{"id":15,"date":"2020-06-14T03:13:27","date_gmt":"2020-06-14T03:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/103.42.110.35\/~wwwmouldinspecti\/?page_id=15"},"modified":"2020-11-24T03:33:48","modified_gmt":"2020-11-24T03:33:48","slug":"faqs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQ’S"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\tFrequently Asked Questions\n\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\tCan I undertake the mould testing myself to reduce the cost?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n

Yes we have self-test kits which we will send to you with step by step instructions. You then send them back in the envelope provided and in return you will receive a full Laboratory Report identifying the mould species and informing you if it is toxic or allergenic etc. You will also receive specific H&S advice and decontamination guidance.<\/p>\n\t\t\tHow do I know if I need a property Assessment Report or a Mould Test?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n

If you know exactly what is causing your source of mould, you probably don\u2019t need a report. If you have fixed the source of moisture (ie; plumbing leak, external cladding leak or condensation) it would be recommended to undertake the mould test. This will confirm if you are dealing with a toxic species which will require a different decontamination process to non-toxic. The mould test takes the guesswork out of the removal process as you know what you are dealing with and you can prepare your H&S and protective clothing accordingly.<\/p>\n\t\t\tHow damaging is mould to our health?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n

Young children and the elderly are particularly susceptible to Asthma and respiratory diseases. Even non-toxic mould species can trigger allergens creating coughs and flu-like symptoms. However the black toxic mould (Stachybotrys) can cause incurable respiratory diseases.<\/p>\n\t\t\tHow common is toxic black mould in New Zealand?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n

There is a surprisingly widespread distribution of toxic mould in New Zealand. Stachybotrys and Chaetomium is commonly formed within wall cavities and will spore once it penetrates through the wall lining and dries out. Due to the decades of direct fix cladding and the resulting \u2018leaky buildings\u2019 issue, moisture ingress is common in wall cavities and toxic black mould is regularly encountered.<\/p>\n\t\t\tWill the property Assessment Report and Laboratory Report be confidential?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n

You will be employing us so the information provided is your sole property. We will only distribute information to other parties if requested in writing otherwise everything is dealt with complete confidentiality.<\/p>\n\t\t\tIs black mould dangerous or toxic? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

The colour of a mould is no gauge of its toxicity. You can have white, blue, green and red moulds and all are equally dangerous or allergenic. Even toxic moulds such as Penicillium Aspergillus , and others may be capable of producing toxins but usually only do so when under attack typically from drying out, application of bleach or biocides and bacteria.<\/p>\n\t\t\tI have been told to wash off the mould with bleach or fungicide and paint, is that safe? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

NO. A cubic inch of mould can contain 1 billion spores. Brushing off mould will likely release hundreds of thousands of spores into the air you breathe.<\/p>\n\t\t\tI have a little mould on my wall is it dangerous? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

This is difficult to answer. Some toxic moulds that are producing toxins can have devastating health effects from just a few square inches while some toxic moulds can fill a wall but do not have serious health effects. Much will depend on whether the mould is under attack or growing actively. Bottom line is all mould is allergenic but some are extremely toxic..<\/p>\n\t\t\tWhat is the difference between mould removal and decontamination? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

Almost anyone suitably protected can remove mould but the airborne release may cause contamination to spread widely and create a serious inhalation risk. Decontamination is the actual removal of surface and or the removal of airborne contamination.<\/p>\n\t\t\tWhat is the main risk of mould? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

According to the WHO the main risk of mould growth is the inhalation of spores and their fragments together with associated contaminates.<\/p>\n\t\t\tWhat is the recommended procedure for mould removal\/decontamination? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\tThis will depend on your health and wealth. If you have an area smaller than 1m2, you can wear suitable PPE and simply wash it off. However if you are debilitated and or have hidden mould you may need professional help. Typically if mould is visible on one side of a plaster board wall it is invariably present on the other side and may require removal by experts.
\nFor larger contaminated areas, wear suitable PPE and erect critical barriers to the contaminated area. Install Negative air pressure to contain airborne contamination. Carefully remove porous substrates and or clean hard surfaces with HEPA vacuum systems. Wash down with soapy water and dry. Clean the air with a suitable air scrubbing technique. Provide third party independent clearance certification.\n\t\t\tWhat is toxic mould? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

Toxic mould is a name coined by the Institute of Medicine to describe the toxic effects known to be produced by moulds producing cytotoxic and neurotoxic effects. The toxins originally thought to be ingested are now known to be released into the air on inhalable fragments where they can travel to the lower respiratory system.<\/p>\n\t\t\tIs mould the main hazard? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

No, bacteria grows before mould and they release toxins too typically streptomycin which kills yeast (mould infections). The mould will battle with bacteria and other moulds all releasing powerful toxins and some will die. The dead bacteria, spores and spore casing will produce allergens, may contain toxins and some are known to combine to create significant challenges to the human immune system.<\/p>\n\t\t\tHow do I know if I have toxic mould? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

If you have a long term water or moisture issue (weeks\/months) this can include flooding, leaks and even condensation. While moisture is necessary for mould growth it doesn’t always follow that toxic mould will form. Your best gauge of toxic mould is if you suffer symptoms associated with it.<\/p>\n\t\t\tWhy am I sick but my partner isn’t? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

This depends on many issues including age, personal health, exposure levels. So often we see a housewife sick and the partner who goes to work unaffected. This is due to extended periods of exposure. But often the main reason is Genetics and typically people with an HLA gene difference are affected most.<\/p>\n\t\t\tWhy do I feel better when I leave the property? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

This is a typical marker for toxic mould. Exposure to any toxic substance may reflect symptoms, but beware. The human body can remove toxins to some extent but there may be a tipping point where even going out into the natural environment may not see health improvement. It has been found that those affected quickly often return to health quickly whereas some who take longer to react may find they develop chronic symptoms despite leaving the exposure.<\/p>\n\t\t\tMy rental property has mould what should I do? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

Landlords who rent out properties that have mould, are at risk of being prosecuted and facing a large fine. Landlords of both residential and commercial tenanted properties are legally obliged to treat mould. If they fail to do so, they face being prosecuted. An independent, microbial qualified third party should be recommended to provide an assessment and safety certification.<\/p>\n\t\t\tWhat are the health risks of flooding? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\t

This depends on time. It is accepted that a clean water escape of water from inside a home is a low hazard. Grey water from a washing machine which contains some organic soiling is a slightly higher risk. Black water from outside sources is grossly contaminated and is assumed to carry 120 bacterial and 1200 viral infections. All of these categories escalate over hours and within 48 hours even clean water could amplify the normally present biological loading to unacceptable levels.<\/p>\n\t\t\tHow long before mould will grow after a flood? <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpand<\/i><\/a>\n\t\tMould will grow within 48 hours and at almost any temperature including in a fridge.
\nThe extent of mould growth will often depend on environmental conditions with temperature over 20c and humidity over 70% key triggers.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frequently Asked Questions Can I undertake the mould testing myself to reduce the cost? Expand Yes we have self-test kits which we will send to you with step by step instructions. You then send them back in the envelope provided and in return you will receive a full Laboratory Report identifying the mould species and … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"\nFrequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | Mould Inspections New Zealand<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mould Inspections offers answers to a number of frequently asked questions about our mould testing and reporting services. Read FAQs online.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | Mould Inspections New Zealand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mould Inspections offers answers to a number of frequently asked questions about our mould testing and reporting services. Read FAQs online.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mould Inspections NZ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-24T03:33:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/\",\"name\":\"Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | Mould Inspections New Zealand\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-14T03:13:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-24T03:33:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Mould Inspections offers answers to a number of frequently asked questions about our mould testing and reporting services. Read FAQs online.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"FAQ’S\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/\",\"name\":\"Mould Inspections NZ\",\"description\":\"Mould investigation and reporting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | Mould Inspections New Zealand","description":"Mould Inspections offers answers to a number of frequently asked questions about our mould testing and reporting services. Read FAQs online.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | Mould Inspections New Zealand","og_description":"Mould Inspections offers answers to a number of frequently asked questions about our mould testing and reporting services. Read FAQs online.","og_url":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/","og_site_name":"Mould Inspections NZ","article_modified_time":"2020-11-24T03:33:48+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/","url":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/","name":"Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | Mould Inspections New Zealand","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-06-14T03:13:27+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-24T03:33:48+00:00","description":"Mould Inspections offers answers to a number of frequently asked questions about our mould testing and reporting services. Read FAQs online.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/faqs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"FAQ’S"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/","name":"Mould Inspections NZ","description":"Mould investigation and reporting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334,"href":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions\/334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mouldinspections.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}