Expert Issues Serious Warning On Why You Should Stop Drying Your Clothes Indoors
Ticking off laundry from your checklist of dull chores provides a subtle sense of achievement. But it is more important to do it right than merely be done with it. Washed clothes are often hung out in gardens for natural air drying– a sustainable and energy-saving option. While dryers are now available, not all homes can afford them. Following the age-old drying technique, countless homes across the globe depend on the natural environment to get their laundry sorted. However, bad weather or monsoon months can become a significant challenge that forces people to dry their clothes on racks indoors– a practice associated with poor health, per The Conversation.
Mold is the biggest threat to drying wet clothes in poorly ventilated homes. In extreme cases, mold growing inside homes can be fatal. Besides the latent effects, molds are visibly apparent, forming black or green colored patches on walls and imparting a musty smell. Humans are constantly exposed to spores released from the mold, which is a term for a group of fungi that reproduce with microscopic spores when the conditions are ideal for growth. Penicillium and Aspergillus are some of the fungi that commonly form molds.
Cooler temperatures with high humidity, for instance, in bathroom ceilings and damp walls, facilitate the growth of mold due to the presence of water for the spores to grow. According to a study, humans regularly inhale minute amounts of spores from these fungi that are tackled by our immune system. Fundamentally, a type of immune cells called macrophages fight these foreign particles when inhaled into the lungs. They are present in the alveoli of the lungs that engulf all harmful substances in the air spaces.
However, prolonged exposure to fungal spores can lead to an array of health issues, causing infections or detriment to asthmatic patients. People with weaker immune systems or pre-existing diseases may experience worse symptoms due to fungal spores. Rebecca A. Drummond, an associate professor of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the University of Birmingham, explained in an IFL Science report the mechanism of drug resistance that has made treatment of fungal infections increasingly difficult. Drugs like azoles are used to treat Aspergillus infections but the resistance rates over time have limited the treatment options available.
While drug resistance may be caused when a patient takes the medicines for extended periods, a 2022 research study published in Nature disclosed that actual resistance is developing in the natural environment as the fungi rapidly alter their metabolism to fight the anti-fungal effects of the drug. Rising temperatures as a result of climate change are also a driving factor in drug resistance of environmental fungi. The underlying threat of fungal spores can be understood when exposed in large amounts, leading to death in rare cases. In some cases, the immune system may overreact to triggers by spores causing lung inflammation and other allergic responses.
Preventive measures are pivotal to avert the growth of fungal growth and promote a healthy home environment. This may be achieved through the use of dehumidifiers or heated clothes racks to dry clothes inside homes during winter. A toddler, Awaab Ishak passed away due to high exposure to fungal spores from unrestrained damp and mold in his home in 2020. The UK government was forced to enforce new laws that necessitated landlords to resolve mold issues in damp homes with prompt actions.