| Air Conditioners, Air
Conditioning Equipment, & Air Ducts Are Mold Factories by mold experts Phillip Fry and Divine Montero, Certified Environmental Hygenists, Certified Mold Inspectors, and Certified Mold Remediators Air conditioners, air conditioning equipment, and air ducts are mold factories because: (1) The air conditioning cooling process condenses humidity moisture from the treated air and turns it into water inside the air conditioners, air conditioning equipment, and air ducts to drive mold growth. (2) The operating air conditioners, air conditioning equipment, and air ducts continually bring into the air cooling system new air that contains abundant airborne mold spores and organic dust and dirt, which are the mold food for the mold spores to eat to grow into mold colonies. (3) The operating air conditioners, air conditioning equipment, and air ducts then spread airborne mold spores from their internal mold growth into the rooms being cooled via the outward air flow from the air con units, resulting in massive mold cross contamination of the house, office, or workplace. (4) If heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are turned off at night or for many hours in the daytime in workplaces or in homes, the non-operation of the air conditioning can allow humidity to build, condense, and cause big-time mold growth. (5) The HVAC system may be too small in capacity and design to provide adequate fresh air intake and enough air conditioning to prevent mold growth. (6) To test your heating/cooling equipments and ducts for elevated levels of mold spores and mold growth, use EnviroDetectives™ mold test kits. You tape the open side of the mold test kit to the outside of the HVAC grill register or window air conditioner air supply grill so that the sticky side of the kit is facing the outward air flow from the heating/cooling duct register. Run your air conditioning system or window air conditioner on fan ventilation (no heating or cooling) for 10 minutes. Then, remove the mold test kits, put the lids back on, seal the outside edge of the closed mold test kit lab dishes and then watch for mold growth over a 7 day time period. (7) Use EnviroDetectives™ high ozone blasting as the most effective and least costly way to kill mold inside heating/cooling equipment and ducts. Learn how to use an ozone generator to get rid of air conditioning mold at Ozone Blaster. Because most room air conditioners and heating/cooling systems have internal mold growth, every three months you should use your own high ozone generator to input large volumes of high ozone (at least 14,000 mg per hour of ozone) for one hour into the fresh air supply intake of each window air conditioner, as well as your heating/cooling system to kill all air conditioning mold and bacteria. During ozone treatment of your air conditioners and heating/cooling equipment and ducts, there must be NO people, pets, or plants inside your home or building, or for one hour afterwards. (8). Do ozone blasting of your attic, basement, crawl space, enclosed garage, and all of rooms for one hour at least every three months to kill mold spores and bacteria throughout your home or building. As mentioned above, there must be NO people, pets, or plants inside your home or building during the ozone treatment or for one hour afterwards. Removing Mold and Preventing Mold Growth in Non-Air Conditioned Facilities One of the mold specialties of mold experts Phillip Fry and Divine Montero is removing mold and preventing future mold growth in large non-air conditioned facilities such as factories, warehouses, retail stores, schools, and public buildings that are too expensive in equipment and electricity bills to run air conditioning for mold control. In addition, for large buildings that are air conditioned, to keep indoor humidity at less than the mold-producing 70% humidity, the air conditioning usually has to run 24 hours, which is very costly in electric bills! If you run air conditioning only part-time, we know how to protect your building against humidity-caused mold growth that results when your air con is turned off (e.g., after work hours or weekends in an office). Please also read: Do it yourself mold testing of heating/cooling equipment and ducts! (read at the bottom of this page) Air Conditioning Mold News 15 Step Household Mold Removal & Remediation  Mold growth inside air conditioning supply register in a condominium in Penang, Malaysia, which was mold inspected & mold remediated by mold expert Phillip Fry, March, 2012. |
By Wong Mei Ling Many of us in tropical Singapore, with its average humidity of 84 per cent, swear by the cool comforts of air-conditioning. However your health can be compromised, especially when an air-conditioning system (AC system) is not properly maintained. If, for instance, dust and mould form as a result, symptoms of allergic rhinitis, an inflammation of the nasal passages, and asthma can worsen, said Dr Hwang Siew Wai, director of the Bukit Merah SingHealth Polyclinic. People who spend a lot of time in air-conditioned office buildings have more health problems, said a study done in France by Dr Mark Mendell and published in the International Journal Of Epidemiology in 2004. These problems include breathing difficulties, skin irritations, headaches and tiredness. Dr Mendell said it could be because the ventilation systems in buildings, especially those with AC systems, spread contaminants into the air in the room. Also, wet ceilings and walls, from condensation after the AC system is switched off, can breed bacteria and mould which are associated with increased risk of respiratory problems and asthma. Surfaces in AC systems that remain constantly moist, such as cooling coils and drip pans, also foster the growth of micro-organisms which can get picked up in the air supplied to the room. There is even the possibility of contracting Legionnaires' disease, a type of pneumonia caused by breathing in the bacteria-laden mist from the AC's cooling tower. Even increased obesity has been linked to too much air-conditioning. 'Air-conditioning is said to decrease the metabolic rate, therefore causing people to put on more weight,' Dr Hwang said. However, he cautioned that more research has to be done to establish a direct link between the two. Then there is the sick building syndrome. The United States' Environmental Protection Agency has said that it can arise if the AC system does not effectively distribute air in the building. This can lead to symptoms like headaches, irritation in the eyes, nose, or throat, dry or itchy skin and dizziness. Elaborating, Dr Gregory Chan, senior occupational health physician at the Office of Safety, Health and Environment, National University of Singapore, said the chief culprit for such illnesses is poor indoor-air quality, not how long one has been in an air-conditioned place. 'This is caused by the accumulation of pollutants indoors which are not adequately removed by the existing ventilation system,' he said. These pollutants include bacteria, viruses, mould and even dead rats in the ventilation ducts. 'Carbon dioxide may accumulate too and you may experience some headaches,' he added. He suggested that windows be opened at the start of the workday to allow fresh air in. Objects, like old books, which grow mould should be removed. Drinking lots of fluids helps. Most importantly, Dr Chan said: 'If you have a contagious disease, do stay at home or if you really need to be at work, use a face mask to protect others.' This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times. |
 Extensive mold growth on the outside of an air con duct register grill. See more air conditioning mold growth pictures. |
