The Not-for-profit Perspective on Mold Sampling

Mold is everywhere, every single home has it. Mold fungi are a natural, necessary part of the global environment. In the vast majority of homes in the US mold is not much of a problem and sampling to determine the species of mold fungus is a waste of time and money. If you have a little mold, clean it up. If you have a lot, get rid of it.

Here's what organizations and professionals concerned with human health rather than profiting from mold sampling have to say:

US Dept. of Health and Human Services

Center for Disease Control (CDC)   

Generally, it is not necessary to identify the species of mold growing in a residence, and the CDC does not recommend routine sampling for mold sampling and culturing are not reliable in determining your health risk.�

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

In most cases, if visible mold growth is present, Testing or sampling for is unnecessary. Since no EPA or other federal limits have been set for mold or mold spores, sampling cannot be used to check a building's compliance with federal mold standards.

Forensic Applications Consulting Technologies, Inc

Caoimhí­n P. Connell, Industrial Hygienist, Bailey, CO

In a nut shell, here is my take: 99.99% of all mould fears expressed by homeowners are foundationless; 99.99% of all samples collected in homes for mould never needed to be taken; 90% of all mould remediation projects were never needed.

How the Scare Began

In 1991 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) published a paper that made mold appear to be a creature to be feared. Toxic Mold! The media seized the opportunity to sensationalize this scary paper and made tons of money. Mold samplers and remediators exploded from the starting gate and went pounding off in pursuit of the American wallet with the bit clenched tightly between their teeth.

By the time the CDC retracted the paper in 1996 due to outcry from the scientific community, the idea that mold was toxic and something to fear was firmly entrenched across the country and companies profiting from the scare were doing their best to keep up with demand for sampling and analysis.

Here are some non-sensationalized facts about mold fungus:

What is mold?

Molds are fungi. To supply themselves with food, they consume various materials by dissolving them with enzymes. To produce these enzymes, mold fungi need water. Where there is no water, there will be no active mold fungi busily producing millions of spores with which to degrade the quality of the air in your home.

The presence of mold in a home is really a red flag indicating that a home has a moisture problem.

Why is mold toxic?

Unfortunately for mold fungi, competition for food exists even between mold species. In an effort to win the food battle, over a span of many, many years, toxigenic mold species have developed toxins (called mycotoxins) to use against their fungal competition. In a very few cases, people are effected by these mycotoxins.

What makes mold a health hazard?

Indoor air quality

Mold fungi reproduce by releasing spores. Spores are so small you need a microscope to see them. High levels of spore concentrations in indoor air are by far the most common health hazard related to mold.

Elevated spore concentrations effect the very young or very old, those with a weakened immune system, lung disease, allergies or asthma.