How to predict if mold will grow inside of fiberglass insulation.. measure the humidity inside of the fiberglass environment.

[Guest guest]

Here is another similar paper to the " wall relative humidity " stachy

paper. This one is not about stachybotrys, its about aspergillus..

Its on relative humidity and colonization of fiberglass insulation by

aspergillus versicolor

______cut here______

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=201614 & blobtype=pdf

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1994 June; 60(6): 2149–2151.

PMCID: PMC201614

Effect of relative humidity on fungal colonization of fiberglass insulation.

I M Ezeonu, J A Noble, R B , D L Price, S A Crow, and D G Ahearn

Biology Department, Georgia State University, Atlanta.

Abstract

Fiberglass duct liners and fiberglass duct boards from eight buildings

whose occupants complained of unacceptable or moldy odors in the air

were found to be heavily colonized by fungi, particularly by

Aspergillus versicolor. Unused fiberglass was found to be susceptible

to fungal colonization in environmental chambers dependent upon

relative humidity. No colonization was observed at relative humidities

below 50%.

.........

On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 1:05 PM, LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote:

> Barb,

>

> This is an interesting paper that does the work of predicting whether

> stachybotrys mold will grow in a wall or produce mycotoxins inside the wall

> that accumulate there.

>

> If the RH inside of the wall can be kept down, then mold can't/won't grow!

>

> ________

>

> Indoor Air. 2004 Jun;14(3):196-9.

>

> Wall relative humidity: a simple and reliable index for predicting

> Stachybotrys chartarum infestation in dwellings.

>

> Boutin-Forzano S, Charpin-Kadouch C, Chabbi S, Bennedjai N, Dumon H,

> Charpin D.

>

> Department of Chest Diseases and Allergy, Hôpital Nord, Marseille,

> France.

>

> Because the indoor mold Stachybotrys chartarum has been considered as

> potentially responsible for serious health effects, its identification in

> dwellings with water damages is of utmost importance. As such dwellings are

> many, it would be of great value to have a simple and reliable index for

> predicting its presence. The aim of the study was to compare measurements of

> wall relative humidity (RH) to mold identification in 458 samples from 100

> dwellings. Mold identification was performed by direct microscopic

> examination of a sample collected on the wall by the gummed paper technique.

> Mean (+/- s.d.) wall RH (%) was much higher (97.0 +/- 6.1) on the 30 samples

> where S. chartarum was identified compared with the 291 samples where other

> molds were identified (41.8 +/- 36.9) and to the 137 samples where no molds

> were identified (38.9 +/- 34.8). There was no straightforward relationship

> between wall and room RH. In conclusion, this study clearly demonstrate that

> the simple measurement of wall RH can be used as a reliable index for

> discarding and suspecting S. chartarum infestation in dwellings. PRACTICAL

> IMPLICATIONS: This paper suggests that very high relative humidity (RH)

> within walls is a strong risk factor for their infestation with the 'toxic

> mold' Stachybotrys chartarum. Besides, data from the literature demonstrate

> that other molds are able to produce mycotoxins when RH is very high. Thus,

> measurement of wall RH, which is easy to perform and very cheap, could be

> used as a screening tool to select those dwellings where mold identification

> should be performed and remediation should be promptly carried out.

>

> Publication Types:

>

> * Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

>

>

> PMID: 15104787 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]