Insulation Mold: How to Find and Test for Mold in Insulation InspectAPedia® -
Mold contaminated building insulation guide
How to inspect & test various types of building insulation for toxic or allergenic mold contamination
How to find insect allergens or other respiratory irritants in building insulation
Questions & answers about the cause, detection, testing, and remedy for moldy building insulation
Mold-contaminated building insulation guide: This document gives advice on how to find, test, and cure moldy building insulation. We discuss the causes of mold contamination in insulation, the difficulty in seeing insulation mold by the naked eye, mold test methods for insulation, and how to clean up or cure moldy insulation problems.
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This article is part of our series:
FIND MOLD in BUILDINGS, HOW TO which describes how to find mold and test for mold in buildings, including how and where to collect mold samples using adhesive tape - an easy,
inexpensive, low-tech but very effective mold testing method. Readers of this document on finding moldy insulation should also read the fiberglass mold insulation article series beginning at FIBERGLASS INSULATION MOLD on mold hazards in fiberglass building insulation.
How to Inspect &Test for Mold contamination in building insulation
Even when there is no visible mold on building surfaces or on visible areas of building insulation, don't ignore
fiberglass insulation as a possible mold reservoir.
A basement which was previously moldy or wet, or a basement which stored a collection of moldy boxes or cartons of moldy papers and files may have been
may have left behind a large mold reservoir in the basement fiberglass insulation and in settled dust.
In the first photo shown here the basement insulation looked clean to the naked eye, but a history of basement
flooding led us to test the insulation.
We often find very high levels of Aspergillus mold spore contamination in this
fiberglass insulation (such as in this photo) even though to the naked eye, the insulation looked quite clean.
If there is visible mold on other basement surfaces, don't forget to also check the condition of basement insulation that
your insurance company, mold consultant, or mold remediator may want to leave in place because it "looks clean".
In the photograph shown
here, not only was there extensive Stachybotrys chartarum contamination visible as "black mold" on the
basement drywall, a special vacuum test of the fiberglass insulation in this basement ceiling disclosed high levels of Aspergillus versicolor, Aspergillus sp., & Penicillium sp..
It would have been smart and simple to discard all of the fiberglass insulation in this basement ceiling, given its exposure to high levels of problem building mold from other sources.
These three photos of fiberglass insulation, drywall, and a wall cavity which was cut open
show the value of exploring building cavities where there may have been leaks from above, regardless
of whether we're exploring in above-grade level living space or below-grade level basements.
A roof leak had wet
these wall cavities, leading us to test the insulation for mold and to inspect further for moldy drywall. The photos
also illustrate that luckily not every building leak into every building cavity is going to cause visible mold
growth on the hidden surfaces of drywall.
Questions & Answers regarding this article
Questions & answers about the cause, detection, testing, and remedy for moldy building insulation.
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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.
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
Allergen Tests in Buildings advice about how to test, what to look for, in evaluating the level of dog, cat, or other animal allergens in a building
"IgG Food Allergy Testing by ELISA/EIA, What do they really tell us?" Sheryl B. Miller, MT (ASCP), PhD, Clinical Laboratory Director, Bastyr University Natural Health Clinic - ELISA testing accuracy: Here is an example of Miller's critique of ELISA
http://www.betterhealthusa.com/public/282.cfm - Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
The critique included in that article raises compelling questions about IgG testing assays, which prompts our interest in actually screening for the presence of high levels of particles that could carry allergens - dog dander or cat dander in the case at hand.
http://www.tldp.com/issue/174/IgG%20Food%20Allergy.html contains similar criticism in another venue but interestingly by the same author, Sheryl Miller. Sheryl Miller, MT (ASCP), PhD, is an Immunologist and Associate Professor of Basic and Medical Sciences at Bastyr University in Bothell, Washington. She is also the Laboratory Director of the Bastyr Natural Health Clinic Laboratory.
Allergens: Testing for the level of exposure to animal allergens is discussed at http://www.animalhealthchannel.com/animalallergy/diagnosis.shtml (lab animal exposure study is interesting because it involves a higher exposure level in some cases
Allergens: WebMD discusses allergy tests for humans at webmd.com/allergies/allergy-tests
Animal Allergens: Dog, Cat, and Other Animal Dander - Cleanup & Prevention Information for Asthmatics and regarding Indoor Air Quality.
Recognizing Allergens: What various indoor allergens look like - identification photos to help identify pollen, dust mites, animal dander, toxic or allergenic mold - Common Mold and other Allergens, Irritants, Remedies & Advice
Rodent control issues, including dander, fecal, and urine contamination of Buildings and Building insulation are discussed at our
Associations: Sick House, Sick Building, SBS - Air Quality, Government, Private Associations and Information Resources
Atlas of Clinical Fungi, 2nd Ed., GS deHoog, J Guarro, J Gene, & MJ Figueras, Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, 2000, ISBN 90-70351-43-9 (you can buy this book at Amazon)
Atlas of Indoor Mold, Online Clinical Mold Atlas, Toxins, Pathogens, Allergens and Other Indoor Particles - Medical Health Effects of Mold (separate online document)
Black Mold that is Harmless Photos of recognizable, usually harmless black mold on wood, bluestain, ceratocystis, ophistoma
Building Floods: quick steps after a building flood or plumbing leak can prevent costly mold contamination
Classes of Mold: what types of cosmetic, allergenic, or toxic mold are a problem? Can mold be cleaned-up successfully?
"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
"Disease Prevention Program for Certain Vegetable Crops," David B. Langston, Jr., Extension Plant Pathologist - Vegetables, University of Georgia (PDF document) original source: www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/209797.html
"Disease Prevention in Home Vegetable Gardens,"
Patricia Donald,
Department of Plant Microbiology and Pathology,
Lewis Jett
Department of Horticulture, University of Missouri Extension - extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G6202
Fifth Kingdom, Bryce Kendrick, ISBN13: 9781585100224, is available from the InspectAPedia online bookstore - we recommend the CD-ROM version of this book. This 3rd/edition is a compact but comprehensive encyclopedia of all things mycological. Every aspect of the fungi, from aflatoxin to zppspores, with an accessible blend of verve and wit. The 24 chapters are filled with up-to-date information of classification, yeast, lichens, spore dispersal, allergies, ecology, genetics, plant pathology, predatory fungi, biological control, mutualistic symbioses with animals and plants, fungi as food, food spoilage and mycotoxins.
OTHER IAQ ISSUES: How To Find and Address Other Indoor Air or Indoor Environment Contaminants Besides Mold
Mold or allergens may not be the only or even the main indoor environmental contaminant. Don't let media attention to mold
cause so much enviro-scare fear that other, possibly more urgent hazards go un-addressed.
Ozone Warnings - Use of Ozone as a "mold"
remedy is ineffective and may be dangerous.
Pet control - if you can't say goodbye to your bird, cat, dog, guinea pig, hamster, tropical fish, then limit the
areas they occupy and limit the airflow from that area to sleeping or other areas of the building, use allergenic
bedding, eliminate wall-to-wall carpeting, improve housecleaning including use of a HEPA-rated vacuum cleaner. For more details
see our article Dog, Cat, and Other Animal Dander - Information for Asthmatics and Indoor Air Quality
Rodents, Mice, Squirrel Control - I find high levels of mouse and rodent dander, fecal dust, and urine-contaminated dust in some buildings,
and high levels of these materials in building insulation in those locations. If you have a mouse problem, particularly if mice and their waste (fecals or urine) are contaminating
the building HVAC or building insulation, may need both steps to clean up or remove infected materials and steps to stop an ongoing
rodent problem. If squirrels are a problem, the cleanup needs to include closing off entry openings into the building. Get some
help from a licensed pest control expert.
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