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When should you test insulation for mold contamination? This document explains when and why it is appropriate to test for mold contamination or actual mold growth in certain insulation in residential and light-commercial buildings.

This article series discusses health hazards associated with moldy fiberglass in buildings, with focus on fiberglass insulation, fiberglass fragments, fiberglass in heating and air conditioning duct work, and invisible but toxic mold growth in fiberglass which has been wet, exposed to high humidity, or exposed to other moldy conditions.

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When to test building insulation for mold

For cost and ethical reasons, we do not recommend testing building insulation for mold as a regular procedure. That is because by no means is it always appropriate or justified to test building materials for mold. Insulation that has been properly installed, not subjected to water leaks, and not subjected to contamination from external sources such as an improperly-conducted mold remediation job should be fine.

But sometimes it's a good idea. This article explains how to find or test for moldy insulation in buildings, the probable cause of mold contamination in building insulation, and how to recognize conditions that make that problem likely in a particular case.

Fiberglass, cotton, or wood product insulation in building walls subject to leaks from plumbing failures,previous wetting due to building fire extinguishment, or in freezing climates, walls subject to leaks from ice damming. Fiberglass, cotton, or wood product insulation in buildings if it has been exposed or may have been exposed to high levels of airborne mold or moldy dust and debris from other mold contamination problems or from mold remediation projects, especially if the mold remediation project did not make use of good containment and negative air procedures in the work area. Certainly test, or simply skip testing and just remove any such insulation that is found inside of a mold remediation project area - such insulation should have been removed as part of the cleanup procedure. Fiberglass heating or cooling duct material, especially if it has been wet from building leaks or A/C condensate mishandling

When Not to Test Building Insulation for Mold

Visible evidence of extensive mold contamination may already indicate that insulation needs to be replaced: Insulation that obviously needs to be replaced because it has been in contact with or exposed to heavy mold contamination such as the Memnoniella echinata - contaminated wall cavity in this New York City apartment does not need to be tested. It needs to be replaced.

Exception: for medical reasons such as to provide possibly helpful environmental information to a treating physician, we may test a building or building materials to identify contaminants.

Furthermore if insulation has been soaked from a building leak or fire extinguishment, it should be replaced regardless, and testing is probably not necessary.

Non-suspect low-risk cases of fiberglass insulation: we do not recommend routine testing of building fiberglass for mold in non-suspect cases such as where insulation is new and/or has not been exposed to water, dampness, or other mold contamination sources.

"Spot checks" by "mold testing" in buildings, if conducted without an expert diagnostic visual inspection and history gathering, are simply not reliable and thus not cost-justified.

Other insulation materials that are not conducive to mold growth: such as fire-retardant treated cellulose insulation and closed-cell insulating foams are unlikely to be mold-contaminated but might need to be replaced anyway if damaged or soaked.

Watch out: leaving wet building insulation in place during a restoration project is asking for a future mold contamination issue in the building.

Low-risk buildings where there are no building-related occupant health or air quality complaints: See When to hire a professional to investigate a building for toxic mold for more detailed advice on deciding when it is appropriate to hire a professional or to perform further mold testing in a building.

Questions & Answers regarding this article

Questions & answers about how to decide if testing building insulation for mold contamination is necessary & useful..

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INSULATION MOLD
  Mold in Fiberglass Insulation
  Mold on Books, Book Conservation
  Mold on Fiberboard Insulating Sheathing
  MOLD PREVENTION AFTER FLOODING
  MOLD RESISTANT CONSTRUCTION
  Mold in Foam Insulation
  Moldy insulation may look clean
  Why does mold grow in fiberglass?
  When to test insulation for mold
  How to Test for Mold in Insulation
  References, Fiberglass Hazards
  Vacuuming exposed insulation

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
• Environmental Health & Investigation Bibliography - our technical library on indoor air quality inspection, testing, laboratory procedures, forensic microscopy, etc.
• Adkins and Adkins Dictionary of Roman Religion discusses Robigus, the Roman god of crop protection and the legendary progenitor of wheat rust fungus.
• Kansas State University, department of plant pathology, extension plant pathology web page on wheat rust fungus: see http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/path-ext/factSheets/Wheat/Wheat%20Leaf%20Rust.asp
• "A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home", U.S. Environmental Protection Agency US EPA - includes basic advice for building owners, occupants, and mold cleanup operations. See http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htm
• US EPA - Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Building [ copy on file as /sickhouse/EPA_Mold_Remediation_in_Schools.pdf ] - US EPA
• US EPA - Una Breva Guia a Moho - Hongo [on file as /sickhouse/EPA_Moho_Guia_sp.pdf - - en Espanol

Fiberglass in buildings: hazards, testing, cleanup, prevention: references & products

For more information about fiberglass as an indoor air quality concern see:

• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials (Asbestos is not fiberglass and vice versa).
• BASEMENT MOLD includes examples of moldy fiberglass insulation found in basements
• CRAWLSPACE MOLD includes additional examples of moldy fiberglass insulation found in crawl spaces
• Duct System Defects
• Fiberglass in Indoor Air, HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation, Indoor Air Quality Investigations, building insulation and HVAC duct work insulation hazards
• FIBERGLASS HAZARDS
• Fiberglass Particle Identification in the Fiberglass Test Laboratory
• Fiberglass References - Government Agencies & Authorities list of public documents on fiberglass
• Goodman Gray Flex Duct Deterioration and Failures
• INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT
• Insulation Identification Photographs - Fiberglass insulation photos, yellow, pink, green, white fiberglass identification in building attics, walls, ducts, other locations
• Insulation Identification Photographs - Cellulose insulation photos, Mineral wool insulation photos, rock wool insulation photos, cotton insulation photos, balsam wool insulation photos
• Insulation Identification Photographs - Vermiculite insulation photos
• Lab Identification of Fiberglass photographs and text assist in laboratory identification of fiberglass fibers and fragments in air, dust, or material samples in the laboratory using forensic microscopic techniques.
• Mold in Fiberglass building insulation, when, why, and how fiberglass becomes a reservoir of problem mold in buildings.
• AIR FILTERS, OPTIMUM INDOOR
• Owens Corning Flex Duct Deterioration and Failures
• World Trade Center Dust Particle Identification
• Fiberglass carcinogenicity: "Glass Wool Fibers Expert Panel Report, Part B - Recommendation for Listing Status for Glass Wool Fibers and Scientific Justification for the Recommendation", The Report on Carcinogens (RoC) expert panel for glass wool fibers exposures met at the Sheraton Chapel Hill Hotel, Chapel Hill, North Carolina on June 9-10, 2009, to peer review the draft background document on glass wool fibers exposures and make a recommendation for listing status in the 12th Edition of the RoC. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is one of the National Institutes of Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The National Toxicology Program is headquartered on the NIEHS campus in Research Triangle Park, NC. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is one of the National Institutes of Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The National Toxicology Program is headquartered on the NIEHS campus in Research Triangle Park, NC.
  Following a discussion of the body of knowledge, the expert panel reviewed the RoC listing criteria and made its recommendation. The expert panel recommended by a vote of 8 yes/0 no that glass wool fibers, with the exception of special fibers of concern (characterized physically below), should not be classified either as known to be a human carcinogen or reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. The expert panel also recommended by a vote of 7 yes/0 no/1 abstention, based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in well-conducted animal inhalation studies, that special-purpose glass fibers with the physical characteristics as follows longer, thinner, less soluble fibers (for 1 example, > 15 μm length with a kdis of < 100 ng/cm2/h) are reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen for the listing status in the RoC. The major considerations discussed that led the panel to its recommendation include the observations of tumors in multiple species of animals (rats and hamsters). Both inhalation and intraperitoneal routes of exposure produced tumors, although inhalation was considered more relevant for humans.
• Fiberglass insulation mold: occurrence of mold contamination in fiberglass insulation can be impossible to see with the naked eye, but can be significant
• World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer - IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans - VOL 81 Man-Made Vitreous Fibers, 2002, IARCPress, Lyon France, pi-ii-cover-isbn.qxd 06/12/02 14:15 Page i - World Health Organization, 1/21/1998. - Fiberglass insulation is an example of what IARC refers to as man made vitreous fiber - inorganic fibers made primarily from glass, rock, minerals, slag, and processed inorganic oxides. This article provides enormous detail about fiberglass and other vitreous fibers, and includes fiberglass exposure data.
• http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81.pdf - the article (large PDF over 6MB)
  http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81-6A.pdf - article details
  http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81-6C.pdf - studies of cancer in experimental animals in re vitreous fibers such as fiberglass;
  http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81-6E.pdf - summary of data reported & evaluation
  http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol81/mono81-6F.pdf for the article references
  To search the IARC monographs on various environmental concerns and carcinogens, use http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/PDFs/index.php
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