Vesper Stephen, Barnes Charles, Ciaccio Christina E, Johanns Alan, Kennedy Kevin, Murphy Johnna S, Nunez-Alvarez Arcela, Sandel Megan T, Cox David, Dewalt Gary, Ashley Peter J
National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL), United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA.
J Asthma. 2013 Mar;50(2):155-61. doi: 10.3109/02770903.2012.740122. Epub 2012 Nov 9.
Mold in water-damaged homes has been linked to asthma. Our objective was to test a new metric to quantify mold exposures in asthmatic children's homes in three widely dispersed cities in the United States.
The Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) metric was created by the US Environmental Protection Agency, with assistance by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to quantify mold contamination in US homes. The ERMI values in homes of asthmatic children were determined for the three widely dispersed cities of Boston, Kansas City, and San Diego.
Asthmatic children in Boston (n = 76), Kansas City (n = 60), and San Diego (n = 93) were found to be living in homes with significantly higher ERMI values than were found in homes randomly selected during the 2006 HUD American Healthy Homes Survey (AHHS) from the same geographic areas (n = 34, 22, and 28, respectively). Taken together, the average ERMI value in the homes with an asthmatic child was 8.73 compared to 3.87 for the AHHS homes. In addition, Kansas City homes of children with "Mild, Moderate, or Severe Persistent Asthma" had average ERMI value of 12.4 compared to 7.9 for homes of children with only "Mild Intermittent Asthma." Aspergillus niger was the only mold of the 36 tested which was measured in significantly greater concentration in the homes of asthmatic children in all three cities.
High ERMI values were associated with homes of asthmatic children in three widely dispersed cities in the United States.
水浸房屋中的霉菌与哮喘有关。我们的目的是测试一种新的指标，以量化美国三个分布广泛的城市中哮喘儿童家中的霉菌暴露情况。
环境相对霉菌指数（ERMI）指标由美国环境保护局在美国住房和城市发展部（HUD）的协助下制定，用于量化美国家庭中的霉菌污染情况。确定了波士顿、堪萨斯城和圣地亚哥这三个分布广泛的城市中哮喘儿童家中的ERMI值。
发现波士顿（n = 76）、堪萨斯城（n = 60）和圣地亚哥（n = 93）的哮喘儿童所居住房屋的ERMI值显著高于2006年HUD美国健康之家调查（AHHS）在相同地理区域随机抽取的房屋（分别为n = 34、22和28）。总体而言，有哮喘儿童的家庭的平均ERMI值为8.73，而AHHS家庭为3.87。此外，患有“轻度、中度或重度持续性哮喘”儿童的堪萨斯城家庭的平均ERMI值为12.4，而仅患有“轻度间歇性哮喘”儿童的家庭为7.9。黑曲霉是所检测的36种霉菌中唯一一种在所有三个城市哮喘儿童家中浓度均显著更高的霉菌。
在美国三个分布广泛的城市中，高ERMI值与哮喘儿童的家庭有关。
