The Pros and Cons of Using ERMI and EMMA Tests to Assess Mold Exposure Risk Inside a Home

(Note: This article was originally posted on Sinusitis Wellness. I have added some additional content for this post.)

It is likely that you are reading this article because you are exploring options for testing for mold in your home or perhaps in a home that you are intending to purchase or rent. Maybe you are looking to test because you know that you are mold sensitive and want to be careful, or maybe you want to test because someone in the home is experiencing health symptoms, and you suspect mold to be the causative factor. Whatever the reason, I realize that making heads or tails of testing options that assess the potential health risk that a home may pose is difficult, to put it mildly. And, while no single testing method is perfect, and nothing beats professional, extensive visual and mechanical inspections, I am a fan of not guessing when it comes to mold and mycotoxins. Thus, in this article, I am going to attempt to simplify, explain, and compare two of the most popular, analysis-based testing options for mold, the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI), and the Environmental Mold and Mycotoxin Assessment (EMMA).

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If you are reading this post, you have probably wondered about or faced the health implications of living in a moldy environment at some point. Having to deal with the whole “mold question”—whether or not mold exists in your home and if it is dangerous to your health or not—can be daunting, to say the least. Most people know very little, if anything, about where to begin with a mold inspection or what they should even be looking for, other than obvious mold growth. So, when the decision is made to investigate a home for mold, the goal is usually to find a professional to guide the process with clear diagnostics and methodologies that will yield answers and solutions. Unfortunately, many times, the inspection procedure ends up being far from clear, and homeowners, including myself at one point, end up with a bunch of test results that are hard to interpret, but no definite answers, next steps, solutions, or piece of mind. In the end, questions remain and the home and people in it often remain sick, confused, and out the money that was spent on an inconclusive mold inspection.

The main breakdown here, in my opinion, is that not all mold inspectors are created equal, nor do all mold inspectors truly understand and respect the health concerns associated with mold. In addition, in some states there is little barrier to entry to the profession. Some mold inspectors are even allowed to perform both the inspection and the remediation—a clear conflict of interest. Within the profession, there is also no clearly established lens through which an inspector is required to view the definition of a healthy home or healthy levels of mold inside of a home. This is particularly important, because, depending on your method of mold evaluation and testing, it can be like comparing apples to oranges from one inspector’s point of view to another. For example, if one mold inspector bases her diagnosis of your home solely upon the airborne mold counts indoors in comparison to those outdoors, she may decide that the home is safe, while another inspector who employs thermography, moisture readings, and mycotoxin testing, in addition to airborne mold counts, might deem the exact same home as needing major remediation to be safe.

What is the solution, especially if you are mold-sensitive and already not in a state of good health?