Agar type for growing mold in Petri dishes

[Guest guest]

Barb, are you still doing your thing with the agar

plates to visually estimate the number of spores of all different

species of mold, normal and toxinogenic combined?

I've heard that the KIND of agar used in the plates to grow the

sampled mold spores is very important.

The kind of agar in the plates you might buy at a Home Depot, for

example, will grow so many different species of mold that the other,

often nontoxinogenic molds often prevent stachybotrys in an

environment from growing. So what is suggested is that a

stachybotrys-specific agar be used.

A lab needs to do the examining, using microscopy. Its not possible to

eye out what kind of mold is growing on a plate visually. Even the

experts can't do that.

Here are some interesting abstracts on viable sampling of mold spores

in ambient air, i.e. growing mold on agar.

http://www.aiha.org/abs04/po113.htm

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the link Live. I'm not so ambitious as to look for

stachy. I've heard it's hard to find and really just trying to

determine if and where there has been water damage to building to

fix. I use two different types of culture plates when I'm on the

hunt. I figure water damage will have other molds around too so

using 'quantity of mold' in general. It's just something I can

understand. I don't try to identify mold myself. If I get things

I'm curious about, I send it off.

I haven't seen anything black and slimy looking growing but if I saw

that, I would do a tape lift.

I really think the main proble was with aspergillus in the basement

foundation problem which travelled up into attic with air current and

then caused me trouble. I've done so many plates!!! I also had a

professional come here and test with air-o-cell in 2004 or 2005 in 4-

5 places.

I do repairs/make changes and retest, etc.

--- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...>

wrote:

>

> Barb, are you still doing your thing with the agar

> plates to visually estimate the number of spores of all different

> species of mold, normal and toxinogenic combined?

>

> I've heard that the KIND of agar used in the plates to grow the

> sampled mold spores is very important.

>

> The kind of agar in the plates you might buy at a Home Depot, for

> example, will grow so many different species of mold that the other,

> often nontoxinogenic molds often prevent stachybotrys in an

> environment from growing. So what is suggested is that a

> stachybotrys-specific agar be used.

>

> A lab needs to do the examining, using microscopy. Its not possible

to

> eye out what kind of mold is growing on a plate visually. Even the

> experts can't do that.

>

> Here are some interesting abstracts on viable sampling of mold

spores

> in ambient air, i.e. growing mold on agar.

>

> http://www.aiha.org/abs04/po113.htm

>