[A review of epidemiologic studies on the health effects of indoor environments].
Indoor bioaerosols (viruses, bacteria, dust mites, molds, etc.) have become the subject of discussion on indoor environments. A number of epidemiologic studies on the health effects of molds and home dampness, the latter being an important determinant of mold growth, have been conducted mainly in Europe and the United States. In this paper, a review of these epidemiologic studies is described. Questionnaires are used as the method of exposure assessment in most of the studies. The necessity for developing objective methods of dampness/mold exposure assessment has been expressed by some researchers. Respiratory symptoms, especially asthman attacks and wheezing for children, have been utilized in many investigations as a health effect index. Positive relationship between home dampness/mold and respiratory symptoms have been shown in numerous studies. Dampness and/or molds in dwellings may effect respiratory symptoms, but several problems for determining causal inference still remain: exposure assessment, temporal relationship, etc. While the differences in house structure and life style between Japan and Europe/U.S.A. should be considered, the health effects of home dampness and molds need to also be examined in Japan which is a country with high humidity levels.
Nakai
S
S
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Tokyo.
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D018876:Environmental Illness / Q000453:epidemiology; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005658:Fungi; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires