Heating ventilating and air conditioning (HV AC) duct insulation in a county government facility in south Florida USA was removed because of heavy fungal infestation of the building. Samples of these materials were examined by direct microscopy and enrichment culture. Additional insulation samples were desiccated for three weeks over silica drying gel, weighed, then placed over saturated salt in water solutions at known relative humidities. At relative humidities approaching 95%, some insulation samples on an average gained 6% of their dry weight in water.
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