Moulds belong to the Kingdom Fungi. The term “mould” refers to those fungi (singular fungus) that are filamentous. Also belonging to the Fungi Kingdom are yeasts (which exist as single cells as opposed to multicellular filaments) and mushrooms. The term “mildew” is also sometimes used to refer to moulds. It has been estimated that there are about 1.5 million species of fungi but only about 76 thousand species are known.
Within the indoor environment about 200 species of fungi have been reported but only a few are most frequent. These include species of:
- Penicillium,
- Aspergillus,
- Chaetomium,
- Ulocladium,
- Stachybotrys,
- Cladosporium,
- Acremonium,
- Mucor,
- Paecilomyces ,
- Alternaria,
- Trichoderma.
Also, not all the fungi that occur indoors are of major concern to health. However, all moulds growing within indoor environment should be treated as potentially hazardous.
Do you have a mould question? Please call us at (905)290-9101.