Mold has been around as long as man and probably, much much longer. While today we can count on science and technology to help us understand the dangers of mold and how to get rid of it, mold removal has been around for thousands of years.
In Leviticus, the Lord gives specific instructions to Aaron and Moses on what to do if mold or mildew is found in a home. From these passages, we can see that even back then, people were aware of the dangers toxic mold posed to our health. The advice given by the Lord has not changed much since then.
“When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in that land, the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like mildew in my house.’ The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean.”
Like many families have been forced to do today, the Lord advises people with mold to evacuate their home. A priest here acts as the mold inspector to verify that mold exists.
“After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. He is to examine the mildew on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.”
Since obviously they didn’t have the sophisticated mold testing techniques we do today, the priest uses a visual inspection to determine there’s mold. In particular, he is looking for green or red mold. This color of mold is usually toxic. If the mold is found, the priest seals off the house so others cannot enter and become infected.
“On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls, he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.”
The mold doesn’t go away on its own within the seven days, so the priest orders that all moldy material be removed. This is the goal of mold remediation, to not just kill the mold, but to remove it. The priest is also careful to dispose of the moldy materials properly by dumping them in an unclean place outside of town so they will not affect other homes.
“If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean. It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.”
The priest did a post-removal inspection to verify that the mold didn’t come back. If it did, then the priest orders that the house be demolished. Even today, moldy homes are evacuated, demolished, and disposed of when toxic mold cannot be totally removed.
“Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening. Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash his clothes.”
The Lord warns that anyone who sleeps in a moldy home will be sick, even though their symptoms will probably last longer than evening if they stay in the moldy environment. It is not recommended to wash moldy clothes because water will cause the mold to grow.
“But if the priest comes to examine it and the mildew has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone. To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”
This post remediation effort would be archaic by today’s standards. To keep mold from returning some mold companies have products that makes mold unable to regrow on surfaces.
The Bible instructs that mold should be removed by getting rid of the moldy material, or in extreme cases, demolishing the home itself. Today, we have mold removal products that eliminate mold, allowing us to preserve our homes and salvage much of our mold-infected materials. Enzyme-based mold remediation products seek out and break down only mold, which requires only minimal deconstruction.
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