5 ms·

Usually you have to spend thousands of dollars for an expert with the right equipment to focus on select areas of your home (areas that are suspect). Are there

Usually you have to spend thousands of dollars for an expert with the right equipment to focus on select areas of your home (areas that are suspect). Are there ways to do a full-house scan yourself?

joezydeco 10mo ago
Maybe check out AirAnswers. https://www.airanswers.com/ https://www.airanswers.com/
- bflesch 10mo ago
  The AirAnswers website blocks visitors from the EU. Most likely because they are in violation of GDPR and have no plan to care about data privacy. This is a really big red flag for all AirAnswers customers.
  - andsoitis 10mo ago
    > Most likely because they are in violation of GDPR Why do you say that’s the most likely reason? You can’t imagine other plausible reasons?
    - bflesch 10mo ago
      What if not GDPR would make an american B2C startup intentionally block visitors from Europe? Their investors most likely fly in and out of Europe all the time and want to show their portfolio company to their buddies. The startup's growth case is international expansion.
      - ted_dunning 10mo ago
        Because they don't understand GDPR and don't have time to figure out if and how it applies to them?
        bflesch 10mo ago
        AirAnswers is not a startup as I originally thought, it seems to be a ten year old company with mature product and a set of patents they mention in marketing materials. If they block EU customers it's definitely a conscious choice.
- Aurornis 10mo ago
  Everything about this website screams alternative medicine scam. "Integrative medicine" and "book a consultation" is not what you want to see on your mold testing lab's website. It means they're out to sell you things. I can almost guarantee that everybody who gets one of their test kits will get, surprise, a positive result that requires more expensive consultations and treatments from them.
  - joezydeco 10mo ago
    One of the founders is a friend of mine that has been an IVD researcher for decades. I don't smell any scam. They are just looking for traction in the consumer and real estate sectors. They already have customers in agriculture, especially with cannabis farms looking for molds. They don't sell treatments. It's more like a radon sampler you leave in a house for a day to get a reading.
westurner 10mo ago
What sort of an indoor drone could this sensor be most usefully added to?
- Ancapistani 10mo ago
  UAS move a lot of air - I can't imagine this would be practical. At the very least, you'd need to put the sensor on a boom long enough to make it unwieldy.
  - westurner 10mo ago
    Many of the described robots in the mujoco_menagerie gallery could probably do the job: https://github.com/google-deepmind/mujoco_menagerie https://github.com/google-deepmind/mujoco_menagerie The sensor recovery time limits the sampling time. A 28 second sensor recovery time with SnO2-Gr (graphene oxide) would be more useful for sampling larger volumes than minutes with just SnO2 FWIU; https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=46521695 https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=46521695
- Aurornis 10mo ago
  Attaching an air sensor to a giant high-speed fan is not going to help you pinpoint anything, it's just going to blow the air around. Getting accurate room-based location requires even turning the HVAC off and avoiding a lot of walking through a building.
gerdesj 10mo ago
Swabs and a microscope. Oh and a degree in biology might help!
- bflesch 10mo ago
  That's what I had to do to figure out source of my asthma and allergies. Without any microbiology degree and while suffering from delibitating disease it was very hurtful that reddit posts with requests for help identifying objects were regularly deleted from the major microscopy communities. They simply refused any discussion or assistance with DIY microscopy related to any human disease while in other subreddits people post their poop for analyis. In tune with the saying of "it can't be what mustn't be" ("Weil nicht sein kann, was nicht sein darf") a lot of medical professionals outright dispute mold-caused sicknesses. Their imaging can detect late stage fungal infections in the lungs and head of elderly people wholly consumed by the fungus, but they have no methods to detect early stage infections. And instead of realizing they're lacking appropriate analytical methods for mold detection they outright deny that it could be the cause of the problem. Luckily the microscopy helped me to figure out which samples to send to a professional in order to pin down and remediate the cause of my sickness.
  - schiffern 10mo ago
    I gather that airborne mycotoxins also play a role in inflammation, in addition to actual fungal infections.
    - bflesch 10mo ago
      The airborne mycotoxin I was exposed to is a scientifically proven carcinogen and class A indoor toxin, confirmed by an official lab. It was direct cause of my eosinophilia/asthma/sinusitis. It is the biggest gaslighting ever because two people share a place and both have emergency hospital visits and nearly die but from totally different diseases in different areas of the body. All the communities suggest you throw away everything once you leave a mold-infested place, but most can't afford that. Many keep their furniture and regret it. I truly wish this experience upon the denialists so they can use it to gather the evidence they need. A proper cancer would've been easier because there is at least a support network and hospitals have a damn handbook for it.
z2 10mo ago
I've had success using my nose and a cheap $15 moisture meter against walls and ceilings. In my case I was already pretty sure the moisture came from the roof when it rained so went looking right after rainstorms. This was after also running a dehumidifier in a formerly damp basement. If a home has an active mold problem, it probably has an active water or moisture problem. What mold remediation people sometimes do as well is use an IR camera to try to find unusually cold (thus damp areas).
- tdeck 10mo ago
  I've seen situations where experts put different colored water soluble dye on different spots outside the house, so that when it leaks through you can determine the source. Presumably that's within reach for an individual as well.
- taneq 10mo ago
  The IR camera idea is clever, usually we use them to find hot spots. Gonna try this next time I suspect we have a leak.
- Aurornis 10mo ago
  > If a home has an active mold problem, it probably has an active water or moisture problem. Mold can't grow or spread without moisture, so a moisture problem is a necessary prerequisite for a mold problem. So focusing on fixing any moisture problems is a great place to start. Feeling around walls and baseboards or climbing up into the attic in the hours and days after a big rainstorm is one way to get started without any equipment investment. Air circulation also helps dry things out, so make sure every space has some openings for air exchange.
  - DANmode 10mo ago
    > or spread Not explicitly true - dry spores get anywhere dust does. Whether they become active growth or not is a different question.
    - Terr_ 10mo ago

Usually you have to spend thousands of dollars for an expert with the right equipment to focus on select areas of your home (areas that are suspect). Are there ways to do a full-house scan yourself?

joezydeco 10mo ago

Maybe check out AirAnswers. https://www.airanswers.com/ https://www.airanswers.com/

bflesch 10mo ago
The AirAnswers website blocks visitors from the EU. Most likely because they are in violation of GDPR and have no plan to care about data privacy. This is a really big red flag for all AirAnswers customers.
- andsoitis 10mo ago
  > Most likely because they are in violation of GDPR Why do you say that’s the most likely reason? You can’t imagine other plausible reasons?
  - bflesch 10mo ago
    What if not GDPR would make an american B2C startup intentionally block visitors from Europe? Their investors most likely fly in and out of Europe all the time and want to show their portfolio company to their buddies. The startup's growth case is international expansion.
    - ted_dunning 10mo ago
      Because they don't understand GDPR and don't have time to figure out if and how it applies to them?
      - bflesch 10mo ago
        AirAnswers is not a startup as I originally thought, it seems to be a ten year old company with mature product and a set of patents they mention in marketing materials. If they block EU customers it's definitely a conscious choice.
Aurornis 10mo ago
Everything about this website screams alternative medicine scam. "Integrative medicine" and "book a consultation" is not what you want to see on your mold testing lab's website. It means they're out to sell you things. I can almost guarantee that everybody who gets one of their test kits will get, surprise, a positive result that requires more expensive consultations and treatments from them.
- joezydeco 10mo ago
  One of the founders is a friend of mine that has been an IVD researcher for decades. I don't smell any scam. They are just looking for traction in the consumer and real estate sectors. They already have customers in agriculture, especially with cannabis farms looking for molds. They don't sell treatments. It's more like a radon sampler you leave in a house for a day to get a reading.

westurner 10mo ago

What sort of an indoor drone could this sensor be most usefully added to?

Ancapistani 10mo ago
UAS move a lot of air - I can't imagine this would be practical. At the very least, you'd need to put the sensor on a boom long enough to make it unwieldy.
- westurner 10mo ago
  Many of the described robots in the mujoco_menagerie gallery could probably do the job: https://github.com/google-deepmind/mujoco_menagerie https://github.com/google-deepmind/mujoco_menagerie The sensor recovery time limits the sampling time. A 28 second sensor recovery time with SnO2-Gr (graphene oxide) would be more useful for sampling larger volumes than minutes with just SnO2 FWIU; https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=46521695 https://news.ycombinator.com/context?id=46521695
Aurornis 10mo ago
Attaching an air sensor to a giant high-speed fan is not going to help you pinpoint anything, it's just going to blow the air around. Getting accurate room-based location requires even turning the HVAC off and avoiding a lot of walking through a building.

gerdesj 10mo ago

Swabs and a microscope. Oh and a degree in biology might help!

bflesch 10mo ago
That's what I had to do to figure out source of my asthma and allergies. Without any microbiology degree and while suffering from delibitating disease it was very hurtful that reddit posts with requests for help identifying objects were regularly deleted from the major microscopy communities. They simply refused any discussion or assistance with DIY microscopy related to any human disease while in other subreddits people post their poop for analyis. In tune with the saying of "it can't be what mustn't be" ("Weil nicht sein kann, was nicht sein darf") a lot of medical professionals outright dispute mold-caused sicknesses. Their imaging can detect late stage fungal infections in the lungs and head of elderly people wholly consumed by the fungus, but they have no methods to detect early stage infections. And instead of realizing they're lacking appropriate analytical methods for mold detection they outright deny that it could be the cause of the problem. Luckily the microscopy helped me to figure out which samples to send to a professional in order to pin down and remediate the cause of my sickness.
- schiffern 10mo ago
  I gather that airborne mycotoxins also play a role in inflammation, in addition to actual fungal infections.
  - bflesch 10mo ago
    The airborne mycotoxin I was exposed to is a scientifically proven carcinogen and class A indoor toxin, confirmed by an official lab. It was direct cause of my eosinophilia/asthma/sinusitis. It is the biggest gaslighting ever because two people share a place and both have emergency hospital visits and nearly die but from totally different diseases in different areas of the body. All the communities suggest you throw away everything once you leave a mold-infested place, but most can't afford that. Many keep their furniture and regret it. I truly wish this experience upon the denialists so they can use it to gather the evidence they need. A proper cancer would've been easier because there is at least a support network and hospitals have a damn handbook for it.

z2 10mo ago

I've had success using my nose and a cheap $15 moisture meter against walls and ceilings. In my case I was already pretty sure the moisture came from the roof when it rained so went looking right after rainstorms. This was after also running a dehumidifier in a formerly damp basement. If a home has an active mold problem, it probably has an active water or moisture problem. What mold remediation people sometimes do as well is use an IR camera to try to find unusually cold (thus damp areas).

tdeck 10mo ago
I've seen situations where experts put different colored water soluble dye on different spots outside the house, so that when it leaks through you can determine the source. Presumably that's within reach for an individual as well.
taneq 10mo ago
The IR camera idea is clever, usually we use them to find hot spots. Gonna try this next time I suspect we have a leak.
Aurornis 10mo ago
> If a home has an active mold problem, it probably has an active water or moisture problem. Mold can't grow or spread without moisture, so a moisture problem is a necessary prerequisite for a mold problem. So focusing on fixing any moisture problems is a great place to start. Feeling around walls and baseboards or climbing up into the attic in the hours and days after a big rainstorm is one way to get started without any equipment investment. Air circulation also helps dry things out, so make sure every space has some openings for air exchange.
- DANmode 10mo ago
  > or spread Not explicitly true - dry spores get anywhere dust does. Whether they become active growth or not is a different question.
  - Terr_ 10mo ago