Resolved Question

Today I went into a house that I am going to clean up, it has been sitting empty for some time, a possible leak in the roof, and a whitish dust over everything. I really didn't think it was mold, but then started feeling a little sick...my son's asthma which he hasn't had trouble with in years, made a slight comeback after we left.

Do you think it is mold? How sick could we get from a 10-15 minute exposure?

It was mold. A house, unoccupied, with moisture present will allow the mold to grow. You can actually have respiratory distress from mold bacteria. Since it is bacterial, antibiotics can take care of it. Remember, the mold spores were also in the air. They attached to your clothes. Your clothes cam in contact with your car seats, so the spores are there also.

Washing the clothes will take care of them. The car can be left in bright sunlight with the windows slightly cracked to create as much heat as possible, which should kill the spores. However, you should then vacuum the car thoroughly. If his respiratory problem doesn't clear in a few more days, get him to his doctor and tell him what he was exposed to.

As a mechanical engineer, in the US "humidity belt", I have dealt with different molds in buildings on many occasions. The best thing for that house would be to have it fumigated with a chlorine based product. It should then be dusted and vacuumed very well with a HEPA filtered vacuum. Wear a dust mask when dusting in there.