One of the most common is Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens), which looks like mold, but is actually bacteria. Ranging from pink to pinkish-orange or orange, it most often forms on damp bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room surfaces where it can feed on the fat and phosphorus in soap scum.
Pink mold is particularly dangerous if it makes its way into open wounds. Unfortunately, the chance of that can be relatively high if you're taking a shower after suffering from a recent injury and have an open wound. If pink mold develops in your kitchen, it can also get into your food and lead to food poisoning.
The most common cause of this pink "stuff" is a red or pink pigmented bacteria known as Serratia marcescens. Serratia bacteria are common inhabitants of our environment and can be found in many places, including human and animal feces, dust, soil, and in surface waters.
What Is the Pink Mold in Your Shower? The “pink mold” creating slimy buildup in your bathroom is not actually mold at all: it's a bacteria. The two most common bacteria causing pink shower mold are called Serratia marcescens and Aureobasidium pullulans.
The best product to use is bleach. Bleach can kill pink mold bacteria, and also tackle any stains it leaves behind. This solution will work on most common surfaces, like baths, faucets, and bathroom tiles.
Touching it while you're showering or cleaning won't cause any problems (in rare cases it can cause infections through open wounds or the eye).
Additionally, leftover shampoo and soap is basically food for pink mold, so remove the residue once you get out of the shower. Pink mold also loves broken and leaky pipes; there's nothing better for mold growth than stale air and stagnant water. Thus, it's essential to check for broken pipes from time to time.
While many people believe the stains to be a sign of poor-quality or overly metallic hard water, most likely it is a bacteria known as Serratia Marcescens.
In humans, S. marcescens can cause an opportunistic infection in several sites, including the urinary tract, respiratory tract, wounds, breasts, and the eye, where it may cause conjunctivitis, keratitis, endophthalmitis, and tear duct infections.
Stachybotrys chartarum is the infamous toxic black mold. It often appears as black or greenish-black in color and can be found growing in leaky areas, old decaying wood, paper, and foods.
Use 1.5 cups of bleach in 1 gallon of water (around 1 part bleach to 10 parts water). Other options for killing mold are 1 cup of borax (sodium borate) in 1 gallon of water, undiluted vinegar, or 3 percent hydrogen peroxide. Use these cleaners separately to avoid dangerous chemical reactions.
Because The Pink Stuff is more abrasive than some household cleaners, avoid stainless steel kitchen appliances, plated metals, enamel, finished flooring and glass.
Molds often grow on produce, baked goods, leftovers and dairy products. Mold spores will travel from one food item to another and can live on surfaces of the refrigerator. Mold needs moisture, air, and prefers warm temperatures. Foods which are kept past the recommended storage times are receptive to mold.
It may not be as toxic as black mold, but pink mold has been linked to urinary tract infections, wound infections and gastrointestinal distress. It can also cause various ailments such as lung infection, rashes, allergy, and inflammation, bleeding in lungs, malaise feeling, and other respiratory troubles.
Pink residue is generally not a problem with water quality. In fact, pink residue is likely a result of airborne bacteria which produce a pinkish or dark gray film on regularly moist surfaces. Such surfaces include toilet bowls, shower heads, sink drains, and tiles.
Visually, it may be greenish-black, grayish-black, slimy, or more furry than other forms of mold or mildew. If you try to clean it with a heavy-duty cleaner, you might find that it remains on the surface and doesn't completely wipe away.
marcescens has been shown to cause a wide range of infectious diseases, including urinary, respiratory, and biliary tract infections, peritonitis, wound infections, and intravenous catheter-related infections, which can also lead to life-threatening bacteremia.
Serratia infections should be treated with an aminoglycoside plus an antipseudomonal beta-lactam, as the single use of a beta-lactam can select for resistant strains. Most strains are susceptible to amikacin, but reports indicate increasing resistance to gentamicin and tobramycin.
Suit up and use baking soda to scrub the biofilm off of hard bathroom surfaces. The stubborn biofilm of Serratia marcescens can only be removed through agitation and elbow grease. Start by mixing up a slightly runny paste consisting of ¼ cup baking soda and 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap in a small bowl.
As gross as it sounds, the bacterial species that causes pink mold was most likely brought about through bodily fluids such as urine, pus from infected wounds, or feces. When the bacteria is able to latch onto surfaces through these bodily wastes, they can multiply and grow their colonies.
As a rule of thumb, cleaning expert Karina Toner suggests that you deep clean a shower once every month (or two if the space is not used frequently). 'Regular wipe-downs may not be enough especially for hard-to-reach areas like grout lines and tight corners.
Odds are, the issue is coming from bacteria and mold that keeps building up. This stuff thrives in moist and warm environments, and unfortunately, toilet bowls often function as the perfect breeding ground. Serratia marcescens bacteria feeds on organic matter and ends up producing those pink pigments as a by-product.
Make a paste of four parts baking soda to one part liquid dish soap. Use your nylon scrub brush and the baking soda paste to scrub the areas with mold. Rinse away the baking soda residue and mold with your shower sprayer. Mix one part water and one part white vinegar in a spray bottle.
Air can hold moisture - the warmer the air, the most moisture it can hold. If moist air is cooled by contact with cold surfaces, such as walls, windows or mirrors, the moisture condenses into water droplets (known as condensation). Mould often occurs because of condensation.
They grow best in damp environments and are often found on wet walls or ceilings where moisture collects. Pink molds typically have a fuzzy texture and produce spores which give off a musty odor.