Saturday, October 3, 2015

Mold growth in an attic

Suspected mold growth in an attic - flash on camera
I was asked by a home owner who was selling his property to determine if the white specks under the roof in his attic was mold growth.  In this case, I chose to charge a flat fee that would allow me to take as many samples as I needed to make sure I identified the organism.

Safely sampling the material was a bit tricky.  I attached clear double stick tape loop onto the end of a telescoping camera tripod.  I taped the inside of the loop onto the tripod to prevent it from coming off during sampling.  The homeowner stabilized the ladder while I took samples.

Suspected mold growth in an attic.  - No flash on camera
I also took photos of the attic without benefit of a flash. The images were a bit blurry but more accurately depicted the light cream color of the mold growth.

Bathroom exhaust vent
At this point in time, we are not sure about the source of moisture in the attic.  There were some leaks noted in the bathroom exhaust vent.  Local abatement contractors were referred to the home owner for the remediation work.

Photo micrograph of Chrysosporium spp. taken from a tease tape of the attic roof- lacto fuchsin stain
 
The above photo was taken with a Samsung S-5 camera phone through the eyepiece of a Nikon microscope. There is a distance of 25 microns between the 4 and 5 on the ruler.  The image was cropped using Adobe Photoshop. Some species of Chrysosporium spp. can be a rare opportunistic pathogen for individuals with compromised immune systems.


The organism, Chrysosporium spp., is causing health problems for Timber Rattlesnakes - 5 min.

2 comments:

  1. First, I would like to say the layout of your blog matches well with your topic. I only have one suggestion. In your header, consider adding what Mycology is. Readers who don't know what it is wont stop to read your blog, which means you only have a small target audience. Other than that, I am interested in knowing your findings.

    Gregg Hogan @ American Basement Solutions

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  2. Gregg,

    Thanks for the note it is a good suggestion. I added a definition of Mycology in the header of the blog.

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