Reports of respiratory irritation
If the indoor air in a building is contaminated with mould spores, it is likely to effect your health and could cause respiratory infections, allergies and asthma. This is because mould produces an allergen which could cause an allergic reaction such as sneezing, skin rash and a runny nose however if an individual suffers from asthma the mould spores could cause an asthma attack which can be very serious. This was the case in our next project.
Our lead surveyor travelled to Hemel Hempstead for this project to conduct an indoor air quality assessment in a two bedroomed, ground floor apartment which was part of a three storey residential building. The apartment had a typical layout which consisted of a combined kitchen and living room area, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a boiler cupboard. The family that currently occupied the apartment had two young children, one of which was an infant. The father and the infant both reported episodes of respiratory irritation, resulting in the infant being admitted to hospital on one occasion.
Approximately 3 months after moving into the property, the family noticed mould occurring around the windows. Since then the mould has been occurring periodically and the occupants have been cleaning it off approximately every two weeks.
Beginning the investigation
When making a visual inspection of the property, our surveyor noticed evidence of mould contamination in various places around the apartment. These areas include around the windows, to the back of the installed kitchen units and on the walls behind the sofa. Our surveyor then relied on the moisture mapping process in order to locate any further mould contamination which may be invisible to the naked eye and to reveal the extent of the moisture.
Moisture mapping revealed that the apartment was affected by condensation damp in several areas of the property, causing mould spores to be present in the mould area. It is in our surveyor’s opinion that the root cause of the condensation mould is water condensation and poor ventilation in these areas. It was noted that there were several areas within the apartment which allowed a high level of moisture to collect, such as drying clothing indoors and unfortunately the building was not equipped with adequate facilities for drying clothing either internally or externally.
Overall the air quality assessment indicated that the indoor air is significantly affected by an elevated level of mould spores. It was the professional opinion of our surveyor that the risk to health from exposure to the mould spores is likely to be high.
Recommendations to reduce exposure to mould spores
On completion of our assessment our surveyor had some recommendations in order to improve the indoor air quality and to reduce the family’s exposure to mould spores. Firstly we recommended the family to replace their current washing machine with an externally vented washing machine and tumble dryer unit. This will eliminate the need to dry clothing indoors and ultimately reducing the humidity and moisture in the atmosphere.
The extraction fan in the bathroom should be put on a delayed timer so that it does not shut off as soon as the bathroom light is turned off. We also recommend that insulation is installed around the windows in order to minimise the potential for condensation.
Finally, our surveyor recommended that all mould contamination is to be removed under localised extractions. All contaminated areas should be treated with an antifungal treatment to decontaminate the area and prevent reoccurrence of fungal growth.
