Initial Study 100% Funded

Mattress Contamination Study Funded by Early Backer.

The Mold Controlled Team is pleased to announce that our eight-week pilot study about mold contamination in mattresses was fully funded by an early backer on day three of the campaign!

Let the Research Begin!

The first contaminated mattress has already been donated.

We plan to begin the research the first week of April.

• Samples of mattress dust will be collected using a micro-vacuum sample collection pump

• A section of the mattress will be dissected into layers and additional samples collected to determine the types and levels of contamination that are present throughout. The mattress will then be reassembled.

• The mattress will be HEPA vacuumed daily at a rate of one minute per square meter.

• Additional surface dust samples will be collected every two weeks.

• At the end of eight weeks, the mattress will again be disassembled into layers and the layers sampled.

Our goals are to replicate the 2012 Journal of Asthma study using DNA analysis for specific molds and determine if daily vacuuming has the same effect on mold spore and fragment DNA as was reported by the previous study for other allergens. We also want to determine if the mattress contamination is limited to the surface, or disseminated throughout and if the cleaning is effective in removing contaminates that are deeper in the mattress layers.

Your Contribution Will Help Fund Additional Research.

Now that the initial study has been funded, we can piggy back a second study onto the first and take advantage of the initial mattress sampling data. A number of claims have been made that mattress barrier clothes used for helping to control dust mites can also be used to control mold contamination in mattresses. Additional contributions will help test a number of different barrier cloths to determine how much they reduce the penetration of mold contamination. The various barrier cloths will be placed on the contaminated mattress and samples collected by micro-vacuuming through the barrier cloth. The collected dust will be weighed and analyzed using the same mold specific DNA testing being used in the first round to evaluate the effectiveness of the barrier material. Our crowd-fund goal for this next round of research is $1500, which will allow testing of five different barrier materials.

Thank you for your support!