Toxic Mold Test Kits Are Easy to Use with Phillip Frys Tips

Homeowners, landlords, renters, property managers and others can easily use do-it-yourself mold test kits, according to mold inspector and author Phillip Fry. Fry offers complete help for the do-it-yourselfer, from collecting samples to interpreting the test results.

VANCOUVER, B.C. (PRWEB) April 8, 2005 -- Many homeowners, landlords, renters, property managers, business owners, and employees who need to know the precise identities of various toxic mold species in their buildings can now do it themselves, according to Phillip Fry, Certified Mold Inspector and author of Do-It-Best-Yourself Mold Prevention, Inspection, Testing, and Remediation."

Frys free tip sheet, How to Use Do-It-Yourself Toxic Mold Test Kits," is available at http://www.moldinspector.com. The full text is also attached to this press release

The tip sheet covers how to correctly identify toxic mold with do-it-yourself test kits, collect samples, send the samples to a mold laboratory for analysis or interpret the results yourself.

Testing is important because it is the time-cumulative exposure and body intake of even modest numbers of indoor airborne mold spores that makes residents or occupants sick from mold exposure. When residents or occupants spend many hours per day indoors in a home or workplace, they could be continually inhaling or ingesting mold spores.

When the mold spores enter into the residents eyes, nasal/sinus areas, lungs or stomach, such as through eating and drinking food and beverages upon which airborne mold spores have landed, the mold-spores can begin dangerous mold growth inside the body.

The most dangerous mold species to residents and occupants are the molds that are omni-present through out the home or building, thus causing widespread, cumulative mold exposure and body intake.

Among Fryes tips:

* Use a new or thoroughly disinfected paint scraper and disinfect it after each individual sampling to remove any possible mold contaminants and avoid mold cross-contamination

* Label each sample with the property owners name, address, precise test location at that address, the testing date, and the type of sampling method, along with the testers name and contact information.

* For mold testing of indoor air, run the heating/cooling system on fan ventilation for 10 minutes prior to removing the mold test kit from each tested duct register. Then close, seal, and label each mold test kit.

* For outdoor mold testing leave the test kit on the ground outside the building and at least five feet beyond the drip edge of the room when it isnt raining or snowing.

* To self-interpret the visible mold growth in the mold test kits after seven days of mold growth, you can reasonably conclude that there is a possible mold infestation if you observe three or more of the same mold colony type growing in one mold test kit.

* If the tester observes three or more of the same mold colony types in several or many mold tests taken from different areas of the home or building, the tester can reasonably conclude that the mold species is possibly widespread.

Fry also cautions mold testers to wear rubber gloves and a full-face respirator mask with organic vapor filters to protect against toxic mold exposure while collecting samples.

For more information about the use of mold test kits, mold laboratory analysis, and mold species identification, please visit the following sites:

http://www.moldlab.biz

http://www.moldinspector.com

http://www.moldmart.net

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