TTLG, I thought I might share this with you for consideration. I came across this gentlemen a few years back after doing a bit of a dive on mold. It is very thought provoking, if nothing else...
Caoimhín P. Connell
Forensic Industrial Hygienist
"Over the years, one of the most frequent questions we have been asked is: “What does toxic mould…
TTLG, I thought I might share this with you for consideration. I came across this gentlemen a few years back after doing a bit of a dive on mold. It is very thought provoking, if nothing else...
Caoimhín P. Connell
Forensic Industrial Hygienist
"Over the years, one of the most frequent questions we have been asked is: “What does toxic mould look like?” There is no such thing as “toxic mould” any more than there is “toxic milk” or “toxic walnuts.”
While it is true that some moulds may elicit an allergic reaction, the same may be said about cheese, or peanuts, or pine pollen, or cat dander. The term “toxic mould” was a creation of drama seeking newspaper and television journalists attempting to sensationalize what is otherwise a very boring and mundane occurrence....
All houses have mould; all houses contain billions of mould spores. Any time drywall is installed in an home, thousands of mould spores are installed on every panel, since the very fiber matrix of the drywall contains mould. All houses have the types of moulds identified by the sensationalist media as “toxic moulds.” Every cubic foot of air in a normal, healthy dry home contains hundreds of mould spores. So, you now know that your property has mould, and you now know that your property has “toxic mould.” Since it is there, we also know that if a “Certified Mould Inspector” or other type of poorly trained mould consultant performs a “mould test,” we already know that it will be “positive.”
It is important to note that mould “tests” are most commonly used only by poorly trained mould consultants who otherwise lack legitimate training in mould and fungi, and use the lab report primarily to bamboozle and impress their clients; the laboratory results are otherwise usually completely uninterpretable. We have provided a discussion on the reason why such mould “tests” are invalid; just click here."
In spite of the recent media hype over the presence of mould (mold) in residences and the workplace, there is virtually no scientific or medical data that supports the level of fear and concern generated by misleading and sensationalized news reports.
All houses, offices, and workplaces have mould. All houses and workplaces contain the dreaded “toxic black mould” (a nonsensical term invented by the news media). Virtually every human, in virtually every location on earth inhales hundreds to hundreds of thousands of mould spores and mould fragments on a daily basis. And yet, contrary to common belief, there is currently no evidence that the presence of these moulds and the exposures to the same poses the threat to the health of members of the general public as suggested by irresponsible journalists, and dramatic news reports largely devoid of objective facts.
Ignoring for a moment that virtually all "mould tests" and all "mould samples" are completely invalid, and uninterpretable and cannot be used for decision making, indoor moulds almost always get the initial blame for complaints about indoor air quality. However, in the Summer of 2011, the US Department of Labor, OSHA published the guidelines Indoor Air Quality in Commercial and Institutional Buildings1, wherein OSHA referenced the Indoor Air Quality Investigation protocol in its Technical Manual and points out that all microbial contaminants combined (including viruses, fungi, mould, bacteria, nematodes, amoeba, pollen, dander, and mites) were found to be the primary sources of indoor air quality problems only 5% of the time. The unwarranted fear is propagated by a variety of “mould remediators” and “mould inspectors” who usually have no legitimate knowledge in mould or mycology but prey off the public’s fear and perform nonsensical and invalid mould “testing.”
TTLG, I thought I might share this with you for consideration. I came across this gentlemen a few years back after doing a bit of a dive on mold. It is very thought provoking, if nothing else...
Caoimhín P. Connell
Forensic Industrial Hygienist
"Over the years, one of the most frequent questions we have been asked is: “What does toxic mould look like?” There is no such thing as “toxic mould” any more than there is “toxic milk” or “toxic walnuts.”
While it is true that some moulds may elicit an allergic reaction, the same may be said about cheese, or peanuts, or pine pollen, or cat dander. The term “toxic mould” was a creation of drama seeking newspaper and television journalists attempting to sensationalize what is otherwise a very boring and mundane occurrence....
All houses have mould; all houses contain billions of mould spores. Any time drywall is installed in an home, thousands of mould spores are installed on every panel, since the very fiber matrix of the drywall contains mould. All houses have the types of moulds identified by the sensationalist media as “toxic moulds.” Every cubic foot of air in a normal, healthy dry home contains hundreds of mould spores. So, you now know that your property has mould, and you now know that your property has “toxic mould.” Since it is there, we also know that if a “Certified Mould Inspector” or other type of poorly trained mould consultant performs a “mould test,” we already know that it will be “positive.”
It is important to note that mould “tests” are most commonly used only by poorly trained mould consultants who otherwise lack legitimate training in mould and fungi, and use the lab report primarily to bamboozle and impress their clients; the laboratory results are otherwise usually completely uninterpretable. We have provided a discussion on the reason why such mould “tests” are invalid; just click here."
https://www.forensic-applications.com/moulds/habits.html
And this...
"Overview
In spite of the recent media hype over the presence of mould (mold) in residences and the workplace, there is virtually no scientific or medical data that supports the level of fear and concern generated by misleading and sensationalized news reports.
All houses, offices, and workplaces have mould. All houses and workplaces contain the dreaded “toxic black mould” (a nonsensical term invented by the news media). Virtually every human, in virtually every location on earth inhales hundreds to hundreds of thousands of mould spores and mould fragments on a daily basis. And yet, contrary to common belief, there is currently no evidence that the presence of these moulds and the exposures to the same poses the threat to the health of members of the general public as suggested by irresponsible journalists, and dramatic news reports largely devoid of objective facts.
Ignoring for a moment that virtually all "mould tests" and all "mould samples" are completely invalid, and uninterpretable and cannot be used for decision making, indoor moulds almost always get the initial blame for complaints about indoor air quality. However, in the Summer of 2011, the US Department of Labor, OSHA published the guidelines Indoor Air Quality in Commercial and Institutional Buildings1, wherein OSHA referenced the Indoor Air Quality Investigation protocol in its Technical Manual and points out that all microbial contaminants combined (including viruses, fungi, mould, bacteria, nematodes, amoeba, pollen, dander, and mites) were found to be the primary sources of indoor air quality problems only 5% of the time. The unwarranted fear is propagated by a variety of “mould remediators” and “mould inspectors” who usually have no legitimate knowledge in mould or mycology but prey off the public’s fear and perform nonsensical and invalid mould “testing.”
https://forensic-applications.com/moulds/sok.html