title: Building dampness and mold in European homes in relation to climate, building characteristics and socio-economic status: The European Community Respiratory Health Survey ECRHS II.
abstract: We studied dampness and mold in homes in relation to climate, building characteristics and socio-economic status (SES) across Europe, for 7127 homes in 22 centers. A subsample of 3118 homes was inspected. Multilevel analysis was applied, including age, gender, center, SES, climate, and building factors. Self-reported water damage (10%), damp spots (21%), and mold (16%) in past year were similar as observed data (19% dampness and 14% mold). Ambient temperature was associated with self-reported water damage (OR=1.63 per 10°C; 95% CI 1.02-2.63), damp spots (OR=2.95; 95% CI 1.98-4.39), and mold (OR=2.28; 95% CI 1.04-4.67). Precipitation was associated with water damage (OR=1.12 per 100 mm; 95% CI 1.02-1.23) and damp spots (OR=1.11; 95% CI 1.02-1.20). Ambient relative air humidity was not associated with indoor dampness and mold. Older buildings had more dampness and mold (P<.001). Manual workers reported less water damage (OR=0.69; 95% CI 0.53-0.89) but more mold (OR=1.27; 95% CI 1.03-1.55) as compared to managerial/professional workers. There were correlations between reported and observed data at center level (Spearman rho 0.61 for dampness and 0.73 for mold). In conclusion, high ambient temperature and precipitation and high building age can be risk factors for dampness and mold in homes in Europe.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: D
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5174-6668
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Norbäck
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.|Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Publica, (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Zock
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.|Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Publica, (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Plana
authors.affiliation: German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.|Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Publica, (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tischer
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jacobsen Bertelsen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.|Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Barcelona, Spain.|CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Publica, (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.|Pompeu Fabra University, (UFP), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sunyer
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.|Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Künzli
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Unit of Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Villani
authors.affiliation: Occupational Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Verlato
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.|Estonian Research Council, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soon
authors.affiliation: Department of Public health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.|The National Research Center for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schlünssen
authors.affiliation: Allergy Department, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Gunnbjörnsdottir
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Epidemiology and Public Health Group, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jarvis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000391:Air Microbiology; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D002980:Climate; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005060:Europe; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013696:Temperature; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: building characteristics; building dampness; climate; environment; indoor; mould; socio-economic status