You are here:
Higher environmental relative moldiness index values measured in homes of adults with asthma, rhinitis, or both conditions
Citation:
Blanc, P., P. Quinlan, P. Katz, J. Balmes, L. Trupin, M. Cisternas, L. Wymer, AND S. Vesper. Higher environmental relative moldiness index values measured in homes of adults with asthma, rhinitis, or both conditions. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. Academic Press Incorporated, Orlando, FL, 122:98-101, (2013).
Impact/Purpose:
This is the first study of the relationship between adult asthma/rhinitis and ERMI values in the home.
Description:
Higher values of the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI), a DNA-based method for quantifying indoor molds, have been associated with asthma in children. In this study, settled dust samples were collected from the homes of adults with asthma and rhinitis (n=202 homes) in Northern California. The ERMI values for these samples were compared to those from dust collected in homes (n=44) from the same geographic region randomly selected as part of the 2006 American Healthy Home Survey (n=44). The median ERMI value in homes of adult with airway disease (8) was significantly greater than median ERMI value (2.0) in the randomly selected homes (p<0.01). In this study in northern California, the homes of adults with asthma had ERMI values consistent with a heavier burden of indoor mold than that measured in other homes from the same region.
