Are Battle Lines Being Drawn?

There have been of late more than a few posts on mold here in the Rain. Many of the home inspectors who are regular contributors have written practical posts on mold and indoor air quality. Not surprisingly there have been opposing views from a few inspectors (who conduct mold sampling) and mold related service providers. No bias to their opinions they say. Hmmmm.

As a former mold sampler, yes I admit it, I fell for the save the unsuspecting public from the mold scourge rhetoric, so I can speak from a unique position on this topic. I provided mold sampling services for about two years, maybe less. I stopped offering the service because I found the methods were anything but scientific and the information was often not worth the paper onto which it was printed. Basically it was a waste of the client's money.

Let me give you a little insight into what you must do to become a mold "expert" as some of these individuals and companies call themselves.

My "training" was to study a book and watch a video of a training seminar on mold presented by a mycologist. I took a test and faxed it back to the lab who then certified me as a mold sampler. Yes, that's right the lab that would process the mold samples I would collect also certified me. This type of training is not unique. Many of the mold experts in business today have taken no more than a one or two day course. There are most certainly exceptions. These would be individuals with degrees in such disciplines as mycology, industrial hygiene or other related degreed fields. Many companies, home inspection or environmental, that offer mold services have conspicuously left out any credentials on their web sites. Those that do, the majority are of the type I described.

The other big problem I found was the method the lab used to make a conclusion about the home sampled. First off the person (a lab tech) who analyzed the samples has never seen the home. Second the method used to determine if a problem exists based on a few air samples is this;

At minimum of two samples are drawn, a baseline and the actual indoor samples. The baseline must be taken from outdoors if at all possible. When the temperature is below freezing you can not take a sample from outdoors. Some suggestions on alternative areas were from the garage, basement or attic (I'm not going to comment). All samples taken from indoors are compared against the "outdoor" or baseline sample. Here's where it gets real scientific. A problem is said to exist if the spore count of one type of mold is two times greater than the same mold from the exterior. If the mold inside the house wasn't found in the outdoor sample, the same determination is made.

What I found is spore counts can vary hugely. In other words there are times when the air is laden with spores (not to mention all types of other gook) and times when the counts are low. This fact has absolutely no bearing on the labs determination if a mold problem exists. I have seen reports with low spore counts and the lab has said there is a problem in the home and other instances where the counts are off the charts and the conclusions is everything is A-okay.

The last problem I see is the report itself. Who interprets the data? Not the home inspector. With an environmental company it all depends on the qualifications of the staff. But even then the samples are a snap shot in time and are not representative of the over all indoor air quality.

In a 2004 report Damp Indoor Spaces and Health from the Institute of Medicine which is available for review on the CDC web site, the following is a paragraph from the executive summary;

Excessive indoor dampness is not by itself a cause of ill health, but it is a determinant of the presence or source strength of several potentially problematic exposures. Damp indoor environments favor house dust mites and microbial growth, standing water supports cockroach and rodent infestations, and excessive moisture may initiate chemical emissions from building materials and furnishings.

In other words it's not just mold. I have a feeling when the word gets out there will be inspectors sampling for rodent feces. Most of the logic and arguments for mold sampling all ready smell a lot like a barn yard.

 

 

 

James Quarello
2010 - 2011 SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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