Have you wondered what lives inside your bed mattress? Are you giving or selling it along with other furniture? Stop for a moment and read this first.
One of the things that we tend not to clean is our bed mattress. Usually,
we just buy new ones and throw or give away the old ones. But if they are not clean, we also pass whatever lives inside the mattress to the new owners. What if the new owners are sick? Or if they have children? Or someone inside their house are already sick? That mattress that we just gave away might worsen their illness.
If you keep buying new ones instead of cleaning the mattresses, it would cost you tons of money. And if it is dirty, there are a lot of diseases that we can get from it. How? Because of the organisms that lives on dirty mattresses. What are those organisms? Bed bugs, dust mites, and molds.
BED BUGS
This insects feed on any warm-blooded hosts which includes us and our pets. As of now, there are no related disease that you can get from their bites. However, due to its itchy bites, we can get stress, anxiety, and insomnia. Especially, if we get bitten a lot of times. We can also get skin infection and scars from scratching the bed bug bites.
They are fond of living in places like the sofa, furniture, and mattress. They love to be near the hosts that they feed on. Bed bugs do not like a lot of light so they only feed at night when the hosts are already in their deep sleep.
DUST MITES
They are microscopic bugs that live and feed on dead skin cells that are shed by us and our pets. They may seem harmless to most of us but a single dust mite produces 20 wastes (feces) each day which contains a protein that make people get an allergic reaction and induce asthma to people who are asthmatic.
MOLDS
They are fungi that lives indoors and outdoors. They love warm, damp, and humid places. There are so many types of molds that some of them produces mild health problems while others can produce serious health problems which could eventually lead to death.
Some of the common symptoms are coughing, sneezing, difficulty to swallow, spitting, burning throat and lungs, asthmatic signs, nausea, diarrhea, kidney and liver pain, coated and discolored tongue, memory loss, vision problems, headaches, anxiety and depression, balance problems, chronic fatigue, excessive sweating, nose bleeding, easily bruised, infertility, sudden weight changes, cancer, hair loss, brittle nails, muscle pain and stiffness, irregular heart beat, seizures, numbness of the face, hypersensitivity, and anaphylaxsis.
Keep in mind that not all people develop 'all' the symptoms. Babies, elderly, and people with immune problems are the most susceptible in developing serious conditions. Excessive mold build up needs to be taken care of immediately. It can lead to toxicity, allergies, building and structure problems, and death.
Here are some examples of common molds that lives indoors and outdoors:
Aspergillus spp is the most common fungi in our environment. It has more than 160 different mold species. Exposure to them can cause skin rashes, hair loss, vomiting, and more.
Stachybotrys chartarum is a greenish-black and slimy mold that can be found indoors where water damage goes unnoticed. They can live anywhere like inside the wallpaper, walls, ceiling tiles, etc. This type releases a very toxic mycotoxin. Exposure to this fungi can cause memory loss, acid reflux, nose bleeds, flu symptoms, headache, seizures, and more.
To simplify, the types of molds are:
Allergenic molds are not dangerous to our health in low amounts of exposure but they can cause allergic and asthmatic symptoms.
Mycotoxic molds are known to cause serious health problems. The symptoms ranges from irritation, auto-immune diseases, cancer, and death.
Pathogenic molds can also cause serious illness to people with immune deficiencies. Example of them are people taking chemotherapy and people with AIDS/HIV. If you suspect that you have the symptoms, seek professional help and guidance. You should also have your family and pets checked by their doctors for mold toxicity.
It is important to have your house, building, or office checked. If you are going to do it yourself, be sure to wear rubber gloves, masks, and goggle or eyes shields. Look around for these three organisms (bed bugs, dust mites – if there are excessive dust, and molds) in bed mattresses, upholstery, furniture, basement, attic, ceiling, and anywhere you suspect.
If you found large quantities or if you do not know how to look for them, call a reputable cleaning company or any company that specializes in their removal. Remember, cleaning and maintaining our home, buildings, and offices can improve our health and our budget.
