Causes, damage, and how to avoid fungi with the use of paints.
By Rodrigo Infante Tirado*
Fungi not only disfigure the inner surfaces, but can affect the health of people, generating allergies and broncho-pulmonary diseases, especially the group of Immuno-deficient people, which is defined as children under 1 year, who are building their immunity; people over the age of 70, who are losing it; those who have transplanted organs, those who have or have had cancer, those with genetic diseases, and those dependent on drugs and alcohol.
Fungi are not vegetables and are prior to humans, for this reason they are very evolved, being able to remain thousands of years encapsulated if the conditions of habitability are not conducive to them.
The presence of gray fungi in the skies and upper parts of the interior walls of the houses, especially in the bathrooms and kitchens, correspond to the families Pullulans, Funiculosum, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and others; they will proliferate anyway if the conditions are favorable for their life; one of the ways to avoid them is by modifying the humidity conditions, and on the other hand we must do a periodic cleaning with the appropriate household products, especially when the colonies of fungi begin to be visible; daily ventilation in wet areas is very necessary, such as in bathrooms and kitchens, and especially in the shower, where the sky of it is the most affected by the permanent and periodic humidity that condenses on them. The non-ventilation and lack of cleanliness in the houses also generate fungi in the curtains, in the closets, and in any place where there is humidity and little light.
In very humid places there is an "azumagado" smell (Chilenismo), which is produced by the pestilent toxins generated by the fungi by their metabolism, which are sometimes perceived with other odors, such as putrefactins generated by the metabolism of bacteria, which are associated with them. Also this aroma is typified as the smell of "mold, cork, or wet cardboard", it may also be due to the reaction of some fungi with Anisoles and Halophenols, which are chemicals that may be involved in pesticides for agricultural use, and flame retardants in woods, which are sometimes responsible for alterations in the aromas of wines, which are called "corked", when they are manufactured in environments with the presence of fungi.
In Chile and Peru, water enamels of an acrylic nature are available, with powerful fungicides, which are bioavailable at the dry film level, which act as co-helpers to prevent the presence of fungi, which usually develop in humid indoor environments, and with little light, having some varieties of great climatic resistance due to their great evolution, since they were one of the first living beings that inhabited the planet.
During cold and rainy winters, or in humid cities these conditions can be increased by the steam generated by liquefied gas and paraffin heating, plus the washing and drying of clothes, and the cooking of food, which is made visible by non-ventilation, condensing on the glass and in the skies of bathrooms and kitchens, very favorable conditions for the growth of fungal colonies, especially in unventilated houses. As an example, the humidity generated inside a house of ± 70 m², where 4 people live, can produce during a cold and rainy winter, ± 9 kilos of water vapor daily.
Paints with fungicides do not kill fungi, nor do they replace the "no" ventilation and lack of periodic hygiene that must be in homes, in the sense that fungi must be removed periodically, rubbing the surface with a cloth moistened with household chlorine.
Ceramic coatings (tiles) have a smooth surface, high gloss, and with very little absorption, because of this they allow to have always clean surfaces, because the hyphae of the fungi can not adhere on them, however they can do it on the fragüe, in the case that they do not contain fungicides, and for this reason they are almost always in those areas; paints do not compete with tiles in this regard, and neither with the "no" ventilation and hygiene of dwellings, or poorly made ventilations, in the sense that the only way to do it well, as in bathrooms, is to open the window and door for 15 minutes every day, so that the air circulates mechanically, leaving for this reason the humidity of the interior; if we only open the window, and not the door, ventilation does not happen, although we think we do it right.
And in closed places, that is, without windows, such as blind bathrooms, so common in apartments, ventilation with extractors and mechanical cleaning, it becomes more necessary, in the sense that we must chemically and mechanically remove the fungi, scrubbing the surfaces with domestic chlorine, leaving it to act about 2 hours, to eliminate the colonies of fungi in their beginnings.
Condensation can be avoided by removing the source, which in some cases can be achieved with good ventilation, in others, by controlling gas or paraffin stoves, and in others, by thermally insulating the skies and roofs of homes. As an example, for each kilo of liquefied gas or paraffin that is burned in a stove (without gas outlet to the outside), ± 1.60 and ± 2.50 kilos of water vapor are generated respectively, and as the common people do not know, also believing that stoves dry the environment, they place kettles with water to moisten it. Paraffin, in addition to moistening the environments, contains traces of Sulfur, which when combustioned, generates Sulfur Dioxide, which on contact with air becomes Sulfuric Anhydride, which finally reacts with water vapor to generate Sulfuric Acid, which acidifies the air, which can cause discomfort and irritation in the respiratory tract.
Humidity
If the humidity cannot leave the room, it will condense anyway, starting with the coldest surfaces that are the glass of the windows and ceilings, and then continue to do so on the cold walls, which are those corresponding to the perimeters; for this reason this type of heating is called "wet", and "dry", which does not generate water vapor, such as stoves with gas outlet, the conduction of hot water by radiant earthenware, and heat exchangers (radiators) that are usually on the walls of the rooms.
Having water condensation in the skies of bathrooms and kitchens, little light, and poor ventilation, colonies of fungi will form anyway, because the spores of them are present everywhere; paints with fungicides are a good co-helper, they will delay or significantly decrease the presence of fungi, but they will not prevent them if the conditions are still continuously present, and do not replace the daily ventilation together with the weekly cleaning, which consists of removing all the gray stains, in areas of high humidity, where the presence of fungi is very possible. For this reason a good solution is ventilation and cleaning, plus the application of enamels to water with fungicides.
The water enamels have a smooth, satin and semi-gloss finish, and can be specified to be applied on Stucco, Concrete, Bricks, Fiber Cement, and Plaster Cardboard, not in wood, they also contain low VOC, whose objective is to reduce the amount of interior contaminants that generate bad irritating odors, and / or harmful products for the comfort and well-being of installers and occupants.
To apply the enamels to the water on areas with the presence of fungi, we must previously wash the surface to remove them, with domestic chlorine, leaving it to act for two hours, and then rinse very well to remove chlorine residues from the surface, and once dry and free of fungi, we can apply the paint.
Another source of fungi, can be adhesives and paper base for wallpapering, in this sense the base for wallpapering should be a high quality latex with fungicides, and adhesives too, otherwise they can be a culture medium for the development of fungi, which develop under the paper and emerge on it.
In 1922, Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, who died in 1366 BC, where his assistants died in Cairo a few months later, which originated the legend of the "curse of the pharaoh", which finally through a documentary of the National Geographic, reported that it was because they aspirated fungi during the work they did on the tomb.
In the newspaper La Nación of Chile, in 2010, they reported that the fungi would have been the cause of the death of the actress Brittany Murphy and her husband Simón Monjack.
Likewise, in the newspaper El Mercurio of Chile, of May 4, 2012, they reported that 22% of the houses say they have humidity problems, and for this reason the presence of fungi inside them.
In the newspaper La Tercera de Chile, on Sunday, June 4, 2017, an article entitled "Every year 325,000 Chileans suffer serious infections caused by Fungi" appears, causing special damage to immunodeficient people, being able to cause them in some cases until death.
* Rodrigo Infante Tirado holds a degree in Chemistry from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. You can write to the email: [email protected]
Hola, Lina. Muchas gracias por escribirnos. Sobre este tipo de recubrimiento, que se aplica en las estructuras de acero de las edificaciones y cuya función principal es retardar el efecto de las llamas en caso de incendio, toma más valor preparar la zona y limpiar la superficie para evitar la aparición de cualquier hongo y de esa manera proteger la integridad del recubrimiento y garantizar la efectividad de sus propiedades. Un buen resto de semana.
¿Los mismos princios expuestos aplica para este tipo de pinturas y sobre estructura mertalica ?
Este hongo me puede generar problemas sobre la integridad del recubrimiento o solo es un tema estetico y/o ascepcia?