Healthy Indoors Magazine - USA Edition

HI Jan 2017

Healthy Indoors Magazine

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MAY'S WAYS— January 2017 28 near the bathroom showed a high level of spores, a potentially major and costly remediation of sev- eral rooms in the house might be recommended. The results of air testing for mold spores can be falsely reassuring. Let's assume that a carpet in a finished basement playroom is contaminated with mold that is subsisting on the dust captured in the carpet fibers. If someone takes an air sample in the room without walking across the carpet, the air sam- ple will seem fairly clean. But if the person happens to walk across the carpet first and then takes the air sample, the results will tell a very different story. Dust trapped in HVAC systems or on baseboard heating convectors can be contaminated with mold growth, which an air test may not detect if the HVAC system is not running or the dust on the convectors is not disturbed. Then the building occupant who may be suffering health symptoms is left without a remediation plan, which could be as simple as cleaning the baseboard convectors or as extensive as cleaning the HVAC system or replacing the air handler and even some of the ducts. By Jeffrey C. May Although I take many air and dust samples in my indoor air quality investigations, I'm going to play the Devil's Advocate in this article and discuss what I believe are the weaknesses and pitfalls in many areas of mold testing. First, air samples alone won't identify the loca- tion of mold growth. Sometimes the source can be something mi- nor, such as a small patch of mold on a bathroom wall or ceiling. The solution is to clean the area with a diluted bleach solution or with any suitable product, and then reduce the humidity in the bathroom by op- erating the ceiling exhaust fan as well as an oscil- lating fan for an hour or two after showering, to re- move moisture from the air and speed up drying of surfaces. And yet, if the air sample taken in a room To Test or Not To Test for Mold: That is the Question Peeling paint and spots of mold growth on bathroom ceiling May Indoor Air Investigations LLC Internal lining material and wires in air handler soiled with mold growth May Indoor Air Investigations LLC

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