Dr Jackson Kung'u- Mold Specialist

Helping People Resolve Mold Problems

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Dr. Jackson Kung’u (PhD)- Mold Specialist.
Phone: 905-290-9101
Mobile: 437-556-0254

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Age Of Mold

Question: I would really appreciate an advice on a matter of mold.  I am having a hard time to get a straight answer locally.  I am a self-employed marine surveyor who, along with a food inspector, inspected and dumped about 200 bottles of jam that had broken in transit. This was on Christmas Eve. Because some of the jam had developed mold, I asked the food inspector if we could test for the age of the mold to determine the approximate time/location of the damage. He advised that to determine the age of the mold, the temperature and relative humidity (RH) of the environment in which it was transported was required. The jam had been transported in a shipping container but temperature or RH data was not available.

When I see forensics on CSI testing for age of dead bodies, I find it hard to believe that the age of mold cannot be similarly determined.

I would be grateful if you could let me know, for my edification, whether it is possible to test for the age of mold.

Thank you for your kind assistance. Best regards.

Answer: I am not aware of a simple test that could be used to determine the age of mold. Also, in the case of the damaged jam bottles, the age of the mold may not help determine the approximate time/location of the damage. If we define age as the duration of time during which a cell, tissue, or organism has existed as a distinct entity, defining the age of mold could be a problem. This is because the network of fungal filaments (the mycelia) or spores from which the visible mold develops could be several years old. Another fact that complicates defining the age of mold is that mold grows only at the hyphal tips, and therefore the cells at the advancing edge of a fungal colony are the youngest, and those progressively nearer the centre are older. If we could determine the time (and not the age) it took the mold to develop into visible growth, this could help us determine the approximate time of damage. From laboratory observations of the growth rates of molds under different growth conditions, we may speculate how long it took for the visible growth to appear on the jam if we knew the type of mold and the conditions under which the jam was transported.

Doctors Think It’s Lupus

Question: Hi, I don’t know if you can help me, I have worked every day for the past 6 years cleaning mold of mostly 100 plus year old paper which until recently no protective clothing was provided. I have now got an autoimmune disorder, they think it’s lupus, scarred bone marrow, scarred lungs, fungus of the nails, sinus problems, as well as slight bleeding of the lungs. I have done some reading on the net about the effects of mold and I have told the doctors that I think this is what’s causing my problems but I am always told no it wouldn’t be that. I cannot convince a doctor to do a blood test to see if this is what’s causing all my health problems. I don’t know where else to turn. What I am hoping is that you might know a doctor in the Sydney area (Australia) who will be willing to do a blood test. I would be forever grateful.

Thank you for taking the time in reading this.
 

 Answer: Thank you for your question. We really feel for you. Unfortunately we don’t know any doctor in Australia. It’s also possible that your doctors could be right. Give them a chance to try and diagnose your problem.

Penicillium bilaiae (Penicillium bilaii)

Fugomyces cyanescens culture

Penicillium bilaiae is a soilborne fungus able to solubilize mineral phosphates and enhance plant uptake of phosphate. Hence, it’s used to promote soil-bound phosphorous uptake in several crop species, such as wheat, canola and pulse crops. In the literature, it has also been referred to as Penicillium bilaii or Penicillium bilaji. An older name for this species is Penicillium lilacinoechinulatum. Although Penicillium bilaiae is widely distributed in soil it’s not commonly isolated.

Fugomyces cyanescens culture

The species name bilaiae was derived from Bilai, the Russian scientist (B. Bilai) after whom it was named.

Fugomyces cyanescens culture

Fugomyces cyanescens

Fugomyces cyanescens culture

Fugomyces cyanescens was formally known as Sporothrix cyanescens and classified in the genus Sporothrix.

Distribution of Fugomyces cyanescens

The natural habitat of Fugomyces cyanescens is not well defined. It is distributed worldwide and has been isolated from air in Andersen Samples, soil, decomposition plants, Eucalyptus species, pomegranates, bark beetles and on the embryo of nectarine. It has been reported from Australia, India, Israel, the Netherlands, Spain and USA.

Health Significance

In general, Fugomyces cyanescens is considered to be non-pathogenic. However, it has been recovered from skin lesions, finger,blood cultures, nodular pulmonary lesions in immunosupressed patient and nosocomial infections in patients with neumonia.

Fugomyces cyanescens

MBL is Proficient For Bacteria Testing

The Canadian Association for Laboratory Accreditation Inc.(CALA) has rated MBL proficient for the following bacteria testing:

Test Parameter Method Of Analysis Status
Escherichia coli (E. coli) Membrane Filtration (DC-Agar) Proficient
Fecal (Thermotolerant) Coliforms Membrane Filtration (mFC) Proficient.
Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) Membrane Filtration (PCA) Proficient
Total Coliforms Membrane Filtration (DC-Agar) Proficient.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) Presence/Absence Proficient
Total Coliforms Presence/Absence Proficient.

Coliform Bacteria

The coliform bacteria are used as indicators of potential health risk for water. Coliforms are divided into 2 groups; total coliforms, i.e., all the coliform bacteria; and the fecal coliforms. The fecal coliforms are dominated by Escherichia coli (E. coli). E. coli are common in human intestines and they are generally harmless. However, some strains such as 0157 can cause serious infections.

Presence of fecal coliforms in water is widely accepted as indicator of potential contamination of water with fecal material. Contamination of water with fecal material presents greater risk of infectious microorganism such as viruses, other bacteria, protozoa and even worms.