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Airborne Mold Spores Are One of the Causes of Poor Indoor Air Quality: When Did You Last Test The Air In Your Home?

Your health could be at risk due to poor indoor air quality. Get it tested today!

Poor indoor air quality can cause a number of health problems such as breathing difficulties and allergies. It's estimated that Canadians spend 90% of their time indoors. The quality of indoor air is therefore very important. Humid or damp conditions in homes encourage mould growth. Musty smells from carpets, wood, and gypsum board are indicators of mould growth. Overtime mould spores and other microbial contaminants build up on floors, carpets, upholstery and other surfaces from where they are resuspended into the air when disturbed. Mould spores contain allergens and toxic compounds. Health problems associated with inhalation of mould spores include coughing, wheezing, and headaches. Asthmatics are especially at risk as mould may trigger asthma attacks. The picture on the right and the one at the bottom of this page show highly contaminated air samples. Unfornatunately you can never know the quality of the air you're inhaling in your home until it is tested.

Minimize Your Risk: Test The Air Quality In Your House

To be sure, test the air quality in your home. While hiring a professional can be expensive, you can test the air in your home yourself using the same equipment that professionals use. Click this flash video to see how easy it is to test the air yourself.

What Do I Need To Sample Air Myself?

You need a sampling pump and cassettes into which the pump draws the air.

Where Do I Get The Pump And The Cassettes?

You can rent the sampling pump and buy the cassettes from us. After you do the sampling you bring back the pump and the samples to us. Once we analyse the samples, we will send you the results. Want to compare your air samples with the pictures shown on this page? At a nominal fee, we can take snapshots of your air samples so that you can see exactly what it contains.

What Information Do I Get From The Lab?

We give you a list of moulds that are present in your house and their counts (per cubic meter of air) for each room that you test. The types of mould present indoors in comparison with outdoors sample will tell us whether the spores present in your house originated from outside or are from mould growing within your house. Air samples could give an indication of whether there is hidden mould growth or not.

How Much Does It Cost?

We can guarantee you it'll cost you a third or less the cost of hiring a professional!

How do I rent out the pump?

It's easy! Give us a call at 905-290-9101 and arrange to pick up the pump and the cassettes. Each air sample takes 5 or 10 minutes to collect. That's to say, sampling will not take a lot of your time, yet you will save yourself hundreds of dollars. Yes, hundreds of dollars!

Click Air Sampling Movie to see how easy it is to do your own air sampling.

How To Pay For Air Cassettes, Rental Pump Fee And Sample Analysis

To make things easier, now you can simply pay for air cassettes, rental pump fee and sample analysis using our Secure Online Payment by credit card via paypal. To pick the pump and the cassettes, bring the email you get from Paypal as proof of purchase. Details of how to collect samples can be found on this movie Air Sampling Movie but will also be demonstrated during pump and cassettes pick up. If your interested in collecting tape samples too, details can be found here.

If you do not wish to use your credit card online, give us a call at 905-290-9101 to provide your credit card details and arrange to pick up the pump and the cassettes. The standard turnaround time for analysis of air samples is 3-5 business days. Rush service is 24 hours. Standard turnaround time is $60.00 while rush is $90.00 (plus 5% GST) per sample.

Health Canada considers mould growth in residential buildings to be a potential health hazard.

Health Canada recommends the following steps to control mould growth:

• Control the humidity and let more air into your home by ensuring sufficient ventilation. This will prevent moisture from building up on walls and windows. Where there is a lot of water vapor, mechanical ventilation such as a fan may be needed to get rid of it.
• Measure humidity by using a hygrometer (an inexpensive tool available at most hardware stores), to see if you need a de-humidifier. You are advised to keep the relative humidity in your home below 50% in summer and 30% in winter.
• Repair leaky roofs, walls, and basements.
• Clean mouldy surfaces with a detergent.
• Keep your home clean and dust-free.
• Regularly clean and disinfect humidifiers, de-humidifiers, and air conditioners.

Call us at 905-290-9101 or Visit >> Mold & Bacteria Consulting Laboratories for more information about mold.