Ridden with mould, dust and mildew, an air conditioner’s (AVAC) filter can be a shocking sight — but what goes on inside the unit can be worse still, according to Mohamed Hamza of Power Savers, a three-year-old company whose services include cleaning AVAC systems.And while mould is unattractive to look at, with its associated health and power efficiency issues, there is much more to it than that.Mr Hamza explained: “Most mould symptoms are caused by mould allergies. When you breathe in mould spores your immune system responds by creating allergic reactions. These reactions are the immune system's defence against foreign particles entering the body. The more a person is around mould the more sensitive to it they will become. This means that they can end up unable to tolerate being around even small amounts of mould. Their allergic reactions will also become more and more severe,” he explained.“If you have mould in your home, your first priority should be to get rid of it. By removing mould and its spores from your environment you will no longer be breathing in mould allergens — the cause of your allergic reactions — and you will quickly get better.“Even if there is no longer visible mould in your home, a build-up of mould spores in air-conditioning systems can still cause allergic symptoms and can also lead to new mould growth elsewhere in the home.”He explained that in addition to the health benefits of running a clean air conditioning system, it also improves the efficiency of the unit.“The removal of mould and the material that blocks the coil and fan means your air-conditioning system functions considerably more efficiently,” he said.“In some extreme contamination cases we have observed the client running their unit full blast all day to drop the temperature just a few degrees, and after cleaning it properly, they get the same cooling in a matter of minutes.“Mould is often overlooked by individuals because the contaminants are out of direct sight inside the system. In some cases our calls come in when actual clumps of mould ended up being spat out on the client’s kitchen table!“If the fan and coil are inundated by mould it will gravely effect operational efficiencies. We have no hard data but the connection between indoor air quality and operational efficiencies is directly linked.”As for the impact of mould on a person’s health, he said: “Most Bermudians do not know about their systems harbouring this health issue with many institutions and schools being quite infested — it seems that ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is par for the course. I have had meetings with the Health Department and there is no legislation in place to protect workers and students from this danger, and mandatory air quality checks are not made in relation to this problem.“It would stand to reason that an awareness campaign would legitimise this issue, hence I am highlighting this service we provide so that as many people can benefit from it as possible, especially as it is coming into the summer months when most air conditioning systems are running frequently.”Mr Hamza explained the problem is far reaching. “There are about 16 mould species which are toxic to humans, all of which are present in Bermuda. These moulds put out highly toxic chemicals called mycotoxins. Mycotoxins cause toxic symptoms which are much worse than the allergic symptoms caused by ordinary moulds. Some of the symptoms caused by toxic moulds include bleeding, damage to internal organs, mental impairment, cancer and even death in some cases.”He pointed to three mould species that can opportunistically infect people — Trichoderma, Penicillium marneffei and Aspergillus fumigates.He added that sometimes mould spores that a person breaths into their lungs will begin to grow inside them. “Mold infections like this can also grow in the sinuses, skin or the digestive system. These mould infections usually don't occur in healthy people,” he said.“But elderly people or the young, and those who are sick with compromised or suppressed immune systems can suffer these infections, since their immune systems might not be strong enough to fight off the mould.“Prolonged exposure to mould, say every night from an air conditioner in your bedroom, will eventually attack even a healthy person, eventually compromising their immune system and leading to a reaction by the body.”Avoiding exposure to mould is the best answer to the problem. “While there are medications and shots which you can take to treat mould allergies, the best response is to avoid exposure to mould and mould spores as much as possible,” he said.Cleaning mould infested air conditioners for Power Savers are technicians whose job is to strip clean the systems and remove all visible contamination from the filters, evaporator coils, the condensation drain pan, louvre and return air vent.“We have a team of three individuals including myself,” said Mr Hamza. “I take care of business strategy management; our other staff members include a qualified HVAC technician and assistant.Pricing for Power Savers’ deep cleaning service is base priced at $120 per unit. “This involves deconstructing the indoor wall unit that blows the cold air. We then remove the mould and mildew and bacterial contaminants from all the components using a hypoallergenic cleaning solution, we reconstruct and also commission the system or systems. This solution inhibits the mould from growing back rapidly, thus we recommend the service every two years at the minimum.“The price can change depending on unit size location and level of contamination,” he said.