Investigating the presence of mold in wood treated with chlorophenol
(2020) 12th Nordic Symposium on Building Physics, NSB 2020 In E3S Web of Conferences 172.- Abstract
A common moisture-related problem in Sweden and other countries, is mold odor indoors. The general perception is that mold odor indicates hazardous hidden mold. However, some grey literature studies indicate that the source of mold odor might not be substantial amounts of mold, but rather chloroanisoles (CAs) which are biomethylated from chlorophenols (CPs) in moist conditions. Products containing CPs were commonly used world-wide as wood preservatives in the 1960-70s and problems with indoor mold odor have been reported in buildings where such products have been used. In Sweden, one of the main uses of CPs in buildings was in wooden constructions exposed to big moisture loads, such as sill plates and crawl space ceilings. Here we aimed... (More)
A common moisture-related problem in Sweden and other countries, is mold odor indoors. The general perception is that mold odor indicates hazardous hidden mold. However, some grey literature studies indicate that the source of mold odor might not be substantial amounts of mold, but rather chloroanisoles (CAs) which are biomethylated from chlorophenols (CPs) in moist conditions. Products containing CPs were commonly used world-wide as wood preservatives in the 1960-70s and problems with indoor mold odor have been reported in buildings where such products have been used. In Sweden, one of the main uses of CPs in buildings was in wooden constructions exposed to big moisture loads, such as sill plates and crawl space ceilings. Here we aimed to determine the potential presence and level of mold growth on wood treated with CPs in one school building with reported odor problems built in the stated time period. Odorous wooden samples were taken and analyzed for mold growth. No mold was detected by the naked eye, but some growth was seen using a microscope. We presently investigate more schools and samples, but so far our results question that mold odor depends on substantial amounts of mold.
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- author
- Ekberg, Olle LU ; Lorentzen, Johnny C. and Harderup, Lars Erik LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-06-30
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- 12th Nordic Symposium on Building Physics (NSB 2020)
- series title
- E3S Web of Conferences
- volume
- 172
- article number
- 10006
- conference name
- 12th Nordic Symposium on Building Physics, NSB 2020
- conference location
- Tallinn, Estonia
- conference dates
- 2020-09-06 - 2020-09-09
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85088448075
- ISSN
- 2555-0403
- DOI
- 10.1051/e3sconf/202017210006
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 98a24bdb-591d-4148-9448-b1942de11987
- date added to LUP
- 2020-08-05 08:21:06
- date last changed
- 2024-01-02 15:47:33
@inproceedings{98a24bdb-591d-4148-9448-b1942de11987,
abstract = {{<p>A common moisture-related problem in Sweden and other countries, is mold odor indoors. The general perception is that mold odor indicates hazardous hidden mold. However, some grey literature studies indicate that the source of mold odor might not be substantial amounts of mold, but rather chloroanisoles (CAs) which are biomethylated from chlorophenols (CPs) in moist conditions. Products containing CPs were commonly used world-wide as wood preservatives in the 1960-70s and problems with indoor mold odor have been reported in buildings where such products have been used. In Sweden, one of the main uses of CPs in buildings was in wooden constructions exposed to big moisture loads, such as sill plates and crawl space ceilings. Here we aimed to determine the potential presence and level of mold growth on wood treated with CPs in one school building with reported odor problems built in the stated time period. Odorous wooden samples were taken and analyzed for mold growth. No mold was detected by the naked eye, but some growth was seen using a microscope. We presently investigate more schools and samples, but so far our results question that mold odor depends on substantial amounts of mold.</p>}},
author = {{Ekberg, Olle and Lorentzen, Johnny C. and Harderup, Lars Erik}},
booktitle = {{12th Nordic Symposium on Building Physics (NSB 2020)}},
issn = {{2555-0403}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{06}},
series = {{E3S Web of Conferences}},
title = {{Investigating the presence of mold in wood treated with chlorophenol}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202017210006}},
doi = {{10.1051/e3sconf/202017210006}},
volume = {{172}},
year = {{2020}},
}