You go to work every day in a typical office environment where the only thing that isn't typical is a sporadic, putrid odor that makes you long for the quitting bell!  Everyone has emptied their desks to make sure there isn't an old sub sandwich decaying, plants have been moved outside, mechanical contractors have scoured the heating and cooling system, but nobody can find the source and to make matters worse it comes and goes.

While there can be numerous causes, one that is often overlooked is right over your head - ceiling tiles. Butyric acid is a common by-product of the ceiling tile manufacturing process and can produce an odor that has been described as "sickly sweet", "putrid", and "rancid".  The odor can be dormant until the tiles become exposed to certain environmental conditions.  Because of the manufacturing process, the strength of the odor can vary significantly from batch to batch, if present at all. 

So how do you determine if the ceiling tiles are really the culprit?  Well, you could spend a hefty chunk of money on analytical tests or you could go to the break room and grab some unscented resealable plastic bag (1-gallon works well).  Put pieces of the tiles in the bag, seal it up, and let it set for a day or two.  Take them outside and carefully open the bag and take a whiff - chances are if the ceiling tiles are the culprit you will know it without having spent hard earned money on laboratory testing.


As always please let me know if you have questions.  Also, bear in mind that any information provided is general in nature and is not a substitute for a thorough visual assessment and is not meant to apply to specific concerns.  

I wish I had money for every time someone got mad at me when I told them they could have asbestos in a home or other building.  "This place is too new", "12 inch floor tiles never have asbestos", "This is gypsum not plaster - it can't have it".  One contractor argued for 45 minutes until I was able pull up information on my phone to show him.

The Federal ban on asbestos was not across the board even though the term 'ban' certainly implies it!  In general, the ban was on new uses of asbestos, while those materials that historically contained asbestos were permitted to be used (with the exception of certain paper products, thermal system insulation, and spray-applied materials, etc.).  From the EPA website, the following is a partial list of asbestos-containing materials that were not banned:

-Cement corrugated sheet
-Cement flat sheet
-Pipeline wrap
-Roofing felt
-Vinyl floor tile
-Cement shingle
-Millboard
-Cement pipe
--Gaskets
-Non-roofing coatings
-Roof coatings


Perhaps this the reason that the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) states that an asbestos survey is required prior to demolition or renovation of most structures, NO MATTER WHAT THE AGE OF THE BUILDING.  


When it comes to asbestos, it is best to not make assumptions based on age or appearances.  Hire a licensed Asbestos Inspector to conduct a survey prior to renovations or demolition.

Before you start thinking that I am jumping on-board with the media or other companies that use scare tactics to drum up business, the article title was merely meant to get your attention!  You will never see me write about toxic black mold on my website or in a report, despite the power it seems to have in getting people to open their wallets.  

You see, there are actually many things wrong with that label.  One is that molds themselves are not toxic.  Under certain conditions they produce mycotoxins, but the actual research into doses and health effects is not very clear.  Second, even though it has become synonymous with Stachybotrys, many molds can appear black at various stages of their life cycle.

Don't get me wrong - I have no doubt that reactions to mold and mold by-products exist and I am not down-playing any potential health issues that people have experienced, it is just that it is not feasible to quantify this reaction and exposure.  As a matter of fact I routinely experience multiple physical symptoms during an assessment.  In addition, mold is problematic as it is well documented that it is allergenic alive or dead, degrades building materials, and is indicative of an underlying water intrusion issue that needs to be corrected.

So, with some exceptions your concern should be why do you have mold growth and not be so much whether you have toxic black mold - After all, if I were to provide an assessment and told you that Stachybotrys was not identified, but that the predominant genera appeared to be Penicillium or Cladosporium  would you be content to leave that nice fuzzy growth on your walls? Of course not.  That would be like saying you have a Pit Bull biting one leg and a Doberman biting the other, but you are only worried about getting rid of the Pit Bull because you have heard their bite is a little worse!

Determining the predominant types of mold present can provide useful information in certain situations, but will typically not alter the recommendations for corrective actions and remediation procedures.  Therefore, I would recommend that you recognize that ANY type of mold growth on building materials is a potential signal that a deficiency is present that needs to be identified, corrected, and remediated in order to return your indoor space to normal fungal ecology. 


As always please let me know if you have questions.  Also, bear in mind that any information provided is general in nature and is not a substitute for a thorough visual assessment and is not meant to apply to specific concerns.