Mold Testing Laboratory In Toronto
Mold & Bacteria Consulting Laboratories (MBL) is a leading provider of mold and bacteria testing services in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the rest of Canada.
As a mold and bacteria laboratory, the lab specializes in the analysis of air and surface samples for:
- Bacteria including Coliforms, E.coli, Legionella testing, and total aerobic and anaerobic counts
- Mold analysis by culture methods: culturable air samples such as RCS, BioCassette, Andersen, SAS, etc.
- Mold analysis by direct microscopic examination: tape, bulk, swab, and water samples
- Total airborne fungal spore counts: Spore traps including Air-O-Cell, BioAire, and Micro5 cassettes, Allergenco, Burkard and BioSIS slides
MBL’s mold and bacteria testing services are not restricted to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We serve clients in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Foundland.
MBL clients include:
- Industrial hygienists
- Environmental consultants
- Quality assurance managers
- Home Inspectors
- General contractors
- Cleaning and restoration contractors
- Property managers
- Insurance, financial, or legal professionals who deal with microbial contamination issues
For questions related to laboratory testing of samples, sampling methods, laboratory data interpretation and other issues related to microorganisms, please call 905-290-9101 (within Toronto area) or 1-866-813-0648 if calling outside the GTA.
Asthma
Question: Approximately 7-9 years ago, I worked in a building in which I may possibly have been exposed to mold. Prior to being in the building, I used to run up to 7 miles, almost every other day, almost religiously.
In reviewing my health records, it appears that prior to being in the building, I never had a breathing problem, or went to the doctor much. It seemed that after being in that building, the breathing problems persisted.
For my undergrad practicum, I was in the building beginning in Fall, around September. Then by end of year, when I finally went to the doctor, I was told I was suffering with breathing problems. The doctor diagnosed that I had asthma, which I could not believe. I had been running for over 20 years at that time, and could not believe that asthma came on just like that.
When I did my graduate practicum in the building, I was congested all the time. Later, when I started working in the building on June 9, 2003, by Friday, June 13, 2009, I was sick. I went to my doctor, and was again told by the doctor that I had asthma….
My story continues,…. But, to make it short, I have been to medical doctors, specialists, naturapathic doctors, etc., etc., etc., who continue to treat the symptoms, and have not been able to tell me the cause of my ailment.
I have submitted to two allergy tests: one early on, and the latest completed in December 2009, which showed I tested high for several types of mold, including stachybotrys. I have been on sick leave, and decided to look on line to research the molds, other allergens I appear to be highly sensitive to, and came to your site.
On that note, too, when I was working in the building, I used to clean my work area. I kept some of the paper towels used to clean and dust, which were soiled with blackened dusts. My question is: can those towels be tested even though much time has passed, since I last worked in that building at end of 2003?
I just want to be cured, and to be able to run again.
Answer: Thank you for your email. I can feel for you having experienced something similar to what you have described. Fifteen years ago I had what doctors called bronchitis and others called Asthma. No doctor was able to tell me the cause of this problem. I was not sure whether the cause(s) of my asthma was from home or my place of work. At work, I was working as a plant pathologist and used to culture a lot of fungi (yeasts and molds).
Almost 15 years ago when I left my place of work and the house where I used to live, I have not had even a single attack. I still work with molds including Stachybotrys almost every day.
As for your question regarding testing of paper towels, I am not sure if that would be of any help. First, are those paper towels still there? Secondly, what would the towels be tested for? If mold, 7 years is a very long time!
Mold On Books
Question: I’ll try not to make this too long but I’m not sure how short it can be. Three questions:
- I found mold in my home and wiped it clean. It seems to have gone away and we feel fine. We do have allergies but these are due to the area we live in. It’s probably hard to say but….are we safe?
- I’m a comic book collector and I’m worried about the mold we found spreading to my comics. The mold is gone now and my books are not near the spot where the mold was found. Can my comics be in danger? I was told mold has a sweet smell….these comics seem to smell fine. It would be a shame to have to get rid of them.
- Another batch of comics I placed in storage does smell funny, though they were never wet while in storage and I don’t live in a humid environment (I live in California. It’s really hot and really dry, high humidity is rare). Should I be worried?
Sorry about all the questions, thanks for taking time to read this.
Answer: As you pointed out, it’s hard to say whether you’re save or not. I would suggest you consult a qualified local professional who may come to your home and assess the level of mold contamination and then recommend an appropriate level of mold remediation. Wiping out mold is a temporary solution if the underlying cause (moisture problem) is not addressed. If mold growth was extensive, it’s possible you’re inhaling millions of airborne fungal spores.
As for your second and third questions regarding the comics, I suggest you keep the books in a dry environment. Damp books will develop mold over time. Remember that mold produces chemicals (enzymes) that break down the material on which the mold is growing. So, eventually you may have to discard the books if they are badly damaged.
AIHce 2010-Mold Training
PDC 418: Denver, Colorado, May 23, 2010
Mold Recognition, Effective Sampling Strategies and Results Interpretation
Description: The PDC will enable participants to recognize indoor mold, develop effective sampling strategies and interpret laboratory results, all in the context of current mold-control and remediation principles. Participants will acquire a detailed understanding of the methods used to investigate mold growth in buildings and types of samples to collect. Discussions will explore the biology of molds, the causes of mold growth, as well as mold control and common indoor molds.
For more information, please visit http://www.aihce2010.org/aihce10/education/course.aspx?id=565
Age Of Mold
Question: I would really appreciate an advice on a matter of mold. I am having a hard time to get a straight answer locally. I am a self-employed marine surveyor who, along with a food inspector, inspected and dumped about 200 bottles of jam that had broken in transit. This was on Christmas Eve. Because some of the jam had developed mold, I asked the food inspector if we could test for the age of the mold to determine the approximate time/location of the damage. He advised that to determine the age of the mold, the temperature and relative humidity (RH) of the environment in which it was transported was required. The jam had been transported in a shipping container but temperature or RH data was not available.
When I see forensics on CSI testing for age of dead bodies, I find it hard to believe that the age of mold cannot be similarly determined.
I would be grateful if you could let me know, for my edification, whether it is possible to test for the age of mold.
Thank you for your kind assistance. Best regards.
Answer: I am not aware of a simple test that could be used to determine the age of mold. Also, in the case of the damaged jam bottles, the age of the mold may not help determine the approximate time/location of the damage. If we define age as the duration of time during which a cell, tissue, or organism has existed as a distinct entity, defining the age of mold could be a problem. This is because the network of fungal filaments (the mycelia) or spores from which the visible mold develops could be several years old. Another fact that complicates defining the age of mold is that mold grows only at the hyphal tips, and therefore the cells at the advancing edge of a fungal colony are the youngest, and those progressively nearer the centre are older. If we could determine the time (and not the age) it took the mold to develop into visible growth, this could help us determine the approximate time of damage. From laboratory observations of the growth rates of molds under different growth conditions, we may speculate how long it took for the visible growth to appear on the jam if we knew the type of mold and the conditions under which the jam was transported.
Doctors Think It’s Lupus
Question: Hi, I don’t know if you can help me, I have worked every day for the past 6 years cleaning mold of mostly 100 plus year old paper which until recently no protective clothing was provided. I have now got an autoimmune disorder, they think it’s lupus, scarred bone marrow, scarred lungs, fungus of the nails, sinus problems, as well as slight bleeding of the lungs. I have done some reading on the net about the effects of mold and I have told the doctors that I think this is what’s causing my problems but I am always told no it wouldn’t be that. I cannot convince a doctor to do a blood test to see if this is what’s causing all my health problems. I don’t know where else to turn. What I am hoping is that you might know a doctor in the Sydney area (Australia) who will be willing to do a blood test. I would be forever grateful.
Thank you for taking the time in reading this.
Answer: Thank you for your question. We really feel for you. Unfortunately we don’t know any doctor in Australia. It’s also possible that your doctors could be right. Give them a chance to try and diagnose your problem.
Acceptable levels of total aerobic bacteria, yeast and mold in buildings
Question: What is the “normal / acceptable” level of total aerobic bacteria and yeast & mold in homes / buildings
Answer: There are no universally agreed acceptable levels of total aerobic bacteria, yeast and mold in buildings. However, you may find levels suggested by various organisations. I would say that since there will always be bacteria/mold/yeast in houses, any levels that appear abnormally high is uncceptable. However, apart from the levels, you have also to consider what organisms are present since some are more harmful or destructive than others.
The tables below show some levels published by the Commission of the European Communities in Indoor Air Quality & its Impact on Man: Report No. 12: Biological Particles in Indoor Environments. ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1993.
Categories of CFU/m3 (mixed populations of fungi) obtained with the Andersen six-stage sampler in combination with MEA, and with the N6-Andersen one-stage sampler in combination with MEA and DG18.
| Category | Fungal Counts (CFU/m3) in Houses | Fungal Counts (CFU/m3) in non-industrial indoor environments |
|---|---|---|
| Very low | <50 | <25 |
| Low | <200 | <1,000 |
| Intermediate | <1,000 | <500 |
| High | <10,000 | <2,000 |
| Very High | >10,000 | >2,000 |
N.B.: These categories are based on the range of values obtained in indoor environments and not on a health risk evaluation.
Categories of CFU/g dust (mixed populations of fungi) obtained by direct
plating on V8 or DG18, and by suspension in peptone followed by plating on V8 or DG18, for houses and other non-industrial indoor environments
| Category | Method | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V8/directa | DG18/directa | V8/peptoneb | DG18/peptoneb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Very low | <1,000 | <2,000 | <10,000 | <10,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Low | <2,500 | <6,000 | <20,000 | <20,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intermediate | <5,000 | <9,000 | <40,000 | <50,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High | <10,000 | <15,000 | <100,000 | <120,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Very High | >10,000 | >15,000 | >100,000 | >120,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
a : direct plating of 30 mg dust
b: 100 mg dust suspended in a pepton solution (1 : 50), 0.1 ml of the solution plated on the medium
N.B. : These categories are based on the range of values obtained in indoor environments and not on a health risk evaluation.
Categories of CFU/m3 (mixed populations of bacteria) obtained with the
Andersen six-stage sampler or slit sampler (sampling time 10 – 15 min.,
incubation at 20 – 25°C for 3 – 5 days), for houses and non-industrial indoor environments.
| Category | Bacterial Counts (CFU/m3) in Houses | Bacterial Counts (CFU/m3) in non-industrial indoor environments |
|---|---|---|
| Very Low | <100 | <50 |
| Low | <500 | <100 |
| Intermediate | <2,500 | <500 |
| High | <10,000 | <2,000 |
| Very High | >10,000 | >2,000 |
N.B.: These categories are based on the range of values obtained in indoor environments and not on a health risk evaluation
Mold from marijuana grow ops
Question: My tenant was growing marijuana in the basement bedrooms of our rental house, with plastic on the walls and ceilings. He was there for a month before being evicted. Do I need to worry about any mold from his growing operation? Need rent the house in a couple of weeks.
Answer: I would suggest you have the basement tested for possible mold and other hazards before renting it out again. If cleaning is required, hire a qualified professional. This way, if any of your future tenants sues you (for mold that presumably was caused by the marijuana operation), you’ll be able to defend yourself.
Air sampling
Question: I’ve looked at the report and I’m very surprised. There is hardly any results. Have I done something wrong when I ran the air samples?
We had a company selling air cleaners offer to test our air. They ran two viable air samples. Then they said we had Aspergillus versicolor. Is it possible that a mold will show up on a viable test and not on a non-viable test?
Thank You
Answer: I don’t think you did anything wrong. The analysis of the air samples indicated there were some mold spores in your house BUT that is normal for almost every home. Air in every home or building is highly likely to contain some amount of mold spores and other fine particulates. Therefore, air sampling is not used to determine whether there is mold in a building but it is rather used to determine the amount of mold spores present in the air. The reason why one would want to know how much mold is there is because it’s the amount and the types of mold that the building occupants are exposed to that matter.
The test you did and the one that the other company did are different in many aspects and hence results from the two tests can be difficult to compare. Unlike the viable sampling method, the test you did does not allow for identification of moulds to species. That’s why we did not report Aspergillus versicolor. However, this method generally gives a better idea of how contaminated the air is because identification and enumeration of spores does not depend on whether the spores are viable (i.e., alive) or not.
I would like to know a little bit more about the viable air sampling conducted by the other company. Did they use an air sampler or just opened the agar plates and left them open for some time? The latter (called the settle plate method) is generally not a very efficient method for air sampling but it’s less expensive to perform and can at times provide useful information regarding the air quality in the home. The second question is, if they used the settle plate method, how many colonies were reported and how long were the plates exposed? The amount and not the presence is very important when it comes to indoor molds. Aspergillus versicolor is one of the most common molds indoors and presence of a few spores/colonies is not an indication of a mold problem. If you have not experienced any moisture problems in your home, it’s very unlikely that you have a mold problem worth worrying about.
As to whether a mold can show up on a viable test and not on a non-viable test, yes, it’s possible.
PLEASE HELP ME!
Me and my babies have been exposed to Mold Toxins for approximately 5 years (I believe 99% chance that I’m correct). I have all the severe serious level symptoms, plus have been exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning for approximately 8-9 months. I have been deteriorating very quickly. My 2 babies who are Lovebirds also have been deteriorating with severe symptoms which have gone to partially blindness. Please advise me on all the Medical Tests that can be done to confirm and determine my suspicions to Mold Toxin Poisoning Exposure.
Thank you in advance for your quick response as I’m in a desperate need of this information ASAP. I am in a crisis and I have no support. In addition, due to my destabilizing health conditions my finances have been exhausted and I have been unable to work for months or hardly functions at home with no income support. The Doctors are baffled so I need to inform them what steps to take immediately. Note: EEG, MRI tests have been completed however MRI results are not known at this time and EEG apparently was normal.
Sincerely,
P.S. An elderly woman has already died in this rental unit with similar symptoms. Autopsy results concluded death by natural causes.
Answer: Your story is rather sad. Perhaps the first test that should be performed is to assess the building for both biological and chemical pollutants. While presence of mold does not necessarily mean you have been exposed to mold toxins (mycotoxins), its absence could suggest that the possibility of significant mycotoxin exposure is very low. For medical tests, I would suggest you discuss this with your family doctor or request them to suggest other medical professionals who could help you.