Mold is nasty and toxic .  And it's a big problem that seems to be getting bigger.

In fact, US Government report announced a few years ago that 47% of homes and buildings have mold or dampness problems. 

Mold doesn't just have a gross smell, it's actually making us sick. 

Allergic reactions to mold are common. Molds can also cause asthma attacks in people with asthma who are allergic to mold. It can also irritate eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs and depending on the type and how sensitive you are, breathing in mold spores can affect your mind and your body long term. 

In the worst cases, people who have compromised immune systems could get mold poisoning and struggle from chronic fatigue, cognitive issues, neurological symptoms and physical pain for years after a toxic mold exposure.  

My daughter is one of these people.

Several years ago she unknowingly lived in a mold infested condo. We actually couldn't see it or smell it, but my daughter got increasingly ill. Eventually we found that mold was growing underneath their tile floor when it started creating a black film across their floor. Disgusting black mold creates and releases volatile organic compounds(VOC's) mycotoxins and spores.They cause neuro-inflammation, mitochondrial damage and that looks like brain fog, you can't find your words, chronic fatigue, nerve tingling.  It can affect your eyes and throat, your lungs and skin.  Mold is awful really.  And it takes a long time to get rid of it once it's permeated your body.

What makes mold grow? 

According to Home Shield, a warranty company, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, the Carolina's and Tennessee  are listed in the top 10 states with moldy homes. But why is mold so prevalent in these places? Turns out, where we build and HOW we build our homes are huge contributing factors. 

• Moisture: As most of us know, mold multiplies in a damp environment. Indoor humidity increases the chances of mold growing. 
• Stagnant Air: Still air, creates a happy environment for mold to multiply. 
• Warmth: When the temperatures rise above just 70 degrees mold outbreaks are more likely.  
• A Food Source:  In order to multiply, mold needs something to eat.  One of its favorite foods is anything made of cellulose, think paper, cardboard and fabric. Our home's plaster and drywall are a perfect breeding ground. 

Today, there's one more thing adding to the growing mold-party. WiFi's, smart homes, smart speakers, appliances, vacuums, baby monitors, tablets and anything with a wireless connection can stimulate mold.

Can man-made electromagnetic fields actually fuel more mold?

Many mold and EMF websites talk about a video where Dr. Klinghardts shares how another scientist put mold samples under faraday material and then exposed the sample to a room with WiFi and other ambient wireless energy.  The story goes, that the mold microtoxins (Or Mycotoxins?) increased 600 times and became more virulent. Pretty wild! But some people debunk the idea purely based on the fact that the study wasn't published.

So I did a little deep dive to see if there was any legit research that made the EMF and mold connection. Here's what I found. 

What the research shows: EMF Triggered Increase in Mold's Enzyme and Spore Production.

The first study I want to chat with you about wanted to see if wireless EMF, just like the EMF from your WiFi, could increase the amount of enzymes mold made. 

The funny thing about this study, is that they were actually TRYING to increase the mold - rather than minimize it. They were trying to find ways to increase the enzymes that are used to ferment soy and rice so they could make production more efficient.  

Just 10 Minutes Of EMF Exposure Tripled Enzymes and Wildly Increased mRNA. (8x to be exact). 

But here's the thing, when Wireless EMF Radiation exposure increases enzymes, it also increases mycotoxins and VOC's - the stuff that leads to the smell of mold and the short termed long term physical symptoms. 

The sad fact is that where-ever that mold is, if exposure to electromagnetic fields ramps up enzyme production, so do microbial VOC gases and so do the heavier non-volatile microbes called mycotoxins.  I'm not a mold expert, but a paper on toxins says it's a fact that all fungus emit VOC's and mycotoxins and enzymes are involved making them.

If You Have Mold In Your Home (or are trying to avoid it) Be Mindful of The Man Made Wireless EMF.

EMF doesn't make mold.  But, EMF does increase mold's harm.

If you compare the digitally produced, laser focused EMF used in the study to the WiFi in your house, you'll see how it translates to potentially more mold. 

The good news is that most of the EMF you'll want to be mindul of in your home is coming from the WiFi-the BEST thing you can do is turn it off when you're not using it-especially when you sleep.

It would follow that if your WiFi was up against a wall that was trapping moisture inside- which is a common problem with the plaster walls in many homes and buildings today --then the EMF from that WiFi could trigger mold in that wall to become aggressive.  When your WiFi is on it's sending out Electromagnetic Radio Waves, constantly. That EMF can increase the spores, the mycotoxins and VOC's, making the nasty mold, even nastier. 

Your WiFi Is A Powerful Source of EMF

Did you know that our WiFi's can be up to 10 times more powerful than the ones allowed in Europe?  It's ridiculous and it's true, which is why we make a Low EMF WiFi.  People tell us it's all they need and they get about 90% less exposure.

The signal strength of the man made wireless EMF that they used in the lab was 10 milliwatts-but of course it was focused directly on the cells.  The typical US WiFi transmits at 100 to 250 milliwatts! That means that if it was right up against that mold would mean it was 25 times more powerful than the EMF exposure from the lab transmitter.

Distance Is Your Friend When It Comes to EMF

If you've been around Tech Wellness, you know my favorite saying is true.  It's the inverse square law and it means that you can get 99.9% less exposure if you move 20' away instead of sitting next to it.

Something happened inside the mold cells that we see happening in research on our cells.  They saw "the intracellular calcium(Ca²⁺) significantly elevated"

We've got an entire article that breaks down what some prominent scientists say happens to our cells when we're exposed to wireless EMF and they talk about voltage gated calcium channels and an increase in intracellular calcium.

Magnetic EMF Can Also Increase Mold Enzymes

Another study wanted to see if magnetic EMF could stimulate mold.  Again, this also had better manufacturing as the goal.  This time to make Citric Acid!

Utilizing its own internal enzymes Black Mold produces citric acid. In fact, 99% of all the manufactured citric acid in the world today is made from black mold or aspergillus niger. Citric acid that goes into our groceries and cleaners.  Before you get totally grossed out, know that after industrial manufacturers dump a bunch of sugar in a vat and add black mold to it, once it comes out as citric acid, the actual "mold" is filtered out and we're left with the purified version in the stuff we buy.  Of course there's a YouTube video of the whole thing... but the point of telling you all this is that a study was done to see if EMF could speed up the process of making citric acid. 

In this next study, scientists wanted to see if basic ELF- the kind of EMF that comes off of electric wiring- could be a non-chemical black mold accelerator.  When they blasted the mold with a 50Hz field, the EMF caused the internal enzymes in the mold to go into overdrive-they found a 60% increase in citric acid production.  They also looked at cellulase activity and that increased 30%. 

When it comes to mold and the electrical wiring in your home, the moisture in the wall breeding a budding mold growth likely would not be affected by the magnetic field.

In the study, the level was 1mT and was confined to the liquid cells in a flask. 

One More Study

Finally, on Joel Moskowitz's site another study from 2021, found that oscillating magnetic fields can increase airbone mold and fungus.  I'm sharing this because I like that I found the study on the SafeEMR page and that it was another paper that evaluated black mold strains.  When scientists exposed it to an oscillating 60 hz field (like in your home wiring) the mold generated and released its reproductive spores much more rapidly.

What you need to do to stop the increase in mold production in your home:

• Be mindful of where the WiFi is located in your home.  Keep it away from any plastered wall or a wall that has a gap of air inside of it. If you can, the garage is a better place for it! 
• Turn the WiFi off anytime you're not using it - at the very least while you're asleep.
• Check your home for smart devices. Anything for an unnecessary wifi or blue tooth. Especially something up against your walls like a Smart TV that can also have a very powerful WiFi inside of it too. Use a WiFi kill switch to Power It Off anytime the TV isn't on. (the WiFi doesn't turn off just because you press the power button on the remote!) 
• Swap out your Smart Meter for an analog version. Or decrease the EMF with a Smart Meter Cover. 
• Of course, mind the moisture in your home my friends.We know it's much more likely to be a problem wherever there's humidity. Use a dehumidifier and an air filter to clean the air and keep it moving.  Stephanie Kerst from Sage Living can offer healthy building materials to prevent moisture from getting into your environment in the first place.