Defense Department Technology Adapted To Mold Testing

PRLog (Press Release) - May 28, 2010 -
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT TECHNOLOGY ADAPTED TO MOLD TESTING

Southern California based environmental inspection and testing company, Machado Environmental/Air Duct Cleaning, has incorporated technology developed for the United States Department of Defense to mold detection.  This technology, Developed primarily to combat Anthrax attacks, has been adapted as a tool to very quickly measure certain indoor molds related to building materials.

"We thought the idea of this kind of tecnhology being used for near immediate mold detection was quite interresting, but were not sure whether it was something that would be useful on a regular basis,"  said Stephen Huff, Machado's Director of Indoor Air Quality Investigations.  "But after beta testing if for a year, we have fouind it has a number of important and exclusive applications."

This technology, developed by Alexeter Technologies LLC and distributed by Omni MicroKleen, Inc, features on-site results in about 15 minutes.  A sample is taken of the settled dust in a location can determine if that location has had a history of mold growth nearby.  Determining if an area has a history of mold growth can be very useful for houses in escrow to verify whether disclosure of mold episodes in the house is accurate.  Indoor  mold growth is known to be a potential health hazard.

This testing procedure is relatively inexpensive compared to air sampling due to no laboratory costs, and can actually preclude the necessity of performing air tests.  "What has been in the air eventually falls out of the air and accumulates along with other dust components," Huff stated.  "A negative reading of the settled dust in the area tells me that mold spores from an indoor source have not become airborne in the recent past."

This technology is not foolproof, as it operates by reading the proteins of certain types of mold.  Currently the mold types that can be detected are Penicillium/Aspergillus and Stachybotrys species.  While mold growth of other types might be or have been present, these are by far the most common mold types present in water damaged building materials.  These are also the most notorious of the molds invading indoor environments.

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Stephen Huff is author of Breathe Free or Die - the Layman's Guide to MOLD and Other Indoor Air Quality Problems.