Vero Consult

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀) 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗜 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 In our profession we occasionally will be requested to perform ERMI testing. For those unfamiliar with this type of testing, it refers to the "Environmental Relative Moldiness Index". The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted this research effort in an attempt to estimate mold conditions in buildings. From EPA "In using this tool, researchers analyze the DNA from mold found in dust samples collected from a home, and then compare the sample to the ERMI’s scale. Researchers can then use the results to estimate the amount of mold in a home and indicate some of the types of mold present." Sounds like a plausible test, right? Problem is it was never intended to be used as a diagnostic tool and the results produced by this testing cannot provide any practical data by which to take corrective actions (if elevated mold levels are detected). In EPA's ERMI guidelines, it states "ERMI has been peer reviewed for research purposes but has not been validated for non-research purposes. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘌𝘗𝘈 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘙𝘔𝘐 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴." So why are consultants selling this service? I'm not quite sure, but this testing is relatively expensive and clients simply do not know any better. It sounds like the perfect test, ERMI can tell me how moldy my building is. But the results do not identify the areas that may have water/mold issues, and more traditional assessment (and possibly testing) is required to identify the building issue(s) and determine an appropriate remedy. The misuse of ERMI testing as a diagnostic tool highlights the need for clients to thoroughly evaluate their industrial hygiene/building science consultants and ensure that the entire remediation team is focused on identifying the root causes of water/mold concerns and providing proven assessment and remedial actions. Source: EPA - https://lnkd.in/gghyw_qn