Affordable Mold Test? Yes, There Really Is One!

I unexpectedly became a “mold blogger” after I went through Moldageddon and shared my experience in this little corner of the world. As such, I get hundreds of questions a month related to mold. Try as I might, I just can’t respond to them all in a timely manner. Since one of the questions I commonly see is “is there such a thing as an affordable mold test,” I decided to just turn it into a post that I can point people to as a resource.

Affordable is a relative term really. When it comes to health and longevity, I am quite sure most of us would do all that we could to make the financial end of things come together so that we could get the care we needed to live a long, healthy life. This is why it perplexes me a bit when people write to me concerned that mold is destroying their health and yet, are unwilling to spend a few hundred dollars to determine what strains they have and in what concentrations.

I get it – $300 can be a make or break it between putting food on the table or not. I understand the reluctance of people who just aren’t sure if there really is mold and would like some sort of affordable mold test, no to mention accurate mold screening, that could at least determine whether further testing should be done.

I have done A LOT of mold and mycotoxin testing over the past couple of years.

I have spent a small fortune doing it. It stinks to shell out that kind of money and yet, I personally place a priority on making sure my living environment is mold free and safe for me. I typically go full bore and do ERMI dust sampling tests as well as mycotoxin dust testing.

Recently, I learned about a company whose products were geared towards those of us who suffer from mold related illness and mold allergies. While I am still testing out their line of products (and of course will share my experiences ASAP), I noticed that they had affordable mold test plates.

I’ll be honest…I wasn’t too keen on those tests. They don’t give you the kinds of detailed information you need in terms of mold strains and concentrations. Or so I thought.

The good folks at Micro Balance Health Products offer two incredibly affordable (and from what I can tell) accurate ways to test for the presence of mold in your home, office, car, etc… Both affordable mold tests are in the form of mold plates…those round plates with that clear sticky looking stuff in them…that you leave out in your home for an hour. One simply will alert you to the presence of mold in your home by way of how many fungal colonies grow on each plate after a period of 5 days. The other is a bonafide diagnostic mold test that serves to identify the type and size of the fungal problem you have in your living environment.

The price tag on the diagnostic mold test?

$45 for one test, with a huge price break when you purchase more than one. It is a ridiculously cheap way to find out what mold strains you have and the analysis is done through an ImmunoLytics testing facility.

I conducted extensive mold testing in the home I am living in now so I knew what the fungal picture should look like here. When I tried out the mold plate screening kits, the results were as expected. While there were 1-2 colonies per plate, it wasn’t anything to be alarmed about.

Mold spores are all around us and so long as they do not have a food source, they won’t grow into a crazy toxic mold infestation like I dealt with back in 2014. Based on the screening results, I felt confident that I did not need to conduct further testing. Had the plates come back with multiple colonies, I absolutely would have done more extensive testing and investigation.

For those of you who are on a budget and are not sure if there is mold present, I think the mold screening plates are a good way to start.They truly are an affordable mold test.

You can grab a 5 pack for less than $30.00 and get a decent picture of what might be worth further exploration in your home. If you know you have mold or would rather just cut to the chase, then I wholeheartedly recommend the ImmunoLytics Diagnostic Mold Test Kit. Why not find out right off the bat what strain of mold you are dealing with and where? A 5 pack of these kits will only set you back $158.00 This is the most affordable way to test for mold that I have personally come across.

Am I suggesting that you skip the ERMI or HERSTMI test altogether? No. I firmly believe that those are the gold standard in mold testing. However, if you are on a tight budget or just unsure about whether mold is really present, then the diagnostic mold test or even the screening test are viable options.

Stay tuned for more information about Micro Balance Health Products. I think you are going to like what they bring to the table.

If you are interested in keeping mold at bay, be sure to read my post which outlines my easy monthly mold prevention strategy. Also be sure to check out my extensive toxic mold resources.

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