This should be done at least once a year if your home has a low risk of mold contamination and more often if your home has any of the risk factors listed above. How often should mold tests be performed? Mold testing should be performed annually by experts. If you experience more intense rain or humidity than usual, consider performing a second inspection during storm season. Mushrooms grow in dark, humid places, so the more humidity in your home, the greater the risk of an infestation.
Mold testing is a simple process that involves certified specialists visiting your home and extracting an air sample through a spore trap. Using a dye and a microscope, experts can determine the number of fungi, if any, in your home. Generally speaking, you don't need to test for mold unless you have a specific reason, as mold infestations can generally be seen or smelled. CDC does not recommend testing for mold.
The health effects of mold can be different for everyone, so you can't rely on sampling and cultivation to know if you or a member of your family could get sick. No matter what type of mold is present, you must remove it. In addition, taking good samples of mold can be expensive, and there are no established rules about what is and what is not an acceptable amount of different types of mold in a home. The best thing you can do is to safely remove mold and work to prevent its growth in the future.
Controlling humidity is the key to stopping indoor mold growth, because all molds require water to grow. Whether a mold produces mycotoxins depends on where it is growing and on conditions such as temperature, pH, humidity, or other factors. Bleach or other disinfectants may need to be used on surfaces after removing mold when people are considered susceptible to fungal infections (such as people with immune system problems). On the one hand, there will always be mold in your home in the form of spores and pieces of mold cells.
Another reason to consider getting tested is if you can't see or smell mold in your home, but you have unexplained symptoms associated with mold. If you are collecting direct mold samples using the swab technique, wear gloves and a mask to reduce your exposure to mold. When mycotoxins are present, they are found in both living and dead mold spores, and can be present in materials that have been contaminated with molds. A-1 Mold Testing & remediation services, in Deer Ridge and Lincoln, Nebraska, offer consulting, preventive and disposal treatments.
If you think you have a mold problem in your home, you don't need to figure out what type of mold you might have. Mold can be removed from hard surfaces with household products, soap and water, or with a bleach solution of no more than 1 cup of household linen bleach in 1 gallon of water. Mold can be present without being visible, but if you see any fungus, call a professional to remove and sterilize the stain immediately.
