Family and home characteristics correlate with mold in homes

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.

Microbiological characterization of 3193 French dwellings of Elfe cohort children

“…Contrary to other studies (Reponen et al, 2013;Reponen et al, 2011), the origin of the parents and their incomes do not influence the observed microbial composition in homes. We had previously supposed that asthmatic parents would take precautions to reduce the observed microorganism levels in their homes and thus influence the presence or absence of certain fungal species (Reboux et al, 2009).…”

“…The 10 targets were simultaneously analyzed and provided essential information about the microbiology of different dwellings. It is for this reason that our study is original with respect to those that target only fungi communities (Reponen et al, 2013;Reponen et al, 2011;Vesper et al, 2007b;Vesper et al, 2007c) or studies which characterized cumulative microorganism exposure (Ege et al, 2011;Karvonen et al, 2014;Roussel et al, 2011).…”

Allergen Sensitization Profiles in a Population-Based Cohort of Children Hospitalized for Asthma

“…We also found that sensitization to molds was more likely to co-occur, and frequently cooccurred, with sensitization to dust mites. This is consistent with demonstrated associations between the verified presence of in-home mold and dust (41). Reported exposures were only weakly related to sensitizations-again, consistent with previous work highlighting the disparity between reported and true exposure (21).…”

Disease-Causing Fungi in Homes and Yards in the Midwestern United States

“…Several variables were confounded, and multivariate analysis suggested that lower overall socioeconomic status was associated with higher ERMI. 85 Similar associations of certain indoor molds with asthma and allergic symptoms (particularly when mold odor was present) were found in single studies and meta-analyses from other Midwestern and worldwide locations. [85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92] Toxic and Irritant Effects: Controversial concerns regarding indoor molds are especially focused around toxic effects.…”