Over
time, scientists have found that mold
may have been responsible for a number of interesting
phenomena from the Bible, to the
Salem witch trials, to the Irish potato famine and the
curse of the mummy's tombs.
The very first
mention of mold in the history of
man is in the Bible: Leviticus 13 and 14. In biblical
times, the priest acted in a similar fashion to today's
modern home inspector. If someone told the priest they had
seen something that
looked like mildew, he would order the house to be emptied
and then examine the
walls. If mildew was found he ordered
the contaminated stones to be torn out
and the inside walls scraped clean. The old
stones were replaced with new ones, the house re-plastered
and monitored for re-growth. This
mold remediation is not that different
than what is done today.
Mold-induced
food poisoning called ergot may
have been responsible for the Salem witch
trials in 1692. Ergot, a result of ingesting
rye kernels infected by Fusarium and
Claviceps, causes individuals to develop
hallucinations, seizures, and mental
disturbances. The early settlers of
Massachusetts planted rye and ate rye bread.
Those who consumed infected rye
would have experienced similar symptoms,
which could have been blamedon witchcraft. Unfortunately,
no one understood that
the rye bread was
probably responsible
for these
"symptoms".
In 1845,
Ireland's population totaled
8 million people, four million of which were , enormously
dependant on potatoes as a food source, A period of
rain, which lasted from May 1845 until March
1846 provided textbook conditions for
the reproduction of a fungus called Phyophthora
infestans, This fungus grew on
the leaves of potato plants causing them to
rot and within weeks fields of diseased potatoes
turned black and rotted. Hungry farmers
turned to their uninfected seed potatoes
for food and were unable to plant a
new crop for the next year, Starvation quickly
spread throughout Ireland consequently
wiping out about half of the Irish
population.
The tombs of
ancient Egypt are famous for
"curses" that threaten death to anyone who
enters and the opening of many tombs have
resulted in mysterious sicknesses and often
death for the explorers. The most notorious
case occurred when the tomb
of King Casimir was opened in
Poland on April 13, 1973, Within
a few days, only 2of the 12 researchers present
were still alive. One
of the remaining survivors performed
microbiological examinations of the
tomb. He found traces of 3 species of fungus
on the artifact they had taken from the
tomb: Aspergillus "avus, Penicillium rubrum,
and Penicillium rugulosum. These fungi
produce aflatoxins 81 and 82 and are
speculated to have caused the deaths of
the 10 researchers. It has also been speculated
that these fungi may have been
responsible for the death of Lord Carnarvon,
who died a few months after exploring
King Tut's tomb in 1922. While
Indoor Air Quality concerns and mold remediation
may seem relatively new to the
industry, mold and its effects on human
life have actually been around
since the beginning of man
and will continue to do
so for years to come.
