Sydney woman’s decade-long mould battle reveals threat to every home

Winter is turning bedrooms, bathrooms and even wardrobes into mould hotspots, with one resident’s more than decade-long battle revealing why no home is safe. Ale Lasas is a Maroubra local and mental health and wellbeing advocate with first-hand experience managing the challenges of Sydney’s humidity and mould. “I arrived in Australia in May, 2012, and I was living in a shared house that had moisture issues and a water leak and after days of heavy rain one of the mattresses became wet, it was left out in the sun to dry but the moisture remained inside and because the house did not have good ventilation mould started to develop,” she said. Ms Lasas said the odour from the mould began causing her health concerns. “It started with allergy symptoms, then ongoing sinus problems, which eventually became chronic,” she said. “Since then, I have lived in different homes, including newer and older apartments, places close to the beach and others much further away and I do not believe it is simply about living near the ocean or in particular sport. “I have learned that is much more about the internal home itself, whether it has good ventilation, enough natural light, how much moisture builds u...