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Six Easy Steps to Get and Mail a Mold Test Kit to Our Lab for 24-Hour Analysis and Report
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• Six Easy Steps to Get and Mail a Mold Test Kit to Our Lab for 24-Hour Analysis and Report
• How to use adhesive tape to collect mold samples or to screen building dust for mold or other particles

Need a mold test or mold test kit to determine the presence of mold in your home or office? Here is a simple and inexpensive procedure recommended by experts in the field of public health and industrial hygiene. To collect and mail your own mold test sample to a mold test lab, all you need is clear tape and a plastic bag. Follow our instructions below, then send your mold sample to a competent laboratory to identify the mold you found and to find out if what is growing in your building is toxic mold, allergenic mold, or simply a cosmetic problem. You can use our laboratory if you like. Why don't the national mold home test kit retailers tell you how to use Scotch Tape™ to collect and mail a mold sample? Perhaps because what you need is free or cheap, and not patented.

According to virtually every expert, after a visual inspection for mold, the bulk or surface sample collected by the method we describe below is the most preferred starting point in any investigation for toxic mold. Toxic mold might be black, gray, green, brown, or virtually colorless. But don't panic. Simple allergenic or even totally harmless molds might look just the same. How do you know what you've got? Use a simple collection method and a competent © Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

BASIC ADVICE - About Collecting a Mold Sample

Follow the simple steps explained here to prepare and mail a mold sample using inexpensive clear Scotch tape

Warning for people at extra risk: if there is a significant amount of mold present, or if you have allergies, suffer from asthma, have a compromised immune system, are elderly, or if infants or if others with those conditions or any other medical risk are in the building, do not attempt to collect or disturb mold. Consult your physician in any case before proceeding.

Do you need an expert? This document describes a fast, low-cost, highly-effective procedure to collect and send a "bulk" or tape mold sample to our mold testing laboratory. Sending a do-it-yourself mold test sample to a laboratory is not a substitute for consulting with or using the services of a qualified professional to inspect your building. An expert is likely to find conditions most people would not recognize. But if you simply want to know about mold which you see yourself, the procedure below is inexpensive, scientifically sound, and easily within the ability of a typical home owner or tenant. See "When to hire a professional" (link at left) for help in deciding if you need to bring in an expert to inspect or test your building for mold. See "Testing Methods Critiqued" for a discussion of the validity of various "home test kits" and "toxic mold test kits" on the market.

What about hiring someone to just do an "air test" or "swab" or "culture" for mold: You can NOT rely on air testing, settlement plates, swab testing, or culture plates to accurately and fully characterize the presence of mold in a building. Such mold test kits are unreliable and are discussed at "Test Methods Critiqued" (link at left). While air testing and culture tests for mold can be useful tools, they are fundamentally inaccurate in characterizing mold risk in a building. Thorough visual building inspection by an experienced building scientist who is also has expertise on mold, aerobiology, and mycology, accompanied appropriate types testing of visible mold are key in any such investigation.

In addition to tape samples (procedure described in this document) our mold testing lab also accepts Zefon(R) air sample cassettes and provides the same rapid turnaround as for tape samples. Our field inspection and testing service also makes use of Burkard Personal Air Sampler slides, spore traps, Allergenco air sampling equipment, vacuum samples, and bulk material samples as well as smoke testing, air flow examination and measurement, and certain gas measurements such as Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, and Formaldehyde. Mail-in samples prepared by this or similar equipment are accepted as well but you should call for special mailing and handling instructions if you're using one of these methods. Instructions for sending a simple tape sample continue on this page.

Please do not send to our toxic mold test lab raw material samples such as pieces of wood, drywall, carpeting, etc. without calling to make the necessary arrangements. Unless we make prior arrangement, such samples will simply be discarded as there is risk of lab contamination.

SUPPLIES YOU NEED - to have on hand for Mold Sample Collection - what you need to collect and mail a mold test sample to a lab

• Proper protective clothing, HEPA-filter respirator, gloves, etc. as appropriate for the conditions at the property. Frankly, if you need this level of protection due to property conditions or your own health you should probably not be in the building and should consider using a professional to inspect and collect your mold samples.
  Not all mold is harmful. The words "toxic mold test kit" are used in this document to assist consumers in finding this page describing a proper, effective, and economical method to determine mold species or other allergens present in the indoor environment. Now here are the items in your low-budget, expert-recommended "toxic mold test kit".
• Clear scotch tape - CLEAR, NOT frosted 'invisible' type. We use 3M Scotch® tape: Scotchlok CRYSTAL CLEAR TAPE 3/4" wide, #34-8505-5627-4 or #34-8585-5871-8 or 34-8507-5365-7 “Gloss Finish MultiTask Tape”. Any similar clear tape should be ok.
• New, perfectly clean Ziploc one quart freezer bags - (Use ZipLok™ or similar stiff freezer bags, not a thin sandwich bag which may be impossible to separate in the lab.) Do not open the bags until the instructions say to do so.
• Paper and mailing envelopes
• Scissors (optional)
• Tweezers (optional to aid in handling tape)
• Optional: Chain of Custody Form for submitting mold samples to our lab. This is a .PDF file. Use your browser "back" arrow to return here.
• Postage sufficient based on weight (typically 3 or 4 stamps will do it)
• Your checkbook
• A copy of these instructions (for you to follow, not to mail to us)

SIX EASY STEPS - to Collect and Mail a Mold Test Sample

Assuming you are testing mold growing on surfaces in your living area please consider using the protective gear described above. Instructions are for right-handed people; reverse hands if you're a Leftie. Follow these steps to collect a mold test sample to send to our 24-hour "toxic mold test kit" laboratory

Step 1 CHOOSE AREA - the surface to be tested

CHOOSE a representative spot of mold growth on a surface such as a wall, cabinet, ceiling or floor. Collect one tape sample per location; do not use the same tape to sample from multiple locations.

There are always multiple mold species present in any environment. We sample mold which looks different (color, texture), which is growing on different surfaces (drywall, paneling, wood trim, ceiling tiles), or which is growing in widely different areas of the building (basement, living area, inside a wall cavity) as often these will be different species. Don't collect and send 50 samples. You're looking for 1. the dominant species present and 2. particularly allergenic or toxic species present in your environment.

How to find mold and where to stick the tape: check out the "More Information" links at left. Photographs and text there explain the importance of choosing carefully just where to collect a tape sample. Samples are more accurate when they collect particles which represent the large areas of mold that may be present. Our advice on how to look for mold reduces that chance that you'll miss important but hard to see toxic or allergenic mold on building surfaces.

Collecting settled dust for a mold or allergen particle screen: if you are preparing a screening sample (as opposed to sampling actual visible mold) the sample area can be just about any horizontal surface that will have settled dust on it. We prefer to screen areas where people spend the most time, such as bedrooms or a family room, or areas of suspected but not visible problems such as basements. Sample a surface that has at not been cleaned recently so that it represents particle settlement over a longer time interval. Do not sample surfaces that are so dirty that the tape will be thick and opaque with debris.

Have ready tape, scissors, and new clean plastic ZipLok(R) bags. (Heavy-weight quart size freezer-type is best but any will do).

Step 2 GET TAPE READY

PULL OUT 1 to 2" of tape. Use CLEAR TAPE *NOT* the FROSTED, *NOT* the INVISIBLE type.
DO NOT TEAR it off yet!

FOLD the tape under against itself, sticky-side to sticky-side to form a "non-stick tab" that you can hold. We need this tab later in the lab to pull the tape back off of the plastic bag.

HOLDing the "TAB" that you've made, now
PULL OUT and TEAR off 2-3" of tape.

Including the "non-stick tab" the total tape length will be 2 1/2 to 3". If the tape flops over and sticks to itself throw it away and start over with a shorter piece or use tweezers to keep the free end out of trouble.

Step 3 PUSH TAPE ON SURFACE - to be tested

HOLD the tape by the "tab" in your right hand, ONLY by one end - don't put your fingers all over it. Using a finger from your left hand and touching only the non-sticky side of the tape,
PRESS the sticky side of the tape gently ONTO THE MOLD to be sampled, using a finger (or a Q-tip) to press gently to imbed the mold sample onto it.

Press the tape into the mold hard enough to get a good visible amount of mold on the tape, but do not press so hard that everything is squashed into a solid gooey mass as that will obscure important identifying characteristics of the mold structure in the sample. If you're not sure, prepare two or more samples of increasing amounts of mold on each tape.

Still holding the end of the tape in your right hand, gently
PEEL away the tape from the moldy surface WITHOUT TOUCHING the sticky side of the tape containing the mold. (If you accidentally touch the tape just at the free end you can snip that end off before storing the tape on the ZipLok bag.) You can use tweezers if necessary to help control the tape.
ONE TAPE SAMPLE PER SAMPLE LOCATION please.

Step 4 STICK TAPE ON BAG - on the outside of the plastic freezer bag

Still holding the end of the tape in your right hand, using a finger of your left hand,
PRESS the tape, sticky-moldy-side down, onto the OUTSIDE of the CENTER of a NEW, UNOPENED, SMALL clear ZipLok bag. Freezer bags work best as they are a bit thicker and will keep the tape flat.

As you press the tape onto the bag, stick down first the free end that you didn't touch (or snip off that part if you touched it), then press down the rest of the tape onto the bag by pressing on the non-sticky side of the tape. Don't cut off the "tab" as we need it later.

Do NOT turn the bag inside out;
Do NOT put the tape sample inside the bag.
Do NOT stick the sample onto the white-inked write-on label that might be present on one side of the bag - the ink may ruin the sample.
Do NOT stick the moldy (sticky) side of the tape to itself as we won't be able to get it back apart to prepare the lab slide.

I repeat because people do weird things with tape and ZipLok bags: please just stick the TAPE sample onto the CENTER of the OUTSIDE OF THE BAG.

You now have 1-2" of moldy tape stuck mold-side-down onto the center of the outside of a ZipLok bag.

Step 5 FOLD BAG INTO 2nd BAG - put the bag with the tape into a second bag

FOLD the small ZipLok BAG in half or depending on where you put the tape, fold the bag sides over to cover the tape sample and
PUT that folded BAG containing the sample INSIDE a second (larger is ok) NEW ZipLok BAG. Press gently to expel air and close and seal the outer bag.

WASH YOUR HANDS if you got unknown mold or debris on your self and if you were not wearing disposable gloves.

Step 6 MAIL THE SAMPLE - Write down and include with the sample(s)

1. Name
2. Mailing Address
3. Telephone Number (voice); (If report must be faxed include FAX number and add $10.00 to your total.)
4. Email address (we email the report as well as sending a hard copy at no additional fee)
5. Sample Date and Time
6. Sample Location: Address of the building, room and location in room at which each sample was taken.
7. Brief description of extent of mold visible (optional)
8. Brief description of health or respiratory complaints (optional)
9. Your check for the lab fee
10. You may also use our Chain of Custody Form (see link at left) to number, identify, and describe your samples.

Our Mold Test Lab Fees, to Whom you Make Check Payable, and the Lab Mailing Instructions are given below.

Page Contents

LAB FEE SCHEDULE - for mold test samples

Unique in this field, our lab services and report include (when appropriate) emergency response with email or telephone notification, and always include explanatory text summarizing known health or other concerns which have been reported for the species identified. Photo-documentation of the sample contents is also normally provided with the printed report.

MOLD SAMPLE PROCESSING TIME: sample processing turnaround time: is normally 24-hours or less from time of receipt of the sample at our lab.

PAYMENT - Instructions for Payment of Mold Test Lab Fees

We accept payment by check, credit card, or PayPal. Just multiply the number of samples of each type by the fee for that type to compute your total bill. We offer reduced-fee and pro-bono services for those who are elderly, limited-income, disabled, or for religious and certain other institutions. If those conditions apply to you just contact us by email to discuss your needs.

MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO: Dan Friedman    (include the check with your samples)  OR   pay by credit card:

TAPE SAMPLES (as described on this web page): For mold testing and other particle identification tests using Tape Samples, use the button at left to pay the lab fee using your credit card or your own PayPal account. Just enter the number of tape samples and PayPal will calculate the the total amount due ($50. per lab sample).

BULK SAMPLES: For bulk material samples such as building insulation or drywall use the button at left ($100. per lab sample). Contact us for guidance on bulk sample selection, packaging, and mailing for mold tests.

MOLD CULTURE SAMPLES: For mold culture samples use the button at left ($75. per lab sample). Before buying a mold culture kit read the articles about mold cultures at Mold Cultures - Validity and Usefulness.

MAILING INSTRUCTIONS - Instructions for Mailing Mold Test Samples

MAIL SAMPLES, DOCUMENTATION, & PAYMENT TO

Daniel Friedman
American Home Service Co.
ATTN: Bioaerosol Lab
3 Willowbrook Hgts.
Poughkeepsie NY 12603-5707

UPS/FEDEX/US Post Office EXPRESS MAIL Deliveries are accepted but -

PLEASE DO NOT REQUIRE A SIGNATURE on packages sent to the lab -- If using Express Mail sign the box used for Waiver of Signature. Failure to follow this suggestion will delay processing of your sample.

What We will Do With Your Mold (or other particle) Sample: Lab Analysis to Identify Mold, Pollen, Allergens, Bioaerosols

On receipt of your sample the lab will prepare one or more treated slides using your material samples. We will examine them for airborne bioaerosols, mold, etc. and will perform identification using any of several low power stereoscopic and high-power light microscopes in our lab.

Mold culturing for speciation, as well as other specialized particle identification techniques are available in our laboratory and can be special-ordered by telephone or email consultation.

Genera/species identifications are made based on experience, education, reference texts and keys, and by comparison with our very extensive library of known particle samples.

While certain molds are well documented and may be identifiable some are not so we do not guarantee that we will identify all components found on the tape. There are more than 80,000 mold species which have been identified and an estimated 1.4 million remaining to be identified. However it's quite possible to identify a number of species of particular concern and which have received considerable media attention lately (such as Stachybotrys and Penicillium/Aspergillus.)

Clients should also understand that there are multiple potential health hazards in buildings and that a client-selected remote-lab analyzed sample is absolutely not comprehensive. Other hazards may be present.

Ordinarily a written lab report will be provided within 24 hours of sample receipt. In a few cases (lab closed for cleaning, holidays, complicated samples needing more analysis) we need more time to complete the analysis.

If we recognize a dangerous material we will also notify you immediately. Our report will include an identification of particles and a statement about mold or other particle allergenicity or toxicity.

If you have questions about this mold sample collection procedure contact me by email.

More Information About Indoor Air Quality, Mold, Allergen, Gas, or Other Indoor Air Contaminants

• Chain of Custody Form for submitting mold samples to our lab
• How to Find Mold in buildings, where to look, where to collect samples
• What Does Mold Look Like? on surfaces in a building
• Things Not to Test - stuff that is not mold
• Mold Lab Report - Sample - ©
• Mold Test Kits & Testing Methods Critiqued
• Mold Testing by Bulk or Tape Surface Samples and their interpretation - a quick tutorial
• Mold Action Guide: an easy step by step outline of what to do about mold.
• Our Field Inspection & Testing Services
• When to Hire a Professional To Inspect or Test for Mold

The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems

Use this simple, economical mold test kit by following our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab

Environmental Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis, Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.

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