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 Mobile ViewENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS - INSPECT, TEST, REMEDY MOLD: A COMPLETE GUIDE to TEST CLEAN PREVENT ACCEPTABLE MOLD LEVEL ACCURACY OF VARIOUS MOLD TEST METHODS ACCURACY vs PRECISION of MEASUREMENTS ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT INDOOR MOLD AGE of MOLD - Old is the Mold? AIR TEST FOR MOLD: ACCURACY AIR TEST SAMPLING CASSETTE STUDY AIRBORNE MOLD COUNT NUMBER GUIDE ALLERGEN TESTS for buildings ATTIC MOLD BASEMENT MOLD BASEMENT MOLD WATER IMPACT BATHROOM MOLD BIBLIOGAPHY for ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, MOLD, IAQ BIOLOGICAL POLLUTANTS BOD WASTEWATER TEST BLACK MOLD, HARMLESS COSMETIC BLACK MOLD, TOXIC & ALLERGENIC BOOK MOLD, Moldy Book Cleaning BOOKSTORE - ENVIRONMENTAL BROWN HAIRY BATHROOM MOLD CAR MOLD CONTAMINATION CARBON DIOXIDE - CO2 CARBON MONOXIDE - CO CARBON MONOXIDE WARNING CARPET MOLD CONTAMINATION CARPET PADDING ASBESTOS, MOLD, ODORS CARPET FUNGICIDAL SPRAY CARPET TEST PROCEDURE CARPETING & INDOOR AIR QUALITY CHAIN OF CUSTODY - TEST SAMPLE CLEARANCE INSPECTIONS - MOLD CLEANUP CRAWLSPACE MOLD ADVICE DIRT FLOOR MOLD CONTAMINATION DRYWALL MOLD DUCT SYSTEM & DUCT DEFECTS DUST ANALYSIS for FIBERGLASS DUST SAMPLING PROCEDURE EFFLORESCENCE, Salts & White / Brown Deposits EMERGENCY RESPONSE, IAQ, GAS, MOLD FEAR of MOLD - MYCOPHOBIA Fiberboard Insulation Sheathing Mold FIBERGLASS INSULATION MOLD FIBERGLASS PARTICLE CONTAMINATION TEST FIND MOLD, ESSENTIAL STEPS FIND MOLD in buildings, HOW TO FIRE DAMAGE vs MOLD DAMAGE FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP FUNGICIDAL SPRAY & SEALANT USE GUIDE HIDDEN MOLD, HOW TO FIND HUMIDITY CONTROL TO PREVENT MOLD INDOOR AIR QUALITY & HOUSE TIGHTNESS INDOOR AIR QUALITY METHODS COMPARED INSULATION MOLD ITCHY FABRICS LABORATORY SERVICES LAB PROCEDURES MICROSCOPE TECHNIQUES MEDIA BLASTING for MOLD REMOVAL METHANE GAS SOURCES MICROSCOPE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY MILDEW in BUILDINGS ? MILDEW ERRORS - MOLD PHOTOS MILDEW REMOVAL & PREVENTION MOISTURE CONTROL in BUILDINGS MOLD: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO MOLD MOLD ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT MOLD MOLD APPEARANCE - WHAT MOLD LOOKS LIKE MOLD CLEANERS - WHAT TO USE MOLD CLEANUP GUIDE- HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD MOLD CLEARANCE INSPECTIONS MOLD COUNT NUMBER GUIDE MOLD CONSULTANTS / INSPECTORS MOLD CULTURE TEST KIT VALIDITY MOLD DETECTION & INSPECTION GUIDE MOLD or INDOOR AIR EMERGENCY RESPONSE MOLD EXPERT, WHEN TO HIRE MOLD FAQ's MOLD LEVEL IN AIR, VALIDITY MOLD ODORS, MUSTY SMELLS MOLD PREVENTION GUIDE MOLD RELATED ILLNESS GUIDE MOLD SAFETY WARNINGS MOLD SPRAYS, SEALANTS, PAINTS MOLD STANDARDS TEST KITS for DUST, MOLD, PARTICLE TESTS MOLD TEST METHODS, ACCURACY MOLD TEST vs. PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS Are Mold Test Kits Useful? MOLD TEST PROCEDURES MOLD TEST REASONS 1. Save Money if it's Just Cosmetic Mold 2. Mold Related Illness 3. Mold Cleanup Data baseline MOLD TESTING METHOD VALIDITY Air samples Shortcomings of air sampling Mold in Air: Quantitative Analysis Tape sampling for mold Determination of mold genera Determination of mold species Shortcomings of tape sampling Vacuum samples Surface vacuuming Shortcomings of surface and carpet vacuuming Vacuuming building cavities Vacuuming exposed insulation Shortcomings of vacuuming insulation Cultures to "Test for Mold" Shortcomings of culturing Swab sampling Shortcomings of swab sampling PCR methods for Mold Identification MOLD TESTING SERVICES MOLD TOXICITY VARIATION MORGELLONS SYNDROME MSDS Material Safety Data Sheets MVOCs & MOLDY MUSTY ODORS MYCOPHOBIA, STAINS MISTAKEN for MOLD MYCOTOXIN EFFECTS of MOLD EXPOSURE ODORS GASES SMELLS, DIAGNOSIS & CURE OZONE for MOLD OR ODORS RENTERS GUIDE TO MOLD & IAQ ROBIGUS & Wheat Rust Fungus SICK HOUSE IAQ QUESTIONNAIRE SLIDE PREPARATION, MICROSCOPE SMELL PATCH TEST to Track Down Odors STAIN & BIODETERIORATION AGENT CATALOG STAIN DIAGNOSIS on BUILDING INTERIORS STAINS on INDOOR SURFACES: PHOTO GUIDE STAINS & Thermal Tracking TECHNICAL & LAB PROCEDURES TRAPPED MOLD BETWEEN WOOD SURFACES Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation UFFI URETHANE FOAM Deterioration, Outgassing UV LIGHT BLACK LIGHT USES VAPOR BARRIERS & CONDENSATION in BUILDINGS VENTILATION in BUILDINGS VINYL CHLORIDE HEALTH INFO VINYL SIDING VINYL Siding or PLASTIC Window ODORS Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs WALL CONSTRUCTION BARRIER vs CAVITY WATER BARRIERS, EXTERIOR BUILDING WATER ENTRY in buildings World Trade Center Collapse Dust Photos More Information |
Why is mold testing sometimes useful and appropriate? Here we list reasons to test for the presence of mold or to collect samples to identify the kind of mold present in buildings. Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman. When is it Useful to Test for & Identify Mold in Buildings?15th Annual North Carolina/South Carolina
Mold testing discussion can be divided into two main topics, the second of which is discussed in this paper.
At DO IT YOURSELF MOLD CLEANUP we provide suggestions for a do-it-yourself cleanup of small areas of mold. At MOLD EXPERT, WHEN TO HIRE we provide guidelines to help decide when it is probably justified to bring in a mold expert to perform mold inspection and testing in a building. Because mold test validity and mold test accuracy are often confused, readers should also see ACCURACY OF VARIOUS MOLD TEST METHODS. People who need to conduct mold inspection and testing indoors should see MOLD TEST PROCEDURES and TECHNICAL & LAB PROCEDURES. Our MOLD INFORMATION CENTER includes more broad discussions of the overall approach to building investigation, as do many expert references cited at that web. For a more comprehensive collection information about mold test methods see INDOOR AIR QUALITY METHODS COMPARED. For more on "mold classes" (Cosmetic mold vs. allergenic mold vs. toxic or pathogenic mold) see MOLD CLASSES, HAZARD LEVELS and more references such as a Mold Action Guide are at the end of this document. Why identify mold - Reason 1: Cosmetic-only vs. problematic moldSmall areas of mold, no complaints or other concerns? Just remove it and fix the cause. We emphasize that for small areas of mold contamination, generally where less than 30 square feet of contiguous mold is present, simple building cleaning and renovation procedures are all that's needed and testing is usually not appropriate. Most building mold contamination falls in this first category. Even larger areas of mold may be harmless and do not require costly cleaning methods. If mold present in the building is only of "cosmetic" concern, it is unlikely that special cleanup methods such as negative air, establishment of a containment system, and special personal protection for workers is needed. If these special methods can be avoided, the cost to remove mold will be substantially less. Therefore it cases where a large amount of mold is present it may be appropriate to have an expert perform testing and to prepare an appropriate remediation plan to guide the remediation contractor. The same expert may be used to perform clearance testing later to assure that the cleanup was proper and successful. Also see Can mold make you sick?" Harmless Cosmetic "Black Mold": A very common example is the Ceratocystis/Ophistoma group which appear as "black mold" on framing lumber and which are more commonly known as "blue stain" or sapstain molds. This mold is found on lumber as it arrives from the lumber yard - a condition that is readily apparent to a building expert and which can be confirmed by sample identification. Allergenic mold: Other dark molds, including the most common genera Cladosporium sp. are often allergenic: a potential respiratory irritant or a problem for people with allergies, asthma, or other sensitivities. Toxic/Pathogenic mold: a third broad group are molds which we call "toxic" and includes species which are toxic, pathogens, or infectious agents which in some cases may be capable of infecting humans or of producing disease in humans. Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, are two examples. We find in many cases that large areas of "black mold," about which owners/occupants may be unduly frightened, are Ceratocystis/Ophistoma, a common mold that is found on framing lumber from time of construction, and which is known to be only of cosmetic concern, and which is not an indicator of mold-conducive conditions in the building - it came in on the lumber and is inactive and cosmetic. Without knowing what this is, people may make large and inappropriate expenditure on "professional remediation" - in one case in CT a client was about to launch a $600,000. complete re-framing of the first floor of a building, a totally inappropriate step which was completely unnecessary with a little knowledge of mycology and building science. Ambiguous airborne mold counts: A second example of this sort is the need to distinguish between two "mold counts" that appear to be the same but actually mean very different things. An outdoor 500 Pen/Asp spores/M3 of air and an apparently low indoor 400 Pen/Asp spores/M3 may take on a new meaning if the outdoor spores are a different genera/species than the indoor ones. Why identify mold - Reason 2: convey possible health effects to a physicianProving that mold in a building caused a health concern is so arduous and costly as to be inappropriate in most cases. If a lot of allergenic or toxic mold is present, it needs to be removed. But information about what was found in a building may be useful: a number of our clients have health complaints for which IAQ problems are a potential cause or contributor - information which they want to convey to their physician. For example, a delay in diagnosing fungal infections in two of our clients led each to have permanent loss of eyesight. We acknowledge that these cases are not common, but they occur enough for caution to be in order. We don't submit that we should be practicing medicine nor diagnosing ailments, rather that information about a sick person's environment might be useful to their physician. Dr. Harriet Burge (ret) at the Harvard School of Public Health has taught me that the cost of proving that a specific illness is caused by a specific mold or allergen in a particular environment is so arduous as to be impractical. However we agree, as we expect you do too, that if a large area of allergenic or more toxic mold is present in an environment it should be removed. Can Mold Make You Sick?We live in a sea of mold, and other stuff in the air we breathe, on cushions we sit on, clothes we wear, pools we swim-in, and so on. Most mold is not hurting anyone, and some of it makes us well when we're sick(Penicillium notatum, for example). Fear of mold (mycophobia) is unjustified and in our opinion, more a result of media hype, enviroscare, and gouging consumers. A healthy person walking through a room of moldy air is not likely to die. On the other hand, there is a wealth of less rigorous empirical data matching occupant complaints with indoor mold and allergens. Finally, for certain people, mold can be a serious problem if it's at high levels indoors. It's probably an overstatement by those authorities who assert that "... there are no proven links between mold and illness." we refer readers to some of our lab's references for descriptions of illness-related molds, some of which are found in buildings:
Why Identify mold - Reason 3: establish a data baseline and later, evaluate the success of a professional mold remediation projectSee MOLD EXPERT, WHEN TO HIRE for a discussion of when it is or is not appropriate, justified, and ethical to hire a mold consultant to inspect, diagnose, and advise about mold contamination in a building. Where large areas of mold remediation are needed, using professional cleaning services, we find that in many cases the "professional" does not properly maintain containment, and actually increases the level of allergens in the building. In buildings where occupants are at particular risk (elderly, immune-impaired, infant, asthmatic) we have had cases where an occupant entered an area contaminated with high levels of allergenic mold and suffer severe asthma attacks. In Ellenville, NY at a private residence we learned of a fatality involving just such an incident. For large remediation projects we find it very useful to have a base-line of data on what areas need to be cleaned and which are acceptably clean before the remediation project. Then a quick test after the remediation can confirm not only that it was successful, but that the remediator did not inadvertently fail to contain. If the containment was unsuccessful and other building areas have become contaminated enough to want to have additional cleaning (typically HEPA vacuuming or wiping), having the baseline showing that the contamination followed the remediation rather than preceded it protects the property owner or occupant from additional unnecessary expense. The usefulness of samples depends on the knowledge and thoroughness of the person collecting the sample as part of a building investigation. Arbitrary or random samples are unlikely to be a reliable characterization of a building. Choice of method as well as how the method is applied (for example, just where to stick the tape to collect a surface sample) makes a large difference in the quality and representativeness of the sample. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)... Ask a Question or Search InspectApediaQuestions & answers on how to decide if mold testing is needed at a building . Ask a Question or Enter Search Terms in the InspectApedia search box just below. Technical Reviewers & ReferencesRelated Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
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