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AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS - INSPECT, TEST, REMEDY FLOODS IN BUILDINGS-priorities FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP HVAC HOUSE DUST CONTAMINATION STUDY MOLD: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO MOLD MOLD INFORMATION CENTER ACCURACY OF VARIOUS MOLD TEST METHODS ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT INDOOR MOLD ALLERGEN TESTS for BUILDINGS ALLERGY TESTS for PEOPLE ALLERGY TEST ACCURACY CLEARANCE INSPECTIONS - MOLD CLEANUP DO IT YOURSELF MOLD CLEANUP ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS ENERGY SAVINGS PRIORITIES ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT CASE STUDY ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT LEAK SEALING GUIDE ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT OPTIONS FIND MOLD in BUILDINGS, HOW TO FUNGICIDAL SPRAY & SEALANT USE GUIDE HIDDEN MOLD, HOW TO FIND HUMIDITY CONTROL TO PREVENT MOLD INDOOR AIR QUALITY & HOUSE TIGHTNESS INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE INDOOR AIR QUALITY METHODS COMPARED LEAD POISONING HAZARDS GUIDE MILDEW in BUILDINGS ? MILDEW ERRORS - MOLD PHOTOS MILDEW REMOVAL & PREVENTION MOISTURE CONTROL in BUILDINGS MOLD ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT MOLD MOLD AGE - Old is the Mold? MOLD APPEARANCE - WHAT MOLD LOOKS LIKE MOLD APPEARANCE - STUFF THAT IS NOT MOLD MOLD ATLAS & PARTICLES INDEX MOLD BY MICROSCOPE MOLD CLASSES, HAZARD LEVELS MOLD CLEANERS - WHAT TO USE MOLD CLEANUP COMPANIES MOLD CLEANUP GUIDE- HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD MOLD CLEARANCE INSPECTIONS MOLD DETECTION & INSPECTION GUIDE MOLD DOCTOR? MOLD EXPERT, WHEN TO HIRE MOLD EXPOSURE RISK LEVELS MOLD EXPOSURE STANDARDS MOLD FAQ's MOLD FREQUENCY in BUILDINGS MOLD GROWTH on SURFACES MOLD INSPECTORS & MOLD TESTERS MOLD KILLING GUIDE MOLD LEVEL REPORTS MOLD LEVELS IN BUILDINGS MOLD by MICROSCOPE MOLD ODORS, MUSTY SMELLS MOLD PREVENTION GUIDE MOLD RELATED ILLNESS GUIDE MOLD RELATED ILLNESS SYMPTOMS MOLD SPRAYS, SEALANTS, PAINTS MOLD STANDARDS MOLD TEST KITS MOLD TEST KITS for DIY MOLD TESTS MOLD TEST PROCEDURES MOLD TEST REASONS MOLD TESTING METHOD VALIDITY MOLD TESTING SERVICES ODORS, Smells, Gases in Buildings-Diagnosis & Cure RENTERS & TENANTS GUIDE TO MOLD SEWAGE BACKUP TEST & CLEANUP STAIN DIAGNOSIS TECHNICAL & LAB PROCEDURES THERMAL TRACKING More Information  InspectAPedia ® Home & Site Map InspectAPedia Blog - News Updates Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps Bookstore Electrical Environment Exteriors Heating Home Inspection Insulate Ventilate Interiors Mold Inspect/Test Plumbing Water Septic Roofing Structure Accuracy & Bias Pledge Contact Us |
A client called about an ongoing dispute with an HVAC contractor who had recently installed new heating and air conditioning equipment and duct work in her home. Mysterious thick "blue dust" was appearing throughout the home, reappearing soon even after vacuuming and cleaning. See Carpeting and Indoor Air Quality for a broad discussion of indoor air quality concerns regarding carpeting, including chemicals, adhesives, odors, and VOCs associated with carpeting. While there were no serious health complaints nor people at unusual medical risk, the occupants were concerned, and believed that something in the ducts or air handlers was causing a problem. While the dispute had been going on for months, at the time of this call no one had performed a forensic examination of the dust itself. The client mailed me a representative sample of surface dust from the home. Here's one way surface dust can be easily collected and mailed. © Copyright 2010 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. Killer house dust - a case history: Mystery dust identified as cotton, ending dispute with contractorWe'd be concerned about finding high levels of problematic mold spores, and I'd not like to find a lot of fiberglass in the sample either, both because it may be a health concern and because it'd argue for sloppy work by the contractor. House dust from an occupied home contains lots of stuff, usually dominated by skin cells and fibers from clothing and upholstery or carpets. Animal dander, particularly from dogs, cats, or mice, may be present at high levels too. In inner-city apartments I find lots of insect fragments as well, possibly cockroach allergens. And everybody's dust can be expected to have traces of dust mites, usually their fecal pellets. By examining the pellets I can often determine what the mites are eating, for example mold spores. The dust sample was examined for homogeneity and then prepared for a look at high magnification in my lab, using both ordinary and polarized light. The latter helps quickly separate out synthetic fibers such as Orlon or Nylon, as well as distinguishing typical road grit and fiberglass. Remarkably the dust sample from this West coast home was unusually clean. The sample was 90% cotton fibers, mostly blue with a few red ones included. There were incidental (not statistically significant) wool fibers present too. Skin cells were another 8% of the sample, and typical drywall dust and road dust made up the rest. The sample contained no mold spores, no fiberglass, no heating fuel combustion products, no ash, no paint droplets, in other words, it was cotton from a mostly blue fiber source. This is not your heating system folks. Without making a site inspection I can still offer some useful speculation: I'd look for something new in the home, carpets, drapes, upholstery, bedding, and I'd guess that mechanical disturbance like foot traffic, vacuuming, or other activity was combining with air movement from the HVAC system to spread dust around. Naturally, an investigator is a lot smarter when on-site than when speculating by telephone. But in any case, this was the end of arguing with the HVAC contractor. Share this Article
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