smoke or mold?

[William J. Decker]

In my opinion, Frank is, as is his fortey, out of line and should stay out of this and let smarter and cooler heads handle it. One answers accusations with facts, not name calling.

This type of post does not help, puts on a bad face to NACHI and does not promote the purpose of thei board which is education.

i am also aware that many who have some sort of problem with NACHI (for obvious reasons) know that they can post stupid stuff here (in hopes of harming NACHI) and get away with it because NACHI does not scrub this board of things that may reflect badly on the association.

It's the price one pays for free exchange.

Always idiots trying to ruin a good, honest exchange of ideas.

Sad, really.

[Joe Farsetta]

How in the world does a swab sample come back with a elevated level of mold? As an expert, wouldn't you agree that swab samples cannot determine spore count?

While a swab sample has nothing to compare itself to, the notion of an "elevated" level can probably be determined if the number of CFUs was really, really high. "Elevated" assumes there is a benchmark, which is why exterior and interior air samples are typically needed. Which room one chooses to sample in is another topic...

And, yes, a swab sample will determine spore count based on the physical size of the area swabbed.

The problem is in the determination as to when a real hazard exists. I am of the opinion that all mold is toxic. The problem is in determining at what level it will affect the building occupants. Tnat is the problem with all of this, and it is something we have little document knowledge of. In fact, the Mayo Clinic recently finished a 3-year study and has determined that there is no correlation with mold exposure and the myriad of medical complaints claimed by hysterical individuals. I say this, reserving those cases where a person is severely immunocomprimised (like those in chemotherapy or with AIDS) who can die if exposed to extremely high levels of mold, and the normal results of exposure, which can trigger asthma or flu-like sysmtoms and other allergic reactions.

So, the source of moisture should always be eliminated. Whether or not one chooses to remediate is a personal decision, and largely depends on where the mold was found and how much exists. IMO, it never hurts to remediate all of it.

But, back to spore counts. I had a remediator tell a client that he had 4000 CFUs measured in a 2"x2" square, based on a swab sample only. As mole was seen, there was no need for air sampling. The client was told that the room should not be entered until remediation was completed. The species found were aspergillius and another (I forget). Truth was that 4,000,000 CFUs would have raised a true mold expert's eyebrows slightly. In the mean time, the client got an estimate for a $8,000 remediation, and was in a panic.

As to mold growth, remember that certain species can grow very rapidly, even overnight.