Hey barb 1283...I went to site of Envirologix...........

[Guest guest]

to find out about Toxi mold home kit, but they didn't have it i or the

co email. I would LOVE to get that kit. The Home Depot Pro Lab kit

isn't very good quality. Thanks for letting me know HOW I can buy it

for WHAT price? Thanks...if there are other tests that you recommend,

thanks for sharing. Thanks Shybasset

[Guest guest]

They have a simple test that tests for stachybotrys and aspergillus

niger. I don't know who carries it but you could call them to find a

local dealer.

On 9/2/06, shybasset <shybasset@...> wrote:

> to find out about Toxi mold home kit, but they didn't have it i or the

> co email. I would LOVE to get that kit. The Home Depot Pro Lab kit

> isn't very good quality. Thanks for letting me know HOW I can buy it

> for WHAT price? Thanks...if there are other tests that you recommend,

> thanks for sharing. Thanks Shybasset

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> FAIR USE NOTICE:

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

shybasset,

I you aren't impressed with the Home Depot

culture kits, get the ones from Dallas

Environmental Clinic, 25.00 each includes analyis

after 6-8 weeks of culturing.

I have had been pleased with the Home Depot kits.

I DO think the culture plates you get from

Dallas are of higher quality and they test sample

for longer period of time, since some mold takes

longer to grow. They ask for 6-8 weeks. Plates

referred to on POA site ask for turn around time

of 7-10 days. That's too short for many molds to

appear. I don't remember time frame given for

ProLab but it was closer to the Dallas time. I

DO think the Dallas plates are probably handled

in way to keep them cleaner, just knowing how

carefully they do things there.

They send them by two day priority delivery so

they don't get hot. Since mine arrived in three

days by regular ground delivery, they said to

throw those away and they shipped me a new set.

However I didn't throw them away. I figured I

could use them for taking spore counts only.

Regular price of Dallas kits include plates and

analysis, so I wouldn't be able to get them

analyized but could use them for spore counts

only.

They tell you to keep refrigerated until you use

them but just as an experiment with these

freebees, I left them out in room temperature.

Idea was to see if they grew something without

being exposed to anything at all. I've had them

for three weeks now and nothing has grown in

them.

Last week I took one to the Candlewood Suites, a

temporary living place with kitchenette that was

offering me a good rate for staying over a month,

$41 a day which included everything, telephone,

cable, free laundry facilities, room cleaned just

like hotel, etc. Of course for over a month,

that is over a $1k but...compared to hotel/motel

rates it is good. So I looked at efficiency they

had and asked if I could do a half hour culture

plate due to allergies. She said yes. That was

a few days ago and now stuff growing in it looks

identical to what was growing in plate I tested

right next to wear I sleep at home, whitish goo.

I will not send this off for testing, but goes to

show you I may have spent over a $1k to stay

someplace else and air quality may not be any

different than room I am sleeping in at home.

Now my culture plates from bedroom may come back

as just catching some yeast, so not bad, but not

bad at home either. If so, problem in my own

home is probably just summer bringing down attic

air and sealing off attic may solve that problem.

Anyway, I think advantage of Home Depot plates is

this: you pay separately just to buy the plates

which is about $10. You can use it to just count

spores to see how moldy in general it is. If you

already know what kind of mold you have around

house, this may be sufficient and you don't need

to pay the extra $35 to send it off for analysis.

If you have never done culture plates before in

building and have no idea what kind of mold is

there, I recommend getting the Dallas plates as

they are the least expensive, probably good or

best quality, and they will culture them for 6-8

weeks and identify what kind of mold you have.

As people here will tell you, you are unlikely to

catch stachybotra, (or fusariam I believe), two

of the nastier molds. You can only do that by

finding mold and doing sending a swab of it (or

tape lift) to a lab. If you can't find visible

mold, can't test for stachy. I did catch ONE

fusarium in mold plate. I have read though that

you are much likierly to ingest fusarium, than

inhale it. Anyone know any different than that?

Also undesireable is aspergillus niger but they

can be caught in culture plate.

Maybe these Quicktox kits may help to detect

these nastier toxic molds. That would be great.

It will be awhile before we can tell if those

work.

Anyway, point to all this is if you are 1) in a

hurry, the Home Depot plates can be picked up

24/7; 2.) if counting the number of spores

present will be sufficient the Home Depot plates

are good because cost of analyizing them is NOT

built into price. If you have the time to order

them and receive them, take about 3-4 days and

want them analyized, I recommend Dallas plates.

However I paid for professional air testing from

someone recommended on IA quality group

organization and his testing although much more

expensive did not differ much from results I got

from the Pro Lab. I think it is a little snooty

to turn up nose at these just because they 'the

best'. They aren't bad either. If you are

pinched for time, they are better than nothing.

Only thing I would be cautious of is something

there is contamination. I got one contaminated

vial of culture liquid. I called them and they

replaced it. Got replacement promptly.

I have had enough testing done I know what type

of mold is around my house and all I want know is

to know my efforts to clean up are succeeding, so

all I need is to see count collected in dish go

down to level I am happy with. For that I know

no where else I can buy culture plates without

paying for analysis also which I don't want right

now. As for quality, if I come up with goofey

result -higher count than seems reasonable or

different looking mold than I am used to seeing

around here, I can retest with plates from

Dallas.

As for the Quicktox test kits, these are new so

untested by anyone we know, so those are to be

suspicious until tested in use and found to be

accurate. Don't assume since lab looks

impressive, these tests are any more valuable

than the Home Depot plates. I've used the Home

Depot plates and professional testing that cost

me much, much money came out virtually the same

as far as identifying problem areas and the same

kind of molds caught.

I WILL see if there is BIG difference in culture

plates when I get test results back from Dallas.

Dr Rae the environmental doctor down there who is

considered an expert depends on them and

recommends them. One of first questions he asked

me was have I done culture plates. I had and

hadn't gotten results back and he said when I got

them, to forward them on to him...so that expert

doesn't think they are worthless wastes of time.

Other plates referred to at POA had a turn around

time of 7-10 days. That is muchm much too short

a time, as many molds just don't even start to

grow or can't be seen by then, so that is same

source of recommendation as recommending Ouicktox

strips. Just because it's mentioned there, don't

assume it's a good product. They may be paying

to advertise their products there.

Still I am going to try Quicktox strips as

nothing else I know of is offered right now to

detect mycotoxins quickly so choice is

easy...nothing versus something.

--- shybasset <shybasset@...> wrote:

> to find out about Toxi mold home kit, but they

> didn't have it i or the

> co email. I would LOVE to get that kit. The

> Home Depot Pro Lab kit

> isn't very good quality. Thanks for letting me

> know HOW I can buy it

> for WHAT price? Thanks...if there are other

> tests that you recommend,

> thanks for sharing. Thanks Shybasset

[Guest guest]

The problem with mold culture plates is that they will grow spores

that fall on them but the spores that grow won't necessarily be what

would grow on wet building materials..

And what does it tell you, that there are spores in the air? Some mold

growing on plates might be able to be identified to the species level,

but some might also not.. (asp/pen spores look very similar) It takes

experts to really do that well..

A toxin test may directly identify a toxic situation.

bear in mind that any mold test should not be used to say a situation

is safe (its just one data point) but a test that is taken from a

direct sample.. like a tape lift.. can sometimes show you that you do

have a problem..

I think the whole concept of clearance air testing is particularly,

really, profoundly flawed because its so easy to do the test in an

unoccupied apartment or early in the morning on a calm, cold dry day..

which might be very unlikely to show spores under almost any

conditions..

Also, as we all know.. stachybotrys rarely sporulates.. - see the problem?

The only test that I thnk is meaningful is either a complete and total

visual inspection.. even inside walls and attics, crawl spaces, etc..

(how practical is that? not very) or a functional test.. by whoever

was being made sick by it in the first place.. If a place is safe -

people who react to the mold there don't react to it anymore. Even if

its being lived in, there is a typical spectrum of weather, etc..

[Guest guest]

Actually, I forgot.. There is a much better way to do air testing but

its expensive and takes time..

Mycotoxin testing using high volume air testing and a buffered

solution to catch the particles that impinge upon it.. They need

equipment that sucks a very large amount of air into the sampler...

The Spector Omni 3000 that Hayley posted some info on a few months ago

is one example.. Spin Con is another impingement sampler..

The amount of air they sample is very high, much higher than the

several liters of air that is typically used to sample for

microscopically identifiable spores.. Those methods don't have any way

of identifying mycotoxin problem buildings. They can't even identify

molds to species level, often.. Asp/pen spores can be identified as

such, but not to species level there. The spores they catch might not

be viable.. Thats the advantage of plates, they show spore viability..

but to fully identify some species you would need PCR, which is super

expensive.

If an impingement or bulk toxin test shows toxins, that tells you THIS

SITE IS TOXIC...

[Guest guest]

I will keep this information but how to put this

to work when shopping from apartment to

apartment. Also if you are looking to buy a new

home as Leigh is that is empty of furniture and

freshly painted, I wonder how many toxins would

be detected in completely emptied and cleaned out

place. If family still is living there, you

could do it with their things still there if they

will let you. That might work in a particular

situation but if expensive you would probably

have better paid already an inspector to do alot

of work already and any problems that are there

probably found I would imagine.

--- LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote:

> Actually, I forgot.. There is a much better way

> to do air testing but

> its expensive and takes time..

>

> Mycotoxin testing using high volume air testing

> and a buffered

> solution to catch the particles that impinge

> upon it.. They need

> equipment that sucks a very large amount of air

> into the sampler...

>

> The Spector Omni 3000 that Hayley posted some

> info on a few months ago

> is one example.. Spin Con is another

> impingement sampler..

>

> The amount of air they sample is very high,

> much higher than the

> several liters of air that is typically used to

> sample for

> microscopically identifiable spores.. Those

> methods don't have any way

> of identifying mycotoxin problem buildings.

> They can't even identify

> molds to species level, often.. Asp/pen spores

> can be identified as

> such, but not to species level there. The

> spores they catch might not

> be viable.. Thats the advantage of plates, they

> show spore viability..

> but to fully identify some species you would

> need PCR, which is super

> expensive.

>

> If an impingement or bulk toxin test shows

> toxins, that tells you THIS

> SITE IS TOXIC...

>

>

>