Call on a trained dog to sniff out mold in buildings
Although dogs have been used for years by military and law-enforcement agencies to detect bombs and illicit drugs, mans best friend has recently branched out into the area of mold detection in buildings. For instance, a black lab mix named Hunter is employed by Advanced Mold Diagnostics (Wynnewood, PA) to sniff out and alert building owners to mold that is not visible to the human eye. Hunter is currently one of only 52 mold-sniffing canines in the United States. Besides black labs, golden retrievers, beagles, and Jack Russell terriers make ideal mold-sniffing dogs. During a building inspection, the mold-detection dog is accompanied by a professional dog handler and an experienced consultant. The dog is trained not to uncover mold spores, but to sniff out and alert the handler to odors that molds produce as they digest a buildings drywall, carpeting, furniture, or insulation. At places where the dog marks a microbial odor, samples are then taken for laboratory analysis. By using this well-directed procedure, facility owners can quickly pinpoint mold to reduce remediation costs and damage to the building. The presence of mold in buildings has been linked to health problems such as headaches, breathing problems, fatigue, and joint pain. Traditional mold-detection methods, such as air-quality testing, may only identify airborne contaminants at the time of testing, rather than pinpointing the molds exact location. In contrast, a dogs keen sense of smell allows rapid determination of mold that lurks in hidden places. Advanced Mold Diagnostics offers a full range of tools and services to assess and improve indoor air quality.