The question is not if it is present but rather
what the difference is between the indoor and outdoor levels.
No exact levels of exposure that can contribute to allergic
reactions, asthma, or chronic sinus infections have been
established.
Mold N' More technicians are trained and certified to conduct
the kinds of tests that will determine if levels of mold
in the building are above the levels found in the ambient
outdoor air. We utilize state of the art equipment to obtain
the samples and forward them to independent certified laboratories for
evaluation. We will then meet with you and review a complete
lab report explaining what was found and if remediation is necessary.
We utilize both air sample techniques, as well as swab samples
from surfaces, to determine levels of mold or mold spores
present.
The cost of testing varies depending on the number of samples
required to evaluate the structure accurately and if specific species identification is recommended. We work to
minimize the cost to customers but maximize the accuracy
of the test results.
Now the real question is why test? What will it tell us?
Some problems with testing are:
- Airborne fungal spore concentrations vary greatly over
the course of hours, days, weeks and seasons. A sample
taken at one instant in time, at one location, may not
be representative of typical conditions.
- There are no numerical
standards to which tests can be compared making interpretation
dependent on comparison with control samples.
- Even extensive, well made tests cannot determine
how much exposure people had in the past.
- Fungal air tests
may be expensive. Any money spent on mold testing
will not be available for cleaning up the mold and fixing
the water problem that led to the mold. It may be days,
often weeks before the results of testing are known potentially delaying remediation.
Testing for mold is done to answer specific questions
that cannot be answered by easier, more accurate or more direct
approaches with fewer uncertainties. This is why we always recommend a fill visual inspection by our trained technicians.
Where Testing is Useful
Biological measurements sometimes provide useful information
in finding hidden mold when thorough inspection has not found
moisture or mold. Comparing air samples in many rooms and
outdoors sometimes provides evidence that there is fungal
growth or at least a reservoir of spores inside a building.
However, there are problems with using this method as an
assessment tool:
- Large variations over hours, days, seasons require numerous
samples, systematically made to be certain that the sample
are representative. (Variations are the result of intermittent
spore release and the dynamics of air transport).
- There is a difference between total spore counts and
viable spore counts. Total spore counts are more representative
of allergen load than viable spore counts. Viable spore
counts represent a fractional subset of the total spore
count and may grossly underestimate the total amount of
mold in the air.
- Viable spore counts can provide some information that
total spore counts cannot. Only viable spore counts permit
speciation, the identification of fungi to the species
level. This may be useful in trying to distinguish whether
airborne spore counts reflect an outdoor or indoor source.
- Samples that show no evidence of indoor growth can be
false negatives. "No growth" cannot be used to
conclude that there is not an indoor source of mold. Because
of these uncertainties many samples should be taken to
increase the probability of obtaining useful information.
The likelihood that airborne samples will provide evidence
that inspection does not is very small. Reserve air sampling
for mystery cases, where things smell moldy or people complain
of symptoms that are consistent with mold exposure, but
no mold is found upon inspection.
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