How to combat winter allergies

Winter months can be brutal for people sensitive to mold spores and dust mites, but help is at hand.

Dr. William Reisacher, director of The Allergy Center in the Department of Otolaryngology (head and neck surgery) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Dr. Rachel Miller, director of allergy and immunology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, have offered ten simple tricks to keep mold and dust mites at bay and make the winter months more bearable for indoor allergy sufferers:


1.Turn on the exhaust fan when showering or cooking to remove excess humidity and odours.

2. Clean your carpets with a HEPA vacuum to decrease dust mites and pet allergen levels.

3. Wash your hands after playing with the family pet and avoid touching your face to decrease exposure to common winter viruses.

4. Launder your bed linens and pajamas in hot water (above 130 degrees) to kill dust mites.

5. Treat your bedroom as the allergy "safe haven" of your home because this is where you may spend most of your time. Your bedroom should have the fewest allergy triggers so keep pets, carpets, rugs and plants out of this room to avoid dust mites and mold from decaying plants. You may also want to place an allergenic barrier around your pillows and mattress to create a barrier between dust mites and your nose.

6. Spray your live Christmas tree with a garden hose before setting it up and remove all dust from your holiday decorations.

7.Install high-efficiency furnace filters: they capture 30 times more allergens, and make sure your furnace fan is always on.

8. Keep your indoor humidity level between 30-40 percent, with the help of a humidifier or dehumidifier, to help prevent the growth of mold and mites.

9. Change the water and filters in your humidifier according to manufacturer recommendations to avoid contamination by mold and bacteria.

10. Perform an indoor and outdoor survey of the house every month to look for visible mold and identify areas that are at high-risk for mold formation, such as a pile of firewood close to the house or an area of the basement with a musty odor.

9 Simple Steps to help you Identify Molds

9 Simple Steps to Identify Molds

Exposure to molds (allergen) can cause cold-like symptoms, watery eyes, sore throat, wheezing and dizziness, and trigger asthma attacks.
Mold is ubiquitous (common) in all continents across the globe. Whe
n exposed to mold the majority of the population can handle low-level exposure, but the problem with mold is that it multiplies exponentially when it has access to moisture and organic substrates like building materials, food, soil, wood, paper, leaves and fabric. Exposure to molds (allergen) can cause cold-like symptoms, watery eyes, sore throat, wheezing and dizziness, and trigger asthma attacks.

Mold spores are microscopic in nature (typically less than 5 microns) and can easily be airborne and breathed into our lungs. Exposure to high spore levels can cause the development of an allergy to mold. If there is a musty, earthy smell, the mold problem should be addressed. When a musty odor is noticed it is typically the result of high exposure to microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC) off-gassing produced by the molds. The odors are chemicals released from the molds during some parts of the mold's growth cycle.

If you have a mold allergy, your immune system overreacts when you breathe in mold spores. The allergic reaction triggers a cascade of reactions that lead to allergy symptoms. Like other allergies, a mold allergy can make you cough, make your eyes itch and cause other symptoms that make you miserable. In some people, mold allergy is linked to asthma and exposure causes restricted breathing and other airway symptoms.

If you have a mold allergy, the best defense is to reduce your exposure to the types of mold that cause your reaction.

The following steps may help to identify molds:

1. Check for patches that appear fuzzy, or cotton-like. Many household mold looks like this. If mold-like conditions appear on walls or hard surface, place a flashlight against the surface. If filamentous (long visible chains, threads or filaments) structures appear in the shadow of the light, most likely mold is present.

2. Identify mold by the discolorations. Mold comes in almost all colors of the rainbow, including brown, gray, black, green, yellow, white and orange.

3. Use your nose to find mold. Household mold by its musty or earthy smell.

4. Look for mold in places where you've had any water damage. Leaking roofs, leaky windows, plumbing leaks and flooding leave household areas ripe for mold growth. Check ceilings and carpets.

5. Know that the humidifiers and vaporizers you use for your health are prime places for mold growth due to the high level of humidity. Poorly vented bathrooms may contain mold fed from the steam from showers. Plumbing leaks in interstitial walls can also be problematic.

6. Understand that mold loves damp basements and garages. And if you store books, clothing, drywall, cardboard or wood in these locations (and who doesn't?), then mold has a ready food source to grow on.

7. Inspect you air handling system for visual mold like conditions. Check the evaporator coil, blower assembly, drain pan, wetted insulation liner, etc… Look for primary or secondary drain pan leaks.

8. Play detective and identify mold in these hiding places: under the kitchen sink, air ducts, entryways and refrigerator seals.

9. If you are unsure contact a professional with experience in the mold industry.

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