Inside your home, at school, or at work, places where you should be safe, you may suffer injuries or illness from mold. Now, almost no type of mold is actually toxic. Some worries about this hazard are exaggerated, so it is important to know what is real, and what is false about the dangers that could result from mold.

Mold is a fungus. It grows in places where there is moisture and heat. Unfortunately, the spores can survive in a great variety of places. Usually speaking, some mold in your walls does not mean that you will suffer adverse health effects. Mold is dangerous only when a great deal of it has accumulated, such as after flooding. The full extent of mold's health threats has not been scientifically determined yet. If you have an illness, it can be difficult to pinpoint what caused it. For the most part, there is precious little medical data that ties mold to certain symptoms. What is known is that babies and the elderly are more likely to suffer from exposure to this fungus, as are those who have asthma or weak immune systems.

The idea of "toxic mold" comes from the potential of some mold to create "mycotoxins", a toxin that the spores of mold can carry. These toxins are indeed dangerous to one's health. For example, there is the so-called "black mold" that often appears when there has been flooding. This type can sometimes produce mycotoxins. This is not usual, however. If there is a toxigenic mold in a building, then it is probably aspergillis, though many forms of this mold are not toxic either.

Mold can trigger allergies, such as congestion, coughing, slightly inflamed eyes, irritated skin, and more. Sometimes, mold can cause allergic reactions that cause fever, difficulty breathing, and flu-like symptoms. Less frequently, mold has been known to cause much more serious health problems.

Aspergillosis is category of diseases that stem from the aspergillis mold. Sometimes this manifests itself in symptoms that resemble allergies. That is if someone has a non-invasive version of the disease. Invasive aspergillosis is a severe disease, where the lungs are invaded and harmed. Other organs and body tissue can be damaged as well, and the condition can grow until it affects the whole body. While this can sometimes threaten those in good health, this usually afflicts those who have some pre-existing conditions, such as asthma or cystic fibrosis.

Remember that a small amount of aspergillis will probably pose no threat to someone's health. It requires a great concentration to become this hazardous. Very few other conditions have been definitively tied to mold. Although you may have heard on the news about potential links with cancers, brain injury, infant lung hemorrhaging, and more, there is as of yet no medical proof for this. That being said, there are still health problems that can be caused by mold, and this can often be the fault of someone else's negligence.

So what can you do if you have suffered from mold exposure? Whether you are a property owner or a tenant, or an employee, you can pursue compensation for your health problems, other damages, and for mold remediation (which means paying to remove the mold).

If you own the premises, there are number of people you may be able to file a lawsuit against, perhaps all at once. You might want to start with a homeowner's insurance policy. Look over the coverage for "perils". The source of your mold has to be mentioned in the policy, such as a roof leak or flooding. If your policy covers this, you can get the promised coverage. However, something like mold may be explicitly labeled in your policy as an exclusion. You may be able to go after the builder of the property who did a poor job, or perhaps you can sue the architect who did not provide for adequate ventilation. You may be able to sue the owner before you, who was negligent to take care of this infestation. You might be able to go after the realtor, home inspector, and condo association as well.

If you are a tenant, then landlords are supposed to operate under an "implied warranty of habitability". It is a landlord's duty to ensure that your living place is healthy. It does not matter what your lease says, because all states have this implied warranty law. If a landlord is negligent, refusing to honor this warranty, then you have legal recourse.

If mold is at your job and your health suffers from it, a personal injury lawyer can help you get ample worker's compensation. Liability may be hard to determine when it comes to a school or public building, so as with every case of injury, a personal injury attorney can provide the invaluable legal counsel and representation that you need.