With the heat wave this week, I decided to go around my office and check all of the air conditioning units. I wanted to make sure they were working and that they were on. I work in a pretty small office. There are only 5 of us and there are 5 air conditioners. We don't use all of them but I decided to turn them all on since it takes a while for the whole office to cool down.
I noticed something in the AC unit closest to my desk. At first it looked like clumps of dust. I looked closer to see that the entirety of the inside of the AC was coated in clumps of a dark grey fungus. The metal grate on the inside, the part of the unit that spins, and even the plastic exterior had so much fungus caked to it that I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. I started researching mold in AC units and found out that it is common for this to happen. One of the early warning signs is a dirty sock smell. Then I realized I have been complaining about all of the AC units smelling like a mixture of vinegar and unwashed feet since I first got hired. I first noticed that smell in May of 2022, which is when I moved into this office.
I learned that I have been sitting in front of an AC unit for over a year and breathing in mold spores every day. I have noticed that my allergies are unusually bad when I'm at work and I've assumed that there was likely something triggering my allergies, but I always ignored it. I don't know why I never looked into this earlier. I should have. I have asthma and I noticed my asthma has been slightly worse over the past year.
I don't even want to go into my office anymore. I unfortunately do not have a work-from-home option because my boss believes in a “strong workplace/office environment.” I have to keep going into work but I feel gross when I'm there now. My boss doesn't seem too concerned. He said if I want to then I can contact the maintenance for my building (we rent an office space) and have them look into it. I know what they will likely do. They will probably clean the AC units a little bit and call it a day. However, these AC units are so far gone that the mold will quickly grow back. The owners of the building would have to replace all of them and I doubt they will do that. I'm sure they will find every excuse to not do that.
I haven't thought all of this through yet, so I'm asking for advice. I am going to ask HR for a laptop so I can work from home. I'm at the point where I don't care what my boss wants. I want the option to work from home when I need to, especially when the weather gets bad this winter. I will contact the people who own our building, and if they decide not to do anything, then I suppose I will contact OSHA but I'm not really sure how to go about doing that. I need some advice on what power I have right now. I'm horrified that I have been exposed to this for over a year and I want to limit my exposure now that I'm finally aware of it.
Some things to note: I found the mold today (August 21, 2023)
I have worked at this office since May of 2022. I have always noticed a dirty sock smell from the AC units.
I was already considering looking for another job, and this is pushing me closer to leaving.
I sit right in front of an AC. Do I need to worry about long-term health effects?
My main allergies when I go in to work are uncontrollable sneezing and constantly having to blow my nose.
TLDR: I found mold in our AC units at work. A lot of it. What do I need to do to get this taken care of?