Until recently there were no detailed standards for assessment of mold and moisture intrusion in buildings. The first such standard was released by ASTM in 2014. The standard “ASTM D7338 – 14. Standard Guide for Assessment Of Fungal Growth in Buildings” describes minimum steps and procedures for collecting background information on the affected building, procedures […]
Mold Growth on Imported Products
September 28, 2016 by
Mold growth on products is a major problem facing many manufacturers, vendor suppliers, warehouses, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers. Millions of dollars are lost every year to mold growth. The problem is that products of organic nature such as clothes, leather products, wooden products and many others are subject to damp conditions while in transit from overseas […]
Water Activity Requirements For Mold Growth
April 29, 2016 by
Definition of Water Activity Water activity (aw) refers to “free” water available for microbial growth. For microbial growth to occur, moisture must be freely available. The water activity of a material determines which types of mold would grow on that material. Technically, the water activity is defined as the ratio of the vapour pressure exerted […]
What is Aspergillus fumigatus?
March 26, 2016 by
Aspergillus fumigatus is a thermotolerant/thermophilic fungus capable of growing over a wide temperature range (12°C–53°C). It has a worldwide distribution. Being thermotolerant, it is a significant component of compost microflora. Health effects associated with Aspergillus fumigatus The spores of Aspergillus fumigatus are very small. Having a diameter of 2–3.5 µm, they are easily inhaled deep […]
How to improve spore trap results
January 31, 2016 by
Spore trap data should be reliable if results are to be used in assessing indoor spore types and concentrations and ultimately to evaluate the validity of exposure potential or remedial success. Spore trap results are primarily used in indoor mold investigations to: assess the airborne spore concentrations and the potential for human mold exposure justify […]
Understanding Spore Trap Analyses and Results
January 13, 2016 by
When enumerating airborne fungal spores, most labs, for practical reasons, analyze a percentage of the sample trace (often 15-25%) instead of 100%. A few labs claim that they analyze 100% of the sample trace. Obviously analyzing 100% of the sample trace sounds better than analyzing say 15 or 25%. In fact, some people argue that […]
