Fungi in the house are a growing problem. Due to the heavy rainfall in recent months, our economical heating behavior and poor ventilation, fungi are increasingly getting the chance to strike in the house. And that is not pleasant to say the least. Omroep Brabant has opened a hotline for Schimmelhuizen this week. Fungal expert Jos Houbraken from the Westerdijk fungal institute Fungal Biodiversity explains what you should and should not do.
Everyone has probably seen them. It starts with a few small spots on your wall, ceiling or frame, but if you don’t care, they spread through the room like an oil slick. In total there are millions of different types of fungi.
Yet there are only a small number of species that you can meet at home. “There is a set of about thirty different species that we usually encounter in the house,” says fungal expert Jos Houbraken from Eindhoven.
“Without moisture, no fungi in the house.”
Experts conduct research into the different types of fungi in the laboratory of the Institute. Where do those fungi come from? The problem always starts with moisture. “Without moisture, no fungi in the house,” says Houbraken. “You may have a leak in your home, that your house is not sufficiently insulated, that you do not ventilate properly or that you do not burn enough in the house.”
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“In comparison with warm air, cold air retains less moisture, making the relative humidity too high faster. Because cold air absorbs less moisture, the moisture hits your walls and windows earlier, giving you more chance of fungal growth in the house. Heated house and a humidity of sixty percent or lower prevents mold growth in the house. “
Tips from experts to keep fungi out:
- Always ensure good ventilation: open the ventilation grilles or the windows regularly.
- Don’t let it get too cold in the home, so heat well.
- Isolate your house well (if you have the money for that).
- Clean your house well. Also in the edges of your frames. Fungi love fabric.
Now that we know that can cause fungus, it is of course the question how do you get rid of it again? Houbraken: “The most important thing can first be sorted out that created the fungal growth in your house. So find out the moisture problem and solve it. Otherwise they will come back. Only then makes it meaningful to remove the fungus.”
“Do not ride such a fungus yourself with chlorine or other remedies.”
Some experts say that you can remove the fungi yourself by regularly dabbing chlorine on the relevant location. Chlorine works well to kill fungi. Houbraken warns of the possible dangers: “When wiping away a fungal spot, large quantities of fungal particles can come into the air that you inhale again. You can suffer from that, especially if you already have underlying complaints. Always take good precautions or late Removing by a specialized company. ”
Waiting for privacy settings …
Tracing fungi in the house is not always easy, while people sometimes have complaints that point to fungal growth. Houbraken investigates Whether it is possible to be able to determine faster whether there are fungi in the house. “Not every fungus is clearly visible. Sometimes the fungus is in a non-visible place, sometimes fungal spots are still microscopically small and sometimes places are not recognized by the resident as fungus. “The latter is, for example, when the fungus has the color of the wallpaper on the wall.
Houbraken and his colleagues want to investigate whether they can measure with dust in the house whether fungi are growing in the house. “Fabric is a time capsule,” the expert explains. “It swirles around for days or weeks. By taking dust samples in the house and examining them with the help of DNA techniques, we can see if there are problems in a home. If the test succeeds, for example, housing corporations could find out faster or one fungal problem in the neighborhood is. ”
For the research of the Westerdijk Fungal biodiversity Institute His 25 houses with and 25 houses without fungus needed. The Schimmelinstituut is still looking for a number of houses that certainly suffer from fungus. People who want to participate in the study can register via [email protected] stating ‘Schimmel research Health Holland’.
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