Melting snow delivers lawn, health headaches

Last updated 3/20/2019 at Noon

T. Lee Brown

Delicate webbing ensnares organic matter as snow melts.

As long-term snow melts, an intricate web creeps across Sisters and our surrounding forest. It looks like filaments of cobweb or tufts of dog hair, etched across lawns, leaves, and pine needles.

For some, it’s a lawn maintenance nuisance. For others, it’s a source of misery: snow mold.

“Often times people will think, ‘I get a cold every spring.’ It is actually more their allergies,” Dr. Stephanie Fox told CBS News. The Minnesota-based allergy and asthma clinician said it’s possible to develop allergies even if you’ve never had them before.

Snow mold causes typical respiratory symptoms like sniffing, sneezing, throat-clearing, and runny nose, according to Lilly Byrtus of the Allergy Asthma Information Association.

“Some people will get itchy, watery eyes or ears, or a sore throat. Then it goes into the lower respiratory system and causes wheezing or asthma.”

Indoor molds are commonly linked to asthma and other problems. Many people don’t realize that outdoor molds can also cause hay fever. Some doctors say they can trigger headaches, deep fatigue, even depression.

If you develop sensitivities or allergies to mold, there are practices to help reduce exposure (see story, page 7).

Snow mold’s filaments are called mycelia — the vegetative part of a fungus.

“We often see mycelia that resemble spider web on plants just after snowmelt,” Japanese researcher Naoyuki Matsumoto, Ph.D., told The Nugget.

When Matsumoto talks about “snow mold,” he means fungal diseases (pathogens) that kill plants under snow. He said the gray stuff we call snow mold might just be an innocent saphrophyte, doing the important work of consuming dead plant matter.

“Snow cover creates a unique habitat with constant low temperatures, darkness and high moisture,” Matsumoto said. “Snow cover acts as an insulator and protects plants from freezing, but plants deteriorate in the darkness, consuming reserve materials through respiration.”

This opens the door to various fungi. Local observations suggest our gray snow mold tends to appear in late winter or spring, after a deep snow that sticks around a while.

“Prolonged snow cover is essential for most snow molds; in areas like Hokkaido, Japan, snow cover lasts for four months or more,” Matsumoto said. “However, gray snow mold fungus can readily attack plants such as bent-grass soon after the occurrence of snow cover.”

Folks often remark that the air smells crisp and clean when it’s snowing out. Later, some notice a stale or acrid smell as the streets turn to slush. Is that smell related to snow mold?

It’s possible. Humans sense smells by perceiving chemicals in the air, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Recent research at McGill University showed that snow takes up air pollution and changes its tiniest particles, many of which are carcinogenic.

Once in the snowpack, they undergo chemical transformations, creating a new array of toxic nanoparticles. Some volatilize back into the air; others are “released” with meltwater.

Science Daily reported, “Unexpectedly, colder temperatures and interaction with snow increased the relative presence of smaller nanoparticles in the polluted air above the snow.” Such VOCs could indeed cause an unpleasant smell — and cancer.

Matsumoto said he didn’t know whether snow molds emit or decompose VOCs, but he suspects “their involvement under natural conditions. I think no one has ever worked on the decomposition of chemicals by snow mold fungi.”

As local lawn maintainers and golf course owners know, snow mold can kill plants. Matsumoto recommends “resistance breeding of crops and cultural practices to improve winter hardiness of plants. This is the most practical method.”

Fungicide can also be effective, but costly annual applications add up. Fungi also build immunity — similar to how “superbugs” became resistant to medicines after humans overused antibiotics in healthcare and in animal feed.

“One should always be aware of environmental concerns” using fungicides, Matsumoto added. Fungicides are linked to health problems in humans and animals, notably bees.

Molds are commonly used for industrial production. For example, the food preservative citric acid is no longer squeezed from lemons.

Vats of the black mold Aspergillus niger are fed sugar and corn syrup; the results are processed using sulfuric acid.

So far, there’s no similar gold to be found in mining snow mold.

“Some of snow mold fungi have antifreeze protein which enables them to survive extreme low temperatures,” Matsumoto explained. But commercial producers would rather cultivate a mushroom that contains the same protein.

Research on snow mold is limited. What brought Dr. Matsumoto to the study?

“We had a serious outbreak of snow mold on forage crops in the spring 1975 when I was assigned to Hokkaido National Agricultural Research Center, Sapporo,” Matsumoto said.

Dr. Takao Araki assigned the subject to him, and Matsumoto went on to become one of the world’s few experts on snow mold.

Sniffling, sneezing & allergies: help for snowmelt season

Sniffles and sneezes, coughs and headaches. Do you have a cold — or is your body reacting to the environment?

Snow mold, which grows and blooms during snowmelt, can ratchet up allergies.

Experts don’t always agree on how to handle mold illness and allergy. Still, a few sensible suggestions can go a long way.

Chemical Warfare

Julie Rehmeyer is an expert on mold-related health issues. Author of the intriguing, thoughtful memoir “Through the Shadowlands: A Science Writer’s Odyssey into an Illness Science Doesn’t Understand” (Rodale, 2017), Rehmeyer suffers from severe mold sensitivity.

Mold exposure can paralyze her in seconds flat.

She offered tips for Nugget readers to keep outdoor molds out of the home. “Shower and change your clothes as soon as you get home,” she said.

This applies to everyone in the household.

“Leave shoes outside. These molds can easily spread from your clothes or hair onto your bedding, furniture, etc., so getting rid of them right away makes a huge difference.

“I learned these methods from a guy named Erik Johnson, who applied the techniques he’d learned in the Army for dealing with chemical warfare!”

Safe Room

Rather than protecting their entire house, some folks create a sleep sanctuary — one safe room, cleaned frequently with a sealed HEPA™ vacuum such as a Miele. No one enters with pollen or mold on their clothes or hair.

To Rake Or Not To Rake?

“We should not be touching it with our bare hands, for sure,” said Lilly Byrtus of snow mold on Canadian news. Byrtus is a regional coordinator of the Allergy Asthma Information Association.

If snow is piled up around your yard, allergy expert Dr. Stephanie Fox recommends spreading it around with a shovel or rake so it will melt faster.

Byrtus has a different take.

“It’s kind of a Catch-22, whether it’s better to rake it and spread it out, or let it run its course,” she said. “If we rake it, it becomes airborne. That [raking] should certainly not be done by the person that is sensitive to mold.

“Usually we say just leave it alone,” Byrtus concluded.

Shuttered & Filtered

Rising humidity encourages mold spores to proliferate, Dr. Purvi Parikh of Allergy and Asthma Associates in New York told CNBC.

Dry winter air discourages molds from “blooming.” When the air grows warm and moist — such as when snow melts — molds come back to life.

That’s when they’re most likely to send spores, hyphae fragments, and other allergens into the air. It’s tempting to open a window when we see the sun out, but that can invite humidity and spores inside.

“For indoor mold issues, effective air purifiers like HEPA can help remove mold spores from the air,” said Parikh.

Not all HEPA systems are created equal. BlueAir and Austin are reliable brands; use with brand-name replacement filters.

Rehmeyer notes that when outdoor air is bad, indoor air may be even worse.

“Off-gassing of materials, cooking, breathing, etc., can quickly make your indoor air as bad as Beijing,” she said. “Ordinarily, opening windows is a good solution — but if there’s mold in the outdoor air, that won’t work.”

Rehmeyer is partial to PCO technology for filtering mold.

“Particular brands that are well-regarded are Vornado and Molekule,” she said. “Whole-house filtration is also an option — heat recovery ventilators filter outdoor air, allowing for plenty of fresh air while not admitting outdoor molds.”

Wash With Care

Laundry duties can get intense when someone in the household develops allergies. Whether pollen or outdoor mold is the culprit, clothes and hats require frequent cleaning.

“Be careful about your washing machine,” Rehmeyer urged. “Modern washers easily develop mold problems, so run them on their self-clean cycle frequently to avoid this. Clean the gasket with vinegar and baking soda — and enjoy the volcanic bubbles!”

See A Professional

Parikh noted that because of climate change, more people are experiencing more allergies. Treatment and research are changing, too.

“If your allergies get really bad,” she said, “There are appropriate medications people can take to alleviate the symptoms.”

While popping a Benadryl may help some people with short-term reactions, others need a deeper approach. Prescription medications like leukocyte inhibitors may be required. Allergy clinics offer testing, treatment, and patient education.

Sinus pain and stuffiness may subside after strain-counterstrain techniques, like those performed by Marlene Dumas at Green Ridge Physical Therapy. Some allergy sufferers also find relief with acupuncture.

Patients may develop allergies and sensitivities in tandem with fatigue, migraine, mood, or neurological issues.

For them, a holistic approach may be worthwhile. Oregon has a wealth of well-educated naturopathic doctors and functional medicine practitioners, such as Kim Hapke, N.D. of Sisters and Dr. Eric Mallory of Pure Health Natural Medicine in Bend.