How to Take Mold Samples for Air Testing
Many homes or offices seem to have a high level of mold growth as of late. This mold can cause allergy problems and even make the inhabitants of the home or building sick. If you think that your family or office personnel may be at risk for any type of mold sickness, you can take an official sample and have it tested.
- Purchase a kit to sample the mold. These kits can be purchased online or local home improvement stores.
- Open the kit and make sure you have all of the required pieces.
- Put on plastic gloves to protect and prevent any contamination during the testing process.
- Add the medium from the kit to the Petri dish. This is usually in a small bottle with a dropper.
- Allow the medium to harden in the dish. This make taken up to one hour.
- Place the Petri dish in the center of the location you wish to test.
- Remove the lid and allow the dish to remain in the same level spot for at least one hour.
- Put the lid back on the dish after one hour and wait for 48 hours.
- Examine the dish for mold or signs of mold growth. You can compare your results to any listed in the kit. If mold cannot be detected, wait 72 hours and even possibly 96 hours, if necessary. If there are no signs of mold within 4 days, you should throw away the Petri dish and rest comfortably knowing that there is not enough mold in the air to harm you, your family or coworkers.
- Place the Petri dish in the shipping container if you suspect mold is beginning to grow.
- Ship the sample to the lab as instructed in your kit. You will be sent an official test result for your sample in 4 to 6 weeks.