Category Archives: mold

In doubt to the company doctor

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Mold fungus aspergillus niger

Mold fungus aspergillus niger

Another case from practice. An employee of an industrial company complained about health problems that he thought could be related to a mold in the operating rooms. The technical director of the company took the process seriously and commissioned the building biologist Oliver Zenkel with a room air examination. Culture media and particle collectors were sampled in two indoor and outdoor areas and then sent to a special laboratory for mycological examinations. After fourteen days, the lab report came and showed mushroom species that normally have no place in the room air. Particularly striking were some groups of the mold fungus species “aspergillus”. On the basis of this laboratory finding, the building biologist suspects an invisible mold source in the operating rooms.
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Home buyer discovered the real house sponge after purchase

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Serpula Lacrymans

The fungus can remain invisible for a long time

An unpredictable journeyman

The “real house sponge” (Serpula lacrymans) behaves as an unpredictable journeyman. Even in cases where he already seemed successful, he can turn up again. Already two hundred years ago there were extensive treatises on the life, occurrence and the destructive action of this fungus. It can grow even at a relatively low level of wood moisture and even attack almost dry wood when it is simultaneously settled in a different area with higher humidity. With the aid of its strand mycelium or the so-called strands, the real house sponge can spread over long stretches, thereby also wood-free substances overgrown many meters. No wonder every builder shrugs when the real house sponge is mentioned.
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Five drill holes for a thousand dollars

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hole in the wall, which is freshly drilled

Hole in the wall, which is freshly drilled

The building-biologist Oliver Zenkel looks surprised at the holes in the wall, which are freshly drilled a few centimeters above the base of the sock. Together with Susanne Planer he stands in the living room of the customer. She had called the expert, because there was mold in several places in the wall corners. Mr. Zenkel should carry out a collection of air germs and then have the culture media examined in the laboratory. In the course of the sampling the customer told how the holes in the wall had come. “Over a thousand dollars would have cost this action,” says Mrs. Planer.
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Test strip system for mold detection

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film strip system

film strip system

The laboratory team of the Environmental Mycology in Berlin is always good for an innovation. Under the direction of Dr. Christoph Trautmann and Dr. Ingrid Dill the mold experts developed a test strip system for mold detection handling surface contact samples. Their motivation is obvious: The more accurate the building biologist working at the sampling, the safer is the analysis result. Unprofessional sampling, however, prepare the laboratory team a considerable overhead. Continue reading →