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What does brown mold look like when found growing indoors? These mold spores and their photographs and examples of materials sometimes mistaken for mold have been collected in the U.S., Spain, Mexico, France, as well as in other countries where I've studied bioaerosols. These photos of mold on indoor building surfaces may help you recognize mold in buildings, recognize probably-cosmetic mold, and recognize stuff that is not mold and does not need to be tested. Also see Mold Related Illness: Index of Symptoms and for an atlas of building molds and for more microphotographs of building mold samples observed in our laboratory, see Mold Atlas of Indoor Clinical Mold, Pathogens, Allergens & Other Indoor Particles. © Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. Photographs to Help Identify Mold in Buildings -
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Our lab determined that in this case the brown mold was predominantly Aureobasidium pullulans which is at most, an allergenic, non-toxic mold. (Often in attics we also find Aureobasidium pullulans which looks about the same, or a little darker on plywood or framing.) Very frequently when we are asked to investigate a building where this condition has been observed, we discover that there is a more serious problem with Aspergillus sp. or Penicillium sp. mold contaminated-insulation - a condition that was missed in the initial investigation. Inspectors or mold remediators who call for roof replacement in a case where the plywood is not actually damaged (delaminating) from leaks are overreacting to the "toxic black mold" they think they see, and they are failing to identify the more serious problem that may be present. As you can see in this photo of very dark mold in an attic, in a wet attic these mold groups, which are "brown" in the microscope, can look pretty "black" on the plywood. As we point out in other comments throughout our website, the public, media, and "mold inspector" focus on "toxic black mold" in buildings is often unfortunate as it fails to address more serious problems. |
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Remediation included simply discarding this material. |
Brown fungus growing out of carpeting and floor trim combined with green mold on the exposed surface of drywall were conditions easily seen, and under which we assumed that the wall cavities were likely to be mold-contaminated in this area. |
More Reading and photos to assist people looking for mold contamination in buildings:
WHAT MOLD LOOKS LIKE
MOLD IN HOMES
Black Mold
Brown Mold
Green Mold
Red Mold
Yellow Mold
White Mold
Invisible Mold
USING LIGHT TO FIND MOLD
MOLD BY MICROSCOPE
PHOTO GUIDE TO STAINS on Indoor Surfaces
CARPET TEST GUIDE
STUFF THAT IS NOT MOLD
HOW TO LOOK FOR MOLD
WHAT MOLD LOOKS LIKE
ATTIC MOLD what attic mold looks like, where to look
BASEMENT MOLD what basement mold looks like, where to look
CRAWLSPACE MOLD what crawl space mold looks like, where to look
MOLD ON DIRT FLOORS
MOLDY CARPETS how to look for mold under and on carpeting
HIDDEN MOLD, HOW TO FIND
INSULATION MOLD photo tour of other places to look for hard-to-spot mold
DO-IT-YOURSELF WARNINGS for mold investigators and homeowners
Use the specific article links above or on any of our web pages use the links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
More expert information on this topic
Ozone Warnings - Use of Ozone as a "mold" remedy is ineffective and may be dangerous.
The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How
to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems
Use this simple, economical mold test kit by following
our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab
Environmental
Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis,
Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing
removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.
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04/30/2008 - 01/01/1998 - www.inspect-ny.com/sickhouse/Brown_Mold_Pictures.htm - © Copyright 2008-1998 Copyright Daniel Friedman All Rights Reserved
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Brown mold on plywood roof sheathing
Brown mold on Oriented Strand Board (OSB) wallboard 