Chest drawers - Possible Mold, moisture in wood - Help

Attachment 5779Attachment 5780Attachment 5781Attachment 5782Attachment 5783Hi! I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out here. We purchased four new chests about seven months ago. They are made by AspenHome. The first two we received were defective. The wood had several hairline cracks. The company we purchased the furniture replaced the dressers with new ones. During delivery we inspected the framing but did not notice anything out of ordinary. Six months ago my wife started sinus problems and coughing. The doctor was keep asking us about mold or other allergens in our house. We checked everything and all seemed normal. Recently we noticed that all the clothes stored in one of the dresses have musty, stuffy odor. I re-inspected the dresser and I realized that the unfinished wood and the drawers looked as if it they had mold or mildew on them. I have some pictures showing the dark areas of the wood. Is it possible during manufacturing the wood was never properly dried out and had high moisture content or maybe the manufacturer used wood that was molded? My wife is very sensitive to odors and mold. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,

Nam100z

If these four chests are keepers , this is how I would handle the problem. Take all out to patio or garage , anywhere with good ventilation. Wash all surfaces with a soapy water with clorex. Rinse and dry. When totally dry, coat with a good low VOC sealer like one from Minwax. This is a chore I have had to do many times after getting household good out of storage.

Let me correct the spelling. The product to be added to the soapy water is CLOROX BLEACH.

I'm not seeing dark areas in those pictures that I would immediately associate with mold or mildew (by way of comparison...). However, to the extent that it may be an issue, I think the solution described above should address the issue. But be careful not to get that bleach solution on finished surfaces, as you should assume it will damage the finish.

To the extent that there is moisture in the wood, the odds are higher that the moisture came from improper storage after manufacture.

Have you tested your home for mold spores?

I'm not so sure that's mold on the drawers, you would have to do a scraping and have it tested to be sure. If these are imported, then they came across the ocean in a container, and if they didn't have all those packets of Silica Gel in the carton, they *could* have picked up mold on the ocean trip. Hard to say. But you can get rid of it, and seal the wood if you like with a simple coat of shellac or lacquer.

Do you have high humidity in your room where these are kept? If you're not sure, there are cheap senors on Amazon that you can buy to check. If you do have high humidity, which is what mold likes, then some kind of sealer/stain/varnish would probably help. Heck, if nobody's going to see it, I'm sure paint would even help.