Mold?!

Don't panic. This is common. It's most likely not black mold. Black mold is very rare and the restoration companies put the fear of life in everyone 10+ years ago. I own a professional carpet cleaning company, and we also clean air ducts. We see this alot. It's condemnsation from your a/c dripping to the vents, it collects and gather's there, and simply grows mold. Kind of like a shower. Take the vent off, clean it with bleach water, if you look inside your vent and see growth or dirt, have may want to have them professionally cleaned (you can't just do one - you have to have them all done). You should only have to do this maybe once every 3-5 years. You may want to consider calling your a/c company if the mold reappears within a short amount of time. No, you really don't want mold blowing into your home. But I highly doubt it's black mold. If you are worried about it, there are kits you can buy online to test for it.

HI L.,
I see you have already gotten some good advice. I just might add that you can check out Airsource at http://www.shaklee.net/healthforlife. It is an air purifier that would help rid your home of the mold you can't get to and prevent this from happening.
Good luck!
Victoria

This is common and something that you should be able to clean yourself depending upon how far it goes into the A/C duct. This also means you are not getting enough moisture out of your bathroom. If you have a bathroom window, I recommended you crack that open.

Also, black mold is far more common than the other poster suggested. I know from first hand experience having been made extremely ill myself as well as my children for a very small amount of mold in our home due to water damage (a very small roof leak) and a leak in the bathroom. So, you are very right to be concerned. 2/3of the buildings in Texas have water damage. I do agree there are unscrupulous remediation companies that will charge you a fortune, BUT if the remediation is not done correctly it can result in making the problem far worse, due to the toxins released during the remediation. That's what made me so very, very sick. Also, one of the reasons there is so much controversy about this is that how sick you get and whether you are impacted depends upon your genes.

There are actually 3 health problems associated with mold: 1) allergies to the mold itself - the mold in your bathroom can contribute to this problem 2) many molds produce mycotoxins - they damage the brain and immune system - you CAN have mycotoxin producing molds in your home from ANY water leaks that are not properly cleaned in 24 hours - mold LOVES to grow on wallboard/wallpaper and between walls. 3) systemic fungal infections from inhaling the mold spores - aspergillus is a very, very common one that causes this problem - I had aspergillus in the bathroom where we had a water leak.

Sorry to get on my soapbox, but I wanted to make sure everyone has the full information - there are two sides to the mold issue and one of the reasons folks are not so aware is that the insurance companies don't want to pay for the damage to homes NOR for the healthcare costs for those who are made ill. The same law firm that worked for the tobacco companies back in previous decades are now working for the defense in cases related to mold damage and illness. An excellent website on the impact of mold and health is www.biotoxin.info (this is the doctor that helped get myself and family well). There's info on the genes on this website, as well.

So, I don't think you can ever be too conscientious about being concerned about mold in your home or water damage - the concept of small amount does not apply to some people.

We had our A/C unit leak at one time and it caused water to leak through a vent. We didn't use the room and didn't pay much attention. Anyway one day I walk in the room and I see black mold on the vent. I called my a/c guy and he came over to check it out. He told me it was caused byt the leak so he removed the duct and replaced it all for $75. We cleaned the ceiling with bleach and water and repainted. It has been fine so hopefully that is all you will have to do. Bathrooms tend to get steamy water probably just started collecting on the vent and now mold has grown have it all replaced.

We had all our vents and AC unit deep cleaned from
http://www.iaq-solutions.com/

Great Great Great service. David was the one we worked with....very pleased. He will explain how his service is different that the places that just vacuum out the vents...