Elsevier

Environmental Research

Volume 124, July 2013, Pages 67-70
Environmental Research

Short Communication
Family and home characteristics correlate with mold in homes

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2013.04.003Get rights and content

Highlights

  • We demonstrated link between home environments that promote mold growth and asthma.

  • We used Environmental Relative Moldiness Index to describe mold exposure.

  • High Environmental Relative Moldiness Index was associated with older homes and lack of air conditioning.

  • Overall lower socioeconomic position is associated with higher Environmental Relative Moldiness Index.

Abstract

Previously, we demonstrated that infants residing in homes with higher Environmental Relative Moldiness Index were at greater risk for developing asthma by age seven. The purpose of this analysis was to identify the family and home characteristics associated with higher moldiness index values in infants’ homes at age one. Univariate linear regression of each characteristic determined that family factors associated with moldiness index were race and income. Home characteristics associated with the moldiness index values were: air conditioning, carpet, age of the home, season of home assessment, and house dust mite allergen. Parental history of asthma, use of dehumidifier, visible mold, dog and cat allergen levels were not associated with moldiness index. Results of multiple linear regression showed that older homes had 2.9 units higher moldiness index (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.4, 5.4), whereas homes with central air conditioning had 2.5 units lower moldiness index (95% CI=−4.7, −0.4). In addition, higher dust mite allergen levels and carpeting were positively and negatively associated with higher moldiness index, respectively. Because older homes and lack of air conditioning were also correlated with race and lower income, whereas carpeting was associated with newer homes, the multivariate analyses suggests that lower overall socioeconomic position is associated with higher moldiness index values. This may lead to increased asthma risk in homes inhabited by susceptible, vulnerable population subgroups. Further, age of the home was a surrogate of income, race and carpeting in our population; thus the use of these factors should carefully be evaluated in future studies.

Introduction

Environmental exposures and family and home characteristics were monitored from infancy to the age of seven for a cohort of infants in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio. The study purpose was to investigate indoor and outdoor factor(s) linked to the development of asthma (Reponen et al., 2011, Reponen et al., 2012). We have previously reported that infant exposure to high levels of mold as measured using the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index is associated with increased development of physician diagnosed asthma.

The moldiness index methodology classifies mold species from settled dust into two groups. The Group 1 molds include 26 species associated with water-damaged homes. The Group 2 molds are commonly found in homes across the United States, even without water damage, and originate primarily from outdoors (Vesper et al., 2007). The moldiness index calculation takes the results from the concentrations (cells/mg dust) of each of 36 molds and mathematically converts these into a single number, as shown in Eq. (1).EnvironmentalRelativeMoldinessIndex=i=126log10(s1i)j=110log10(s2j)

The concentration of each of the 26 Group 1 molds and 10 Group 2 molds are converted to a log and then separately summed arithmetically. The moldiness index scale for the U.S. was created from the analysis of dust samples from 1083 homes randomly selected during the 2006 Healthy Homes Survey (Vesper et al., 2007). The moldiness index scale ranges from about −10 to 20 with about 1% of homes have even higher moldiness index values.

The objective of this current analysis was to examine family and home characteristics associated with higher residential moldiness index values. By uncovering these factors, homes can be prioritized for remediation or other interventions.

Section snippets

Methods

Infants born in Cincinnati, Ohio and Northern Kentucky between 2001 and 2003 were recruited to the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study using birth certificate data. Eligibility for the study required that at least one parent was atopic defined as having allergic symptoms and a positive reaction in a skin prick test, as previously described (LeMasters et al., 2006). The main focus of the overall birth cohort study was traffic exposure and therefore enrollment in the cohort also

Results

Table 1 shows means and standard deviations of moldiness index with respect to infant, family and home characteristics at age one. The following were associated with higher moldiness index: African American race, winter season, living in a home with a measurable concentration of dust mite allergen, low family income (<$20,000 per year), and living in an older home (built before 1955). Homes with central air-conditioning and carpeting were associated with lower moldiness index. No evidence was

Discussion

Most studies of asthma have been cross-sectional or case-control with the potential for bias (Larsson et al., 2011). In addition, for the vast number of studies referenced in 2009 by the World Health Organization that evaluated mold and asthma morbidity/mortality, were focused on mold exposures and asthma exacerbations and not asthma incidence (World Health Organization (WHO) Europe, 2009). Reponen et al., 2011, Reponen et al., 2012 reported the first comprehensive evaluation of the association

Funding

This study was partially supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant ♯OHLHH0226-10 and by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant ♯RO1 ES11170. The authors have no financial interests to disclose.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development collaborated in the research described here. Although this work was reviewed by EPA and approved for publication it may not necessarily reflect official EPA policy.

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