungi are dangerous, however, we must advise against plucking a random mushroom off the forest floor or going ahead and toasting that piece of bread.

If you suspect mold in your home call SERVPRO of Lake Worth/Benbrook right away! This type of mold can cause respiratory problems and can be incredibly dangerous especially to children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. Don’t think just because we can eat some mold on cheese doesn’t mean that all of it is safe.

Call us today at 817.560.3086.