| As concerns about mold contamination indoors become more prevalent, the need for standards within the
industry grows at an increasingly rapid pace. Not only is it crucial to have mold remediation standards,
but post-remediation standards, as well. Non-standardized post-remediation inspections cause a number
of problems, including project failure, confusion for the contractor, increased liability for the whole
industry, limited comparisons between projects, and a breakdown in the public's confidence. Although
the post-remediation evaluation process includes many parts, including sample collection and analysis
procedures, this article focuses on the importance of logical and effective post-remediation sample
interpretation from a macro approach. We will leave the discussion of collection and analysis
methodology to a future paper.
Post-remediation evaluation is a critical component of any mold remediation project (AIHA 38).
Oftentimes, due to the lack of concrete standards, the remediation work is done incorrectly or
ineffectively. This can make the problem worse and the contamination widespread (ACGIH 15.2). If, for
example, a proper decontamination unit is not correctly set up, the risk of contaminating clean areas
increases dramatically. In other situations, there may be more than one mold source contributing to the
problem. If all mold sources are not revealed and properly cleaned, mold will continue to be an issue
even after remediation. A post-remediation evaluation process can identify shoddy remediation efforts or
undiscovered mold sources that may continue to affect indoor air quality.
Despite the obvious need for generally accepted criteria to use as a comparison for post-remediation
samples, no universally recognized document currently exists. In fact, many industry professionals have
adopted the mistaken opinion that such criteria is impossible to develop as there are too many variables
(ACGIH TLV 2) (Tiffany, Bader, and Pratt 523). While it is important to recognize and address multiple
impacts, being difficult does not make a project impossible. As such, the first step in the process is
identifying and categorizing the critical variables to be addressed in the development of a clearance
criterion.
Why Don't We Have Standard Post-remediation Procedures?
Take, for example, the number of different approaches and methodologies a hygienist or Indoor
Environment Professional (IEP) can use to collect a sample. For surface samples, one might use swab,
tape, bulk or dust collection methods to gather the sample. For air samples, gravitational sedimentation
plates, air impact cassettes, spore trap on slides, collector sieves, liquid impingers, or agar impaction
methods could be used to collect the sample. Now consider the number of ways to analyze and interpret
the sample data: cultured, non-cultured (PCR), chemical (to identify mycotoxins or microbial volatile
organic compounds), and others. Furthermore, consider diverse geographic locations that have very | 