What’s an active contamination? During their development, fungi release volatile organic compounds (VOCs). By detecting those VOCs we are able to identify the presence of a growing mold or dry-rot. On the contrary, a “dormant” fungus, or one that has been treated, won’t release any VOCs: there is no active contamination. Therefore it is possible to observe an old mold stain and to have a result “absence of active mold”. What’s the scale of the contamination? The VOCs method of detection doesn’t allow us to determine the scale of the infestation. However a fungus will continue to grow as long as the environmental conditions are favorable to its development. Therefore it is important to act quickly in order to correct the thermo-hydric disorders that led to this situation, and to treat the contamination. How to precisely locate the contamination? COVs are very volatile gases which diffuse quite quickly through walls and materials. This specific characteristic allows us to detect invisible or “hidden” contamination (for instance, behind a coating or a suspended ceiling). However it is currently not possible to locate the emission source of the VOCs, therefore of the infestation, without an in-depth expertise on-site.
