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Mold of the Week: Cladosporium

Writer's picture: Millines HermanMillines Herman

Colony Description:

  • Colonies appear powdery to woolly, greyish-green to olivaaceous-green in colour.


Spore (Conidia) Description:

  • Dark-pigmented forming simple or branching chains.


Habitat outdoors:

  • Soil, plant litter, leaf surfaces or decaying plants. Hence, sampling the air after heavy rains results in elevated spore counts of Cladosporium.


Habitat Indoors:

  • In Saint Lucia, mainly isolated from air conditioning systems: blower wheels, supply registers and surfaces due to condensation.

  • On concrete surfaces due to extremely high relative humidity and condensation.

  • Also isolated on ceiling tiles, air conditioning conduits, window sills and water saturated materials.


Potential Health Effects:


Common and important allergen.

  • Type I allergies (hay fever, asthma).

  • Type III hypersensitivity pneumonitis: Hot tub lung, Mouldy wall hypersensitivity.


Microscopic view of cladosporium spores


Pictures of areas where Cladosporium has been isolated in the Caribbean

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