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A Free-Reprint Article Written by: Daryl Watters

Article Title:

Mold Testing Methods Surface Samples

See TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article.

Article Description:

Need Florida mold testing information or mold inspector

information. Certified Florida based mold assessor and

inspection firm serving Broward Dade and Palm Beach County

including Miami and Ft Lauderdale. Florida mold testing IAQ

testing for commercial and home house mold and indoor air

quality problems. Florida mold inspection.

Additional Article Information:

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568 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2009-10-20 10:00:00

Written By: Daryl Watters

Copyright: 2009

Contact Email: mailto:daryl.watters@...

For more free-reprint articles by Daryl Watters, please visit:

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Mold Testing Methods Surface Samples

Copyright © 2009 Daryl Watters

An Accredited Mold Inspection Service, Inc.

http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us/

When a mold inspector takes bulk, tape, carpet/dust, or swab

samples, spore numbers are not compared quantitatively to outdoor

levels. Thus, the number of spores in these types of test samples

often are not as meaningful as the numbers found in air testing

samples. Also, because the air is not being tested, your

inspector cannot say for sure how much if any of the mold sampled

from surfaces is in the air you are breathing. However, these

samples can be helpful because they typically provide the analyst

with more than just the mold spores so that identification of

mold type can be more accurately conducted by viewing various

structures of the mold, not just spores. In addition to providing

more structure for direct microscopic examination, bulk samples

are sometimes grown in the lab or run through PCR testing for

analysis to the species level.

Mold Testing with Tape

When a tape sample of actual mold from a moldy surface is taken

using Biotope, a clear piece of Scotch Tape, or a sticky Cyclex

slide, the sample will often show entire mold structures

including spore forming structures and hyphea. These can be used

to confirm mold growth more confidently and rule out the

possibility that the sample was just settled spores only.

Mold Testing of Bulk Samples

When a bulk sample of actual mold or moldy material is sent to a

lab, the lab may use clear Scotch Tape to take a sample from the

bulk mold material for examination under the microscope. The lab

may culture some of the bulk mold specimen in a Petri dish for

analysis of the colonies to the species level.

Mold Testing of Carpet Dust

When a dust sample is analyzed it may be place on a slide for

direct examination to view spores hidden in the dust directly.

This is a very common method used by most mold inspectors labs

and has become accepted in the industry. This popular method may

be helpful but many spores are not seen because spores are hidden

behind dust, or the spores blend in well with dust. The lab will

often report very low spore levels even if the carpet sampled was

obviously very moldy. This inspector has seen this happen many

times with various dust samples tested at different labs. When

studies are done on what are normal and what are elevated spore

levels in carpet dust, the scientist working on the projects and

the mold labs they utilize for dust analysis use very different

methods for analysis.

They wash the dust and dust filter out of the collector with a

mild solvent and culture the spores in a petri dish. This method

will typically reveal tens of thousands of spores or even

hundreds of thousands or millions of spores. Your inspector must

be aware of the different methods and the different results to be

expected when interpreting dust sample results.

Mold Testing with Swabs

A sterile swab provided by a microbiology lab is sometimes used

for sampling. This inspector dislikes this method because unlike

when using tape, the mold structures are always broken up when

using swabs. Therefore, meaningful mold structure identification

and spore counting cannot be done when testing mold with swabs.

Many poorly trained mold inspectors will use a swab on nearly

every inspection done, not because of a well thought out sampling

plan, but simply because the lab gave them swabs.

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Daryl Watters provides mold testing services and mold spore

analysis along with building defect diagnosis for home owners

in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami Fl. For more

mold testing and inspection information visit:

http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us/florida-mold-testing-air-samples.htm

http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us/Typical-Mold-Testing-procedures.htm

http://www.floridamoldinspectors.us/South-Florida-Mold-Testing-Kits.htm

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