Common Things Mistaken for Mold

Mold contamination is certainly not a situation to be taken too lightly.  After all, the many respiratory disorders and allergic reactions associated with the inhalation or ingestion of mold particles are clear proof of its potential health hazards.  However, this is no excuse to be paranoid, either, that everything in a household that even remotely resembles mold should pose a threat.  The fact is that plenty of the stuff that we see on building surfaces or on furniture, mold-like though it may seem, is actually something a lot less harmful.  A person can save much time and expense needlessly wasted on sending samples to a laboratory or hiring a mold remediator, if one simply learns how to identify non-mold substances beforehand.  What follows is a list of certain objects that are typically mistaken for mold:

Animal stains.  Dogs, cats and other animals have been known to leave stains on building carpets, floors, walls, doors and surfaces of furniture.  This may be something as disgusting, but relatively harmless, as excrement, or just dirt that gets tracked into the area from outside.  Pet odors and stains are indeed nasty, but rarely toxic.

House dust.  Since mold spores do form part of common household dust, it can be easy to mistake the dust clouds that arise from musty books or covered furnishings for mold particles.  While this may be the case in some instances, a haze of dust is not necessarily an automatic warning sign to head out to the nearest mold expert for help.

Sprayed foam insulation.  This substance is usually white or yellow in color, and when seen in crawl spaces or through cracks and crevices, it may look like and be mistaken for mold growth. 

Thermal tracking.  These are black stains from soot or other waste material from burning objects, that leaves marks on interior walls.  It may be mistaken for the dreaded black toxic mold, but should be easily identifiable as otherwise upon closer inspection.

Black cosmetic mold.  Not all black mold is deadly.  In fact, the stains left behind by the Ceratocystis and Ophistoma mold species, which may be carried over from the lumber that was used to construct the building, are only cosmetic and pose no hazard to humans. 

Efflorescence.  These are white, brown or reddish growths on walls that are not organic, but are actually mineral deposits.  They are mineral salts that collect in a crystalline formation, and are left behind when moisture seeps through a wall, only to evaporate inside the building.  These protrusions are not mold, but they do indicate that moisture has somehow penetrated the structure, and could indicate dampness problems that may lead to mold infestation.  It is prudent, then, to have the areas behind efflorescence formations checked to see if there is any leakage or other damage. 

Wood Sap.  Hard shiny brown or tan spheres on wood may look like thriving mold, but they are in fact just sap crystals that emerge from the wood due to the heat.  High temperatures force the sap out of the wood, where it congeals.

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