Update:'No significant mold'

[Guest guest]

Perhaps the gentlemen doing the testing really ought rethink

his " expertise " . " Aspergillus - also known as " the black mold " and

Chaetomium is only an allergen. " Hmmmm

'No significant mold'

Peninsula Daily News, Peninsula, FL*

By Jim Casey,

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20070626/NEWS/706260302

PORT ANGELES - Clallam County's brief revisit to 1950s B-grade

horror movies ended Monday with a report that its courthouse

basement harbors no dangerous substances in toxic concentrations.

" Monster Mold on Fourth Street " flopped despite anonymous letters

and calls to Peninsula Daily News alleging that toxic spores were

attacking county employees.

" I would work in your basement, " was how Alan Olson, general manager

of NOW Environmental Services Inc., summed up his report to Clallam

County commissioners.

" I would let my wife and my children work in your basement. "

NOW's 30-page report was drawn from samples it took June 14

following complaints from employees and a positive response from a

mold-sensing dog in late May.

Specifically, it said no Aspergillus niger spores were present where

the dog had sensed them. Aspergillus - sometimes called black mold -

can harm human health.

Olson said his findings didn't mean the dog had erred, but that the

spores nevertheless did not turn up in tape-lift samples his company

conducted after the dog's discovery.

The dog's owner, of Enviro-Clean Northwest of Port

Angeles, could not be reached for comment.

Common toadstool spores

The NOW report did indicate low levels of Basidiospores ganoderma

and Basidiospores hyaline - common mushroom and toadstool spores -

but in lower levels than normal background amounts found outside the

courthouse.

" There are billions of them floating around, " Olson said of the

spores.

The Federal Way-based NOW's investigation also identified:

Areas of elevated moisture in the carpeting of two offices.

A high level of dye dust in a planner's office. The matter is common

to printer and toner inks and toners. The office previously was a

storage closet.

A high level of fiberglass fibers in a maintenance-area air duct -

probably caused by slitting insulation to insert a sampling probe

into a section of the duct.

A low level of Chaetomium species spores next to Department of

Community Development offices, probably from compost in nearby

planters.

'No significant mold'

While Chaetomium can provoke allergic reactions, it is not toxic,

Olson said.

" There does not appear to be any significant problem with the indoor

air quality in any of the interior locations of the basement-level

offices, " the report concluded.

" There was no significant airborne mold, " Olson said.

The tests also revealed no hazardous levels of carbon monoxide or

carbon dioxide, which Olson said showed the basement's ventilation

was adequate.

" You've got good airflow throughout all the areas we were in, " he

said.

Relative humidity levels also were found to be at the low end of the

acceptable range of 40 percent to 60 percent.

If anything detracted from workers' comfort in the basement, Olson

said, it was that the temperature was 2 degrees to 3 degrees warmer

than the optimum level of 72 degrees.

In addition, " I was very impressed with the level of maintenance and

janitorial work in this building, " he said.

Olson spoke in response to a question from Commissioner Mike

Doherty, D-Port Angeles, about how to care for the 28-year-old

building.

" There was nothing in here that raised a red flag, " he said.