10/31/2026
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗶𝗿 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗱
Nina ran the air quality app after the kitchen leak dried out. It said 8 micrograms per cubic meter. Clean air.
That was three weeks before the smell started.
Consumer PM2.5 monitors are useful tools for wildfire smoke and cooking events. After a water damage event, they provide useful particle data but cannot answer every post-water-damage air-quality question.
The sensor measures airborne particles. It cannot identify whether detected particles are mold spores, dust, pollen, or another particle source. And VOCs, which can contribute to a musty odor, are gases rather than particles, so a particle sensor does not measure them.
A clean PM reading in a water-damaged home means particle concentrations were low at that moment. That is useful information, but it does not provide a complete assessment of indoor air conditions.
When professional air-quality assessment is warranted, spore-trap sampling can provide additional information, including indoor-to-outdoor comparisons.
If you had water damage in the last year and a consumer monitor was the only check done afterward, this is worth reading.
https://www.alldrywater.com/learn/air-quality/particulate-monitor-limits?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic-social&utm_campaign=particulate-monitor-limits