All mould is fungus. If left long enough you will see them develop the characteristic mushroom appearance. Moulds float in the air as spores. As spores they are microscopic about two microns in size. The average human hair is 100-120 microns. Mould spores only settle and develop when they find favourable conditions for growth.

?When you see a black speck that?s a colony,? said Paul Gressin, an environmental cleaning expert, who was in Bermuda to help with the CedarBridge clean up. ?Eventually it looks like a rosette and can form a sheet of black velvet. When I see that I know that the mould has been there long term, probably years,? he said.

Mould is closely associated with allergies. In Bermuda asthmatics are often affected. These types are called allergenic and pose no long-term effect in people. In fact there is a misconception that mould causes asthma. It does not rather it triggers asthma in many people.

There are also pathogenic and mycotoxic moulds. Pathogenic moulds like aspergillus, are opportunistic and only affect people who have a sensitive or weakened immune system.

Mycotoxic moulds, as their name suggests, are toxic. They release poisonous enzymes to ingest their food. Environmental cleaning specialists should be called in to test and remove if there is any suspicion that mycotoxic moulds are growing in your home.