Norminn wrote:

Pete C. wrote:

Norminn wrote:


Roof Time Cincinnati wrote:



On Dec 4, 6:53 am, "James" wrote:




Whenever it is winter I tend to get scratchy throat prone to getting sinus
infection just sitting at home. Since I live in a rainy winter area, I
wonder if there is mold growing somewhere and leaking into the hvac.

I see DIY mold test kit online. I believe they are dishes filled with agar
gel. Can these kit really tell the difference between toxic mold versus not
so toxic ones (e.g. mold that grows on bread)?

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Yes a mold test kit can determine with great accurasy, the interior
conditions. The LOWES in my region also has thm for sale..maybe stores
around you will too. A three pack is under 20 bucks here.




What do the test kits tell you? Indentify type of mold? What do you do
when you find mold?



They work in two ways:

The first is you can just let them incubate a day or two and visually
inspect what's growing on them. This doesn't tell you much since unless
you are testing in some super sterile room, there always will be
something growing.


I can do that with a slice of bread )

The second is you do the collection and then mail the dish off to the
lab (for an extra fee of course) and you'll get a report back listing
exactly what was found and the relative concentrations.


Sounds like something that could be dangerous for amateurs, such as
getting test results that show growth of "dangerous" molds.

Could be if you don't understand what it really means. Certainly it
would be good to know if spores for the more dangerous strains are
present, since it would dictate a higher priority to dealing with any
moisture issues.

Have spores
present and having a mold problem seem like entirely different issues to
my uneducated brain. I haven't kept up on the mold hysteria, but I
think a lot of people worry needlessly. Different story if folks are
ill or there is obvious mold/mildew growth, which often is "cured" by
correcting the moisture problem.

Correcting moisture problems and removing badly contaminated materials
can "cure" small problems with non hazardous molds, but bigger issues
involving the hazardous strains require more drastic measures.