Sunday, May 6, 2007
Invisible Mold Causes Reactions in Annapolis Woman
At one apartment mold inspection, my client complained that she feels respiratory symptoms whenever she sits on her living room couch.
The couch was in front of a window, and there was a convection unit under the window. A convection unit is a combination heat/air conditioning unit. Whenever an air conditioner is run, condensation occurs, and drainage is necessary. More often than not, there can be signs of water staining and dripping on the floor beneath such a unit.
This living room was no exception. There were signs of old water staining, although my moisture meter showed that all was dry at present. However, when I touched sticky tape to cracks between parquet floor tiles and then examined the tape under the microscope, I could see mold spores. These spores appear to be Aspergillus/Penicillium types. Either one of those could be allergenic and account for my client's respiratory symptoms.
My client opted to have her apartment maintenance people take up contaminated floor tiles. Workers would remove a row of tiles, and then I would test the edge of the next row with the microscope. By the time we got to the end of the mold, about a third of the living room tiles had been removed. Interestingly, no mold growth visible to the naked eye was ever seen.
This investigation was one of the first important lessons in my career as a mold inspector, i.e., that health effects can result from exposure to levels of mold below what is visible to the naked eye.
Incidentally, my client HEPA vacuumed and damp-dusted afterwards, and subsequent air tests showed acceptably low levels of residual airborne mold spores, even without professional remediation.
The couch was in front of a window, and there was a convection unit under the window. A convection unit is a combination heat/air conditioning unit. Whenever an air conditioner is run, condensation occurs, and drainage is necessary. More often than not, there can be signs of water staining and dripping on the floor beneath such a unit.
This living room was no exception. There were signs of old water staining, although my moisture meter showed that all was dry at present. However, when I touched sticky tape to cracks between parquet floor tiles and then examined the tape under the microscope, I could see mold spores. These spores appear to be Aspergillus/Penicillium types. Either one of those could be allergenic and account for my client's respiratory symptoms.
My client opted to have her apartment maintenance people take up contaminated floor tiles. Workers would remove a row of tiles, and then I would test the edge of the next row with the microscope. By the time we got to the end of the mold, about a third of the living room tiles had been removed. Interestingly, no mold growth visible to the naked eye was ever seen.
This investigation was one of the first important lessons in my career as a mold inspector, i.e., that health effects can result from exposure to levels of mold below what is visible to the naked eye.
Incidentally, my client HEPA vacuumed and damp-dusted afterwards, and subsequent air tests showed acceptably low levels of residual airborne mold spores, even without professional remediation.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]