Do you believe human hair is able to grow mold?

Question

When answering please include your name. this will only be used in a research paper for school purposes. also tell why and any FACTS that you have.

Answer 1

No, mold cannot grow on human hair because of the sebum produced in the scalp. This oil is bacteriocidal and fungicidal. In the answer above, dandruff is not a fungus. Dandruff is a mixture of sebum and dead, keratinized skin cells that have clumped together. So, my answer is no. But other animals have been known to grow mold on their hair. Such as the three-toed sloth. Oh, and by the way my name is Chris.

Answer 2

If it is in a moist area for a while. If a lot of bacteria/ fungi begin to grow upon it. That would be a really interesting science fair experiment, though not a really pleasant one...

here's some stuff from wikipedia-

Molds (or moulds, see spelling differences) include all species of microscopic fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments, called hyphae.[1] In contrast, microscopic fungi that grow as single cells are called yeasts. Molds do not form a specific taxonomic or phylogenetic grouping, but can be found in the divisions Zygomycota, Deuteromycota and Ascomycota. Although some molds cause disease or food spoilage, others are useful for their role in biodegradation or in the production of various foods, beverages, antibiotics and enzymes.

you can go and search on google or research for more info-

I wish you luck on your school paper!

Answer 3

My first thought was no, as the hair is just strands of coiled protein. Not a very friendly environment (dandruff is fungi that lives off dead skin). It is one of the things that seems to be destroyed last in a corpse. But it seems I underestimated the pugnaciousness of fungi. There is at least one fungi that can grow on hair.

From the page linked:
"Piedra refers to colonization of the hair shaft that results in firm, irregular nodules. If the nodule is dark, the infection is Black Piedra and is due to Piedraia hortae. These nodules will be firmly adherent to the shaft and cannot be readily detached. The nodule is the ascomycete fruiting body of the fungus, know as an ascostroma. If the nodule is white, the infection is White Piedra and is due to Trichosporon beigelii. These nodules are a loose aggregate of hyphae and arthroconidia. They are easily detached from the hair shaft by rubbing along its length."

You could also do experiments with lockets of clean hair in petri dishes to see if you can get them to grow mold. You will need a microscope and the tricky part will be differentiating between molds that consume the hair and those that merely live ON the hair.

Answer 4

Hi,

Try this,

Take a couple of pieces of your hair, and rub them in flour. Put them in a small jar, like a baby food jar with Hot Water and place them on the window sill or right under a light. After about 2 days put them in a warm place in the dark. Look at the hair and you will have an answer in about a week. Good Luck.

Answer 5

Yes. My cousin put her hair in one of those hair wraps that you get done in the Bahamas(the wrap bright string around your hair in small sections.) She would wash it and dry it like her normal hair. After a week or so, she took it down and there was a funny smell to it. It had started to mold. I believe this would be the only way this could happen with the hair still attached to your head though. Hair normally dries too fast. my name is Lilly