What Is Toxic Mold?
TOXIC MOLD is used in the Home Inspection and Mold Inspection industry and refers to a genre of molds capable of producing toxins that are harmful to humans. These toxins are the secondary metabolites produced by fungi called mycotoxins. Fungi is actually a more accurate term than “mold” and these toxic fungi produce hundreds of potentially harmful mycotoxins and some of these toxins are produced by fungi commonly found growing inside homes or properties. However, you need to know some factors about the importance, or lack thereof, of fungal mycotoxins.
“Toxic Mold”
What You Should Know!
Toxigenic is a term used in the industry to let us know that a particular fungus is capable of producing potentially harmful toxins. It doesn’t mean that all types of molds produce toxins, nor that the presence of a specific mold/fungus can be taken to mean that the toxins are being produced by a particular mold in a home. Even if a fungal genre is known to have species that produce mycotoxins, not all species have the ability. Oddly enough, even those molds/fungi with the capability will not produce the toxins in every condition. Molds are still being researched today and unfortunately there is very little data available in these areas that tell us why the exact same mold will not produce toxins under slightly different circumstances.
To really know if toxins are present, you must sample the mold/fungi for the toxin itself. There are an increasing number of toxin assays available but as a potential home buyer, make sure that any sample collection and mold analysis is hypothesis driven, and that your mold inspector knows how he/she is going to interpret the data. The most commonly used methods for testing a home for the presence of mold do not specifically test for the presence of mycotoxins, but rather test for the presence of genre of mold that contain species that have the potential to produce mycotoxins. With the data produced by these tests and the physical inspection of your property, your professional mold inspector can assess the condition of the property and the potential of exposure to a condition that may be harmful to the occupants.
Three Basic sampling methods to check for Mold Spores in Your Home:
Air Sampling
Surface Sampling
Bulk Sampling
Air Sampling
A sample of the air circulating in your home is collected using an airborne particle collector that traps spores on a media. This captured sample is used to determine the quantity of mold spores in the sampled air. After the initial analysis, a microscope is used to visually check the number of spores. The results of the analysis can be used to help you assess the risk of airborne mold exposure as well as the type of mold present in the analyzed sample. Have our expert Mold Inspector come check on your mold concerns today.
Surface Sampling
Surface sampling requires swabbing or tape lifting to collect a sample. The collection of samples from certain surfaces in your home, allows a mold inspector the ability to find the amount and genus of mold present on or inside of the tested surface. In contrast to air sampling, this method has its limitations and will not identify concentration of spores which become airborne.
Bulk Sampling
Bulk sampling is similar to Surface Sampling but uses items, objects or materials (bulk sample) from the areas in question in the testing process. The collected items (bulk samples) are further examined under a microscope and give an approximation on spore counts, concentration and genus.
Don’t risk the health of your family or loved ones and contact us today (954) 610-2775 for our mold inspection services.