Re: Mold growth on Fiberglass Insulation

[Guest guest]

Darren:

Bottom line to your answer... " Should the client be concerned? " ....Hell YES!

(I apologize for my emphasis.) However, I have a few questions. If they

had a flood, and it affected insulation in the duct work, it was either:

VERY high floodwaters - since most ductwork is located in the ceiling or

plenum, or the duct work is under-slab or basement. Which was it?

Moreover, you mention " ... the ductwork which has acoustic and thermal type

insulation wrapped around it. " You need to qualify if the insulation is

outside the ductwork or inside the ductwork. Thermal insulation can be

either, but acoustical is (more often than not) inside the duct work.

Let's assume that the insulation is inside the ductwork and it got wet

(moist or soaked doesn't really matter). Fungi will not grow and amplify on

fiberglass insulation alone. That said, fiberglass acoustical insulation

inside duct work is always (unless fresh from the factory) loaded with

particulates from the air, e.g., spores, dust, plant hairs, epiphelial (sp)

cells, etc., etc. These particulates offer both inoculums (spores) and food

for the biologicals to grow (both fungi and bacteria). The fiberglass

insulation only offers a media to grow on; and a good media at that. When

ductwork insulation gets wet, it becomes really nasty (a technical term!)

and it can cause a significant and substantial IAQ problem (an

understatement). Moreover, I have seen some pathetic attempts to clean

ductwork insulation that has become a growth medium; cleaning is often

ineffective, and the duct and insulation must be replaced.

If it were my client, and they had acoustical insulation inside duct work

that got wet and became a growth medium, and the biologicals amplified, I

would recommend total replacement. If the insulation was outside the sheet

metal duct, I would recommend a good cleaning of the ductwork. The status

of the insulation (outside the ductwork) may or may not warrant replacing.

Then again, specific site circumstances may dictate otherwise.

For what it is worth...

--

Geyer, PE, CIH, CSP

President

KENTEC Industries, Inc.

Bakersfield, California

www.kerntecindustries.com

> I have a client who has had a flood inside their office building and

> requires some guidance on whether or not mold is capable of growing

> on/inside insulation. The area of concern is the ductwork which has

> acoustic and thermal type insulation wrapped around it. The client

> would like to know if it has the potential for mold growth and if so,

> what should be done for remediation.

>

> Darren

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