What is an acceptable level of mold in surface dust?
Surface or bulk material sampling is often used to determine if mold is present on surfaces or materials such as carpeting and textiles. However, this may not always be necessary. Often, HEPA vacuuming or laundering may be sufficient to clean surfaces where mold spores had accumulated. When mold growth occurs on the surface, professional cleaning or replacement may be required. Methods of sampling surfaces include tape samples (or tape-lift samples), swab samples, and vacuum samples. As with air samples, guidelines have been offered to help define “normal” levels of mold particles in surface dust. However, these numbers can be misleading and care must be exercised in the interpretation of sample data. The weight of the sample can also affect the result obtained. In addition to mold per unit weight and mold per unit area, total dust per unit area should also be recorded. Perhaps of greatest importance is evaluation of the microbial flora reported in the sample data. This can provide ins
Surface or bulk material sampling is often used to determine if mold is present on surfaces or materials such as carpeting and textiles. However, this may not always be necessary. Often, HEPA vacuuming or laundering may be sufficient to clean surfaces where mold spores had accumulated. When mold growth occurs on the surface, professional cleaning or replacement may be required. Methods of sampling surfaces include tape samples (or tape-lift samples), swab samples, and vacuum samples. As with air samples, guidelines have been offered to help define “normal” levels of mold particles in surface dust. However, these numbers can be misleading and care must be exercised in the interpretation of sample data. The weight of the sample can also affect the result obtained. In addition to mold per unit weight and mold per unit area, total dust per unit area should also be recorded. Perhaps of greatest importance is evaluation of the microbial flora reported in the sample data. This can provide ins
