Does Dust on Furniture Mean Mold Contamination? 

Scroll through the pictures below. These were taken in an apartment where mold colonization was observed around the air supply grilles, in the laundry room floor covering, in the kitchen sink cabinet, and in the living room ceiling. If you were to assume whether mold contamination exists on these surfaces, would you say it did or didn’t? Cleaning of these contents necessary or not? 

Well, we sampled these and other surfaces where such dust accumulation was visible and sent those samples to an independent, accredited laboratory for analysis. The laboratory’s findings reported trace amounts of a few mold spores in the dust. What did this mean for the contents in this apartment? They weren’t contaminated with mold (i.e., the mold colonization that we observed had not negatively impacted the contents in the apartment) and mold remediation of the contents wasn’t necessary. 

Sure, this isn’t the case every time. There are times we sample surfaces and find an abnormality in the mold spore populations, that do require contents cleaning during mold remediation. This just goes to show that the need to clarify the Condition of the environment is important before assuming (1) contamination exists, (2) assuming the cost of mold remediation, (3) determining potential sources of airborne mold spore populations, and other important questions that come up during a mold assessment. 

If you’re dealing with a known, suspect, or potential mold hazard in your home or office, contact us to discuss how we can best serve you. 

All of that said, are you asking yourself, “So, what was in the dust that you sampled”? 

Dust, something we often call particulate matter, is made up of varying combinations of things, like skin fragments, insect fragments, fibrous particulates, pollen, mold spores, etc. When determining the composition of dust accumulation, material data analysis is the best analytical methodology. Such an analysis breaks down the components of the dust, providing a clear picture of what is present. While this apartment didn’t have us perform such a test, our laboratory did provide some perspective into what was in the dust: pollen, fibrous particulates, and insect fragments made up most of the dust, followed by the trace amount of mold spores previously mentioned.