Why Take Outside Sample First?

Nathan, pls take this.

why?

B/C he recently posted that we should always take the o/s smpl first.

don't know why - it changes by the minute. one could argue to take it first then after the indoor sample to use to support the illogical comparison between in and out

Hopefully Dr. Shane will answer this.

Who is Dr Shane?

I havent heard the name mentioned before

Kevin Moore wrote:Who is Dr Shane?

Dr Shane is the mold guru at inspector labs. He has posted once or twice on here.

Kevin Moore wrote:Who is Dr Shane?

He's the Phd at Inspector Lab and the mold expert

Still Waiting For N or Dr. Shane here

Kevin Moore wrote:I havent heard the name mentioned before

do more reading, and less posting, Kevin.

Philo wrote:

Kevin Moore wrote:I havent heard the name mentioned before

do more reading, and less posting, Kevin.

Thanks for that insightful post there cowboy

Pete Campbell wrote:B/C he recently posted that we should always take the o/s smpl first.

For me there's quite a few reasons:

1. It reduces the possibility of contamination. Everything you touch in the house can (doesn't always) contaminate the cassette when you're opening and handling it.
2. You can do it before you have access to the house, so it's more efficient use of time.
3. You can't control the weather...so if you wait until the end and the weather turns you end up waiting a long time, which could have been avoided.
4. You should have a procedure you always follow in your inspections and mold tests. It keeps you from making mistakes or forgetting things.

I think #1 is what you were looking for Pete.

If you sell sampling while on the job, or weather forces outdoor samples after the indoor, dust yourself off and clean your hands outside before opening the cartridge.

Just a quick followup to what Nathan said. I would suggest that you wash your hands with soap and water once you have been inside touching things. The soap will remove the mold spores from your hands.

The whole idea here is that we need the outside to be the benchmark of “normal” to compare to the inside. Too often we see the outside look very similar to the inside (especially the Penicillium/Aspergillus spores).

These spores are very small and are attracted to your hands an clothing. When you touch and open the cassettes, the cassettes charge and lots of spores are attracted to the cassette and “load it up” with spores.

Following those simple procedures will prevent problems that cause the real estate agent, your clients and you from asking questions post testing. That costs money and time that can be avoided.

Dr. Shane

A video demonstration would be great!