Mold Glossary

Aerosol: A suspension of solid or liquid particles in a gas. For example, airborne fungi are solid particles (fungal spores and hyphal fragments) in the gas matrix of air.

Aflatoxin: Mycotoxin produced by molds. Aflatoxins are believed to affect the liver, to be fatal to livestock, and to be carcinogenic in humans.

Allergen: Substance (such as mold) that can cause an allergic reaction.

Antimicrobial: Inhibits the growth and survival of microscopic living things.

Aspergillus: A rare infecftion usually in the lungs, caused by the Aspergillus genus of fungi.

Bacillus: Aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occuring in chainlike formations.

Bacteria: Micro organisms, single-celled or non-cellular spherical, spiral, or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission.

Barrier: Any surface that seals off the work area to inhibit the movement of microbials.

Biocide: Substance or chemical that kills organisms such as molds.

Capillary Action: Ground moisture that has soaked through a basement or ground level floor.

Category 1, 2, and 3: These terms refer to Clean, Gray, and Black Water, respectively, as defined by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC).

Clean Water (aka Category 1): Water from a water supply line. There is little concern about bacteria and odors in this water.

Clearance: Effective mold remediation verified by air sampling and bulk sampling for fungi. Clearance also signifies that rebuild of demolished materials can begin.

Coatings/Sealants: Chemical-based paints that are designed to trap and/or kill mold spores on the affected surfaces.

Condensation: A deposit of moisture droplets from humid air on surfaces that are cooler than the air. Condensation will form when warm, moist air contacts a cooler surface causing the air to be reduced to the dew point temperature.

Containment: A contained work area is a work area sealed off from all other areas by the installation of critical barriers. A contained area has differential pressure units operating to prevent the spread of the contamination.

Cutaneaous: Affecting the skin.

Decontamination Process: A work area designed to minimize the spread of microbial contaminated material being removed from the air conveyance system in areas where a decontamination enclosure system is not required.

Desiccation: Drying out, loss of moisture.

Dew Point: When relative humidity is 100 percent and condensation begins to occur.

Endotoxins: Toxins produced within the cell walls of bacteria.

Fungi: Fungi are neither animals nor plants and are classified in a kingdom of their own. Fungi include mold, yeasts, mushrooms, and puffballs.

Fungicide: Kills fungi in any stage of its growth but does not kill the spores; can be utilized in most minor mold remediations.

Gray Water (aka Category 2): Gray water is water from a dishwasher or kitchen sink.

Hydrophile: A fungus that prefers a moist habitat, having a higher water activity requirement.

Hypha: An individual fungal thread or filament of connected cells; the threat that represents the individual parts of the fungal body.

Microbial: An extremely small life form that usually is visible only with the aid of a microscope (e.g., animals, protozoa, algae, fungi, viruses, disease-causing bacterium, etc.).

Microbial Growth: The activity and growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, algae, diatoms, plankton, and fungi.

Microorganism: A microorganism is an organism or living thing that is microscopic in size, and can only be seen with a microscope.

Mildew: Defined as either a fungal disese in and on plants or that staining (and frequently causing damage or breakup) of materials, such as cloth, fibers, paint, by fungi and bacteria.

Mold: A common term used to refer to fungi.

Mycelium: A mass or aggregate of hyphae.

Mycology: The scientific study of fungi, molds, and yeasts.

Mycoses: Infections caused by fungi.

Mycotoxin: Chemicals produced by some fungi that are toxic to humans and animals. They vary in toxicity and are species-specific.

Remediate: The process of restoring, repairing; regarding mold damage in buildings, the process includes removing damaged materials, replacing them with new materials, and correcting the problems that caused the damage.

Remediation: The correction of something bad or defective. The restoring of something to its original state.

Stachybotrys Chartarum: A toxigenic mold that occurs mainly on dead plant materials; black mold. It is cosmopolitan and one of its most common substrates is straw.

Sterile: Free from bacteria or other living microorganisms.

Swipe: A bulk sample method in which suspect mold growth is removed from a surface using a sterile swab or other sterile absorbent material.

Toxic Mold: General terminology often used to create concern over the presence of fungi that may or may not cause adverse health effects to people.

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