Ineffective mold detection methods, killers, treatments & products to avoid.

This article describes ineffective or even possibly harmful procedures and products that are marketed to "find mold", "kill mold" or "prevent mold" - things that you should avoid any time, including when cleaning a building after it has been flooded.

Our photograph shows Randy the jumping mold dog pulling down a sample of mold-suspect fiberglass insulation from a basement ceiling.

But for this extensive toxic black mold reservoir in a New York City high rise apartment Randy could have stayed home - no sniffing was needed to report that mold contamination was visible over a large area. In this article we take mold-sniffing dogs to task.

Sprays, fogging, or ozone will not be effective remedies for the mold contaminated insulation being fetched from the ceiling by Randy.

Ineffective Methods Used to Detect Mold in buildings

• Air sampling to screen buildings for mold:
  
  sometimes helps spur further investigation when there is no visible mold contamination, but in particular, negative results of an "air test for mold" are unreliable.
  
  We have documented very high variation in the level of airborne particles in buildings over very short time intervals, as little as over a few seconds. We have documented very high variation in the level of airborne particles in buildings depending also on how and exactly where the sample is collected, and depending on changes in building conditions.
  
  Opening a basement door, turning on a fan, moving the air sampler from the floor to a table, can produce completely different results.
  
  Furthermore, even if we do detect evidence of problem mold in an air sample we do not know where it's coming from, how big the mold reservoir is, what caused it, or what level of cleanup is needed.
  
  Is the mold just from a single pool table in the basement? Or is all of that clean-looking insulation mold contaminated. Air sampling is a useful tool but not a reliable building screen for mold when used alone and without a very thorough visual inspection and application of good building science.
  
  SeeAIR TEST FOR MOLD: ACCURACY for details about the limitations of this method.
  
  Also see INDOOR AIR QUALITY METHODS COMPARED
• Culture tests for mold in buildings are,
  
  we're sorry to say, junk science, though they're fun to look at. Roughly 90% of mold genera/species won't grow on any culture media, so as a mold screening test you're perhaps 90% "wrong" when you start the test.
  
  See MOLD CULTURE TEST KIT VALIDITY for details.
• Thermal scans and infra-red devices to find mold in buildings:
  
  the use of IR or thermography is effective in finding places where building temperature varies for any reason: missing insulation, wet insulation, electrical failures, radiant heat system failures.
  
  IR and thermography are wonderful tools. But these tools can only detect a building condition that is present at the time that the tool is used.
  
  As with our moisture detection schemes above, if a building wall was flooded and its insulation soaked last year, the wall cavity may be mold-contaminated, but having since dried, the thermal scan method will not detect that condition.
  
  Thermal imaging is very useful for measuring temperature variations and points of heat loss in buildings - as we explain
  
  at THERMAL IMAGING, THERMOGRAPHY.
• Moisture meters
  
  are among the most-popular "mold scanning" tool for buildings.
  
  But a moisture meter only detects moisture if moisture is still present. A leak last year that soaked a wall cavity may have generated a stunning mold reservoir that happens to be dry at the time your mold detective pokes into the wall exterior with her moisture meter.
  
  Absence of moisture is no assurance of an absence of mold contamination.
  
  See MOISTURE METER STUDY where we demonstrate that even the best moisture meter will not find all moisture, leaks, nor mold in buildings.
• MVOC-detection, mold related volatile organic compounds to find mold in buildings: are limited in effectiveness.
  
  As we discuss below
  
  at MOLD-SNIFFING DOGS, not all molds produce MVOCs and MVOCs are also not produced consistently even when the mold species can make these gases.
  
  See SAMPLING for GASES for details about MVOC detection.

Limitations of Mold Sniffing Dogs

Some mold investigators use dogs trained to respond to mold odors - usually gases produced by MVOC's. Indeed there is ample evidence that some dogs can be trained to sniff out certain compounds.

But there are limitations to the effectiveness and comprehensiveness of mold sniffing dog mold surveys of buildings that in my OPINION your money might be better spent on an inspection for building leaks and water damage.

• Mold sniffing dogs used to find mold in buildings:
  
  are not a joke to everyone. There are some fatal limitations to mold sniffing dogs that prevent an expert from taking them seriously, even if the dogs, of various breeds and often specially-trained mold-beagles may be the cutest and most fun mold detection device around.
  
  Why can't the Mold Sniffing Dog Sniff Out the Mold?
• Spores or MVOCs may be absent: 
  
  Allergenic or toxic molds may be present but may not be producing MVOCs or other materials that the dog senses. Not all molds produce gases and smells; even if a mold species does produce detectable MVOCs the mold colony does not always actively do so.
  
  Spore release from a mold colony and gas production from mold varies widely over time as a function of changes in the building environment: moisture, temperature, light exposure, air movement and other factors can "turn on" or "turn off" these effects. So our cute mold sniffer may not sense a problem even though one is present.
• Most mold sniffing dogs can't write
  
  a mold remediation plan.
  
  Even if a mold sniffer dog does suspect a mold problem in a building and tells his handler of it, that's not enough data to act upon. We do not know the size, location, or cause of the mold contamination; we do not know if the mold our mold dog found was the only or even the most important mold reservoir.
• Most mold sniffing dogs are short:
  
  not many of them can poke their noses in all of the areas where mold problems are most likely such as high on building walls, along building ceilings, across attic insulation, etc.
  
  People who describe the mold sniffing dog service to us have all confirmed that not once did the mold detection dog's handler pick up the dog and lift it into the air so that the dog could thoroughly explore all of the building's ceilings, nor did these critters crawl through attic insulation.
  
  

  Mold Dog scaffolds?
  
  Shown above: to enable mold sniffing dogs to check out upper areas of building walls and to sniff out hidden mold in ceilings we propose the telescoping safety scaffold portrayed above.

  When the dog scaffold is extended to place the dog close to the ceiling, the mold-sniffing dog needs a safety harness. Working at higher elevations in buildings can be dangerous, particularly if MVOCs sniffed by Randy (shown in our photo above) cause dizziness and disorientation.

  Casters on the mobile mold dog scaffold permit the mold dog's handler to wheel the dog Randy about - presuming all obstructing furniture and hanging fixtures have first been removed from the building. [Click to enlarge any image]

Photo: dog jumping up as high as she can to check for the odor of mold contamination in the ceiling? How high can she jump for a quick mold-sniff?

• Mold sniffing dogs can't jump high enough:
  
  We already claimed that the mold sniffing dog is too short to sniff anywhere but along the floor of a building. But some dogs like Randy shown in our mold dog photo above, can actually jump amazingly high.
  
  When you hired the Service-Capable Animal Mold-Educated Dog (SCAMED) Company did you see if the Randy the dog was able to jump high enough to pull down moldy insulation from the basement ceiling?
  
  [Click to enlarge any image] When Randy delivers the insulation sample he expects us to test it for mold following the procedure
  
  at INSULATION MOLD CONTAMINATION TEST but such tests are not needed when the visible surfaces of the room are already thick with mold.
  
  Did your mold dog jump high enough to smell mold near the ceiling - where maybe a roof eaves leak dropped water into the upper wall and ceiling or where the attic air conditioner condensate leaked into the attic floor?
  
  I think there cannot be many mold dogs who can both smell mold and who can maintain their ability to jump seven feet into the air repeatedly to sniff around every room in a building. Randy gets tired after about ten minutes of jumping, though our neighbor's dog Duffy seems to be able to keep leaping (and barking) like a madman for hours at a time.

Above: a dog of limited height might be asked to wear stilts to enable him to sniff out hidden mold reservoirs up near the ceiling. Image adapted from celebritydachsund.com. [Click to enlarge any image] Notice the worried expression on this mold dog's face? He's still practicing using stilts, starting with a junior set. he hasn't yet gone inside the moldy home. But he's thinking about it.

• Mold sniffing dogs do not do well wearing stilts:
  
  ok so if the mold sniffing dog can't jump and the dog's handler doesn't have the strength nor height to hold the dog up near the ceiling for a walkabout through every room in a building, what about dog stilts?
• Mold sniffing may be hazardous to the dog's health.
  
  We  have been collecting data for two decades showing that some pets become sensitized to and very ill from exposure to some molds.
  
  In cases that we have investigated some dogs exposed to MVOCs have died while others suffered aberrant behaviour and apparent neurologcial damage (aggressiveness, disorientation, loss of balance, running in circles).
  
  It's not good for the dog to keep going into moldy buildings (nor is it good for humans) - and if the dog wore a dog-fitted HEPA respirator it's doubtful s/he would smell building conditions very accurately.

In our OPINION, we do not argue for a moment about whether or not dogs can be trained to sniff mold. That ability has been demonstrated as we cite below.

Our exposition of the limitations of mold-sniffing dogs is given above. Worse, even if your mold dog is held up high enough to sniff ceilings and wall tops and is given a free run of the attic to sniff for mold on the attic side of ceiling drywall, the results of a sniff test tell us that mold contamination is present. To make use of such information we need to know a bit more, including

1. Where is the mold?
2. How much is there? More than 30 sq.ft. of contiguous mold deserves professional remediation.
3. What caused the mold growth: what do we need to find and fix?

Research on Using Dogs for Odor Detection of Various Substances: mold, termites, other

Focusing here on detection of insects or mold, we omit research on the use of trained dogs for detection of explosives or drugs: those topics are not withing the scope of this discussion.

• Bennett, J. W. "Aspergillus: a primer for the novice." Medical mycology 47, no. sup1 (2009): S5-S12.
  Excerpt:
  … The use of dogs in 'mold sniffing' operations in search of putative fungal etiology of 'sick buildings …
• Brooks, Shawn E., Faith M. Oi, and Philip G. Koehler. "Ability of canine termite detectors to locate live termites and discriminate them from non-termite material." Journal of Economic Entomology 96, no. 4 (2003): 1259-1266.
  Abstract:
  
  Dogs were trained to detect Eastern subterranean termites, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), using the United States Customs method of scent detection dog training modified with a food reward. Dogs were tested with various numbers of Eastern subterranean termites placed in vented PVC containers.
  
  Trained dogs were 95.93% accurate in finding ≥40 Eastern subterranean termite workers (positive indications) and incorrectly indicated the presence of termites in 2.69% of the containers without termites. Multiple species of termites [dark southern subterranean, R. virginicus (Banks); Formosan subterranean, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki; powderpost, Cryptotermes cavifrons Banks; and southeastern drywood termites, Incisitermes snyderi (Light)], were similarly evaluated.
  
  Dogs trained to locate Eastern subterranean termites were also 100% accurate in finding dark southern subterranean termites, 98.89% accurate in finding Formosan subterranean termites, 97.33% accurate in finding powderpost termites, and 88.89% accurate in finding southeastern drywood termites.
  
  Dogs were able to discriminate live termites from non-termite material. Trained dogs’ false response rate was 25.33% to Eastern subterranean termite–damaged wood, 6.67% to American cockroaches, Periplaneta americana (L.), and 2.67% to Florida carpenter ants, Camponotus floridanus Buckley.
• Griffith, Robert T., Krishnaswamy Jayachandran, William Whitstine, and Kenneth G. Furton. DIFFERENTIATION OF TOXIC MOLDS VIA HEADSPACE SPME-GC/MS AND CANINE DETECTION [PDF] Sensors 7, no. 8 (2007): 1496-1508.
  Abstract:
  
  Indoor mold growth has recently become a concern in the legal world in regards to insurance litigation. Hazardous mold exposure to humans has been linked to many acute and chronic adverse health effects including death. As it grows, mold produces several types of primary and secondary metabolites, including microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs).
  
  Microbial volatile organic compound emission may be used as a preliminary indication of a mold infestation that is invisible to the unaided eye. The objective of the study is to identify the unique odor signatures of three species of molds, Aspergillus versicolor, Penicillium chrysogenum, and Stachybotrys chartarum by SPME-GC/MS analysis.
  
  Determining the compounds that are emitted by the selected species has made it possible to conduct validation studies of canine detection of these mold species through a series of field tests.
• Mall, Allison. "Get a whiff of this duo." James Madison University, JMU Scholarly Commons, - retrieved 2020/11/07 original source: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=monty
  Excerpt:
  
  Bob Carter ('84) and his mold-sniffing dog, Brandy, are changing the nation's mold-inspecting business.Carter's company, Elite Detection Dawgs LLC, is based in Atlanta. By using Brandy, a 2-year-oldchocolate Labrador retriever, to find sources of mold in schools, homes and office buildings, Elite has surpassed most other mold detection agencies in the Southeast whose only means of detection isscientific testing - a slow and less accurate process of mold detection.

Ineffective or Unreliable Products and Procedures Sold for Detecting, Killing, or Removing Mold

If your building has been flooded, this website provides an easy to understand guide for flood damage assessment, setting priorities of action, safety, and we provide special information about avoiding or minimizing mold damage.

Our FLOOD RESPONSE CHECKLIST lists key actions you should take after building flooding to minimize mold damage, and includes some safety warnings.

We also list after-flood "anti-mold" /mold/Ineffective_Mold_Cleaners.phpctive.htm">procedures that do not work or are unsafe - to help you avoid unnecessary expense in dealing with mold after a building flood.

If your building is already moldy or if you suspect mold related illness in your building, we link to a step by step

MOLD ACTION GUIDE

dealing with toxic or allergenic indoor mold and other indoor contaminants: when and how to inspect or test for mold, when to hire an expert, how to clean up a moldy area, when and how to perform post-remediation mold testing.

• Disinfectants, mold biocides, mold killing sprays, mold washes, & fungicides:
  
  Spraying cleaners, disinfectants, bleach, fungicides can be used to clean a moldy surface if you wish, and where bacterial contamination is present or suspected they are appropriate.
  
  But do not use sprays or disinfectants without first drying the building and removing sludge, debris, and contaminated or moldy materials and then physically leaning all surfaces.
  
  Use of disinfectants or biocides as part of cleaning are appropriate at times, especially where there has been or may have been sewage backup where bacterial contamination is present. But no spray or gas is an effective substitute for physically cleaning and physically removing mold and moldy materials.
  
  Watch out for companies who offer sprays or gases as a shortcut when cleaning is what's needed. A dead mold spore can still be toxic or allergenic. Clean off the mold from hard surfaces, and throw away moldy materials that cannot be cleaned.
  
  See MOLD CLEANUP, BLEACH and
  
  see DISINFECTANTS, SANITIZERS, FUNGICIDAL-SEALANTS SOURCES
  
  See SEWAGE CONTAMINATION in BUILDINGS for discussion of how to test for and remove sewage contaminants from buildings.
  
  See MOLD CLEANUP GUIDE- HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD for advice on using bleach or other cleaners to remove mold from surfaces.
• Ozone for mold:
  
  Using ozone generators to "kill" mold - use of Ozone as a "mold" remedy is ineffective and may be dangerous. Ozone has valid disinfection applications but not as a panacea for mold contamination; over-dosing with ozone creates new odor and offgassing hazards.
  
  See OZONE MOLD / ODOR TREATMENT WARNINGS
• Dehumidification without Demolition Water "extraction" methods
  
   which simply run dehumidifiers in a building which has been flooded. we have found soaking wet wall cavities and insulation many weeks after a building appeared "dry" when this method was used.
• Blown-air Wall Cavity Treatments
  
  "Water extraction" methods that cut small holes between wall studs to blow air through the wall cavity. In many buildings which we have investigated where this method was used, we found severe mold growth on the cavity side of drywall and wallboard afterwards.
• Water Detection to Track Moldy Areas
  
  Use of moisture meters or infra red or other measures to "find the wet areas" - this works to find mold-risk areas only if the cavities are still wet.
  
  In other words, if a building was wet in the past but has since dried, it could have a severe hidden mold infection that will not be detected by using moisture-detection methods.

...

Continue reading at MOLD CLEANUP - MISTAKES to AVOID or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• FUNGICIDAL SEALANT USE GUIDE
• MOLD APPEARANCE - WHAT MOLD LOOKS LIKE
• MOLD CLEANUP GUIDE- HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD
• MOLD ENVIRO-SCARE - public fear and marketing conflate real hazards with imagined ones
• MOLD SANITIZER, SPRAY, BIOCIDE USE GUIDE
• OTHER PEOPLE's MONEY - why consultants spend your money to reduce their risk
• OZONE MOLD / ODOR TREATMENT WARNINGS
• THERMAL IMAGING MOLD SCANS

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MOLD PRODUCTS, INEFFECTIVE at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to MOLD CONTAMINATION & REMEDIATION

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