Re: Thoughts on my apartment? (I'm new to learning about mold)

Hello. I am a Council-certified Indoor Environmental Consultant. To answer your questions: there are ways to determine whether or not the indoor air quality has been impacted with mold or not (toxic or not); additionally, there are ways to test the building components (carpet, furniture, etc.) whether or not there are abnormal levels of dust, debris, mold, and more. Because problems with indoor environmental quality can be complex (inter-related parts making up a whole) it is important to make sure you find an independent environmental professional (w/o remediation ties so there is no conflict of interest) to investigate and diagnose the condition of your apartment. You can find environmentalist and remediators at http://www.iaqa.org
or http://www.iaqcouncil.org.
Typically getting these tests performed does require some sort of authorization by the landlord to work on-site. I would talk to my landlord about your concerns and politely ask if you can have a test of the apartment performed. While it is true that if the right conditions are in place the indoor air quality can be impacted by mold during a water intrusion within 24 - 72 hours, but that is species specific and environment specific - there are several factors that have to be in place. I will tell you this (in closing) that once mold has found a foundation in the microenvironment in which is settles the mold can remain dormat for a long time, waiting for moisture to reproduce. I don't know where you are, but if you have trouble finding someone and are interested in finding someone to help investigate your environment I might be able to help. There are tons of resource materials on my website (www.solutionsiec.com) and I will be happy to answer any more questions you may have. God bless. Tweet