What Does Mold Smell Like
The human body has five basic senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. These senses are alarms or sensors for our body to indicate things that are happening within our environment. Whether it be seeing a car as it comes in your lane, feeling the material of a new shirt before you buy it, or even smelling an odor that has developed within your home – an odor that you know means trouble like that pesky musty smell that can develop when invaders like mold enters the space. Homeowners can detect a lot of things in their home just by using their senses, and mold is something that can be detected in the home by just using the humanly senses in the environment.
Mold can trigger many senses including sight and smell, as most species of mold produce an altered color to the surface and in some cases can produce a foul odor within the indoor environment.
What is the smell that is produced from mold and how can you eliminate this odor from the indoor air?
What are the Signs of Mold in Your House?
There are many different signs and indicators of mold growth within a home and it is important to stay vigilant of these potential indicators. Upon the most common indicators as we discussed is sight and smell of the mold. When it comes to sight, there are a variety of colors associated with mold and the array of species of this mold. The color of mold can vary from red, yellow, green, brown, and even in worse cases black mold (which is known to be extremely hazardous).
Also, the odors or smell that mold produces can be a major indicator of mold growth within the indoor environment. In general, the odor from mold is an unpleasant smell that is commonly associated with musty. When mold begins to grow and reproduce, it will release chemicals called Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (MVOCs) into the air that are the key culprits behind the odor of mold.
Is the Smell of Mold Harmful
If you can see or smell mold in an indoor environment it can be potentially hazardous and harmful to the health of those exposed to this environmental change.
The potential health effects of mold will consist of the following symptoms including:
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Dizziness
- Respiratory irritation
- Coughing
- and Trouble breathing
What Kills the Smell of Mold
The odor produced from mold can be difficult to remove from an indoor air space, the smell is strong and thus it will require an efficient solution to remediate this odor. Masking agents such as perfumes or air fresheners will likely be insufficient in the quest to remove these odors from the air. Therefore, it may be necessary to implement an efficient air purifier into the environment that is capable of mitigate and eliminating the unwanted mold odor.
The EnviroKlenz UV Air Purifier is a highly effective mold removal air purifier that utilizes a combination of patented earth mineral technology and UVC lights to effectively kill any collected microorganisms (such as bacteria, viruses, and mold spores). The air purifier contains the patented earth mineral air filter, along with a hospital-grade HEPA filter. The HEPA filter will capture fine particulate matter including mold spores on top of the filter, and above this HEPA filter the UVC lights are located above it to provide a high efficiency of kill to these mold spores.
EnviroKlenz UV Air Purifier Effectiveness Against Mold
The following experiment was set up to illustrate the impact of the UVC light in the EnviroKlenz Air System. Two EnviroKlenz Air Systems were set up in the same indoor air environment with HEPA filters installed. HEPA filters are designed to capture a broad range of particulate mater 0.3 microns in size and larger.
In one system the UVC light bulbs were turned on, while in the other system UVC lights were not used. The systems were allowed to collect particulate matter for 1 week. After the week of collection ended, the systems were turned off and the HEPA surface was sampled with sterile collection swaps and streaked on to the nutrient agar plates (MEA). The plates were then allowed to incubate for 10 days.
In the image above, the plates are observed. The MEA plate on the left has mold growth. This was the sample collected from the system without the UVC lights running, while the sample on the right shows the UVC light being on killed the mold and the resulting plate with no growth observed.
The Cleanest Air
Your Home Has Ever Had.
EnviroKlenz Mobile Air System
(Standard Model)
$699
EnviroKlenz Mobile Air System
(UV-C Model)
$799