Dr Jackson Kung'u- Mold Specialist

Helping People Resolve Mold Problems

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Dr. Jackson Kung’u (PhD)- Mold Specialist.
Phone: 905-290-9101
Mobile: 437-556-0254

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Air Quality Mold Testing Kits

Air quality testing should be conducted by a qualified professional. However, there are basic tests that a homeowner or a property manager can perform by themselves and save money. Air quality testing for mold does not require any special training. Mold & Bacteria Consulting Laboratories has been renting air quality testing equipment to homeowners, property managers or professionals who are just starting their businesses.

To perform your own air quality testing for mold it’s important to plan ahead. For example you need to decide how many rooms you want to test as this will determine the number of air samples you will collect. ideally, one should test all the rooms but if the budget cannot allow you can test areas of concern. In addition to the samples you collect from indoors, an outdoor sample is also required. The outdoor air sample helps to determine which of the mold spores detected indoors had likely originated from outdoors.

Interpreting air sample results can be difficult. However, after comparing indoor samples with outdoor sample, if the types of spores detected from the indoor sample are the same as those detected from outdoors and the indoor counts are significantly lower than those of the outdoors, then we can conclude that the tested areas had no mold problem at the time of testing. This conclusion is only valid if we cannot visually see mold growth and the building is not damp. It’s important to note that while the spore counts could be low, presence of certain types of molds could be an indication of major moisture damage and possibly hidden mold growth.

 How to perform air quality testing

As indicated previously you’ll require to rent an air sampling pump. You’ll also need to purchase air sampling cassettes. Mold & Bacteria Consulting Laboratories provides instructions on how to operate the pump. After sampling the samples are sent to the laboratory for identification and counting of spores. The results are reported as the number of spores per cubic meter of air. Click air sampling instructions to watch a video on how to perform air quality test for mold.

Mold Spores Contribute To Respiratory Disease And Allergic Reactions

It’s well established that airborne mold spores contribute to respiratory disease and allergic reactions in humans. Mold spores are everywhere and we inhale them every minute both when we’re indoors and outdoors. In cold countries airborne mold spores is highest during summer. During winter, the spore concentration outdoors is very low or absent altogether. In warm countries concentration of airborne spores may vary with the season (rainy or dry season) but there are spores present outdoors throughout the year. Usually the spore concentration indoors is lower than outdoors. However, in buildings with mold problem, the spore concentration could be very high.

Allergic reactions caused by mold spores

Inhaled mold spores can cause a number of health problems. Susceptible individuals react to proteins in the spore wall resulting in development of runny nose and eyes (allergic rhinitis) and asthma-like symptoms. Prolonged exposure to unusually high levels of spores can result in the development of allergic alveolitis.

Allergenic mold Spores

Spores commonly associated with allergy outdoors include spores of Cladosporium, Sporobolomyces, Didymella, and Alternaria. In buildings without mold problems, the same spores found outdoors would be present indoors but in lower levels than in outdoors. In buildings with mold problems a mix of species commonly found indoors and outdoors would be found. The indoor species would be in higher concentrations indoors than in outdoors.

In an indoor occupational environment the types of molds present would be determined by the indoor conditions and the work being carried out. For example in a compost facility thermotolerant fungi such as Aspergillus fumigatus would be present. Mold spores of some species such as Cladosporium and Penicillium may be detected in high numbers in air samples while others such as Eurotium, Wallemia, and Penicillium may be abundant in dust.