Vesper Stephen, Prill Rich, Wymer Larry, Adkins Lauren, Williams Ronald, Fulk Florence
United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2015 Feb;26(1):49-53. doi: 10.1111/pai.12324.
Mold exposures have been linked to the development and exacerbation of asthma. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) metric, developed to quantify mold exposures in homes, might be applied to evaluating the mold contamination in schools.
Settled dust samples (n = 10) were collected on each level of a water-damaged school in Springfield, Massachusetts and two samples per level in five Idaho schools. Each dust sample was analyzed for the 36 molds that make up the ERMI. The concentration of 2.5-μm particulate matter (PM2.5 ) was measured in each school at two locations during the spring of 2013.
The average ERMI value in the Springfield school, 15.51, was significantly greater (p < 0.001) than the average ERMI value, -2.87, in the Idaho schools. Ten of the twenty-six Group 1 molds, which are associated with water-damaged environments, were in significantly greater concentrations in the Springfield school. The populations of Group 2 molds, which are common indoors even without water damage, were essentially the same in Springfield and Idaho schools. The average PM2.5 concentration in the Springfield and Idaho schools was 11.6 and 3.4 μg/m(3) , respectively.
The ERMI scale might be useful in comparing the relative mold contamination in schools.
接触霉菌与哮喘的发生和加重有关。本研究的目的是确定为量化家庭中霉菌接触情况而开发的环境相对霉菌指数（ERMI）指标是否可用于评估学校中的霉菌污染情况。
在马萨诸塞州斯普林菲尔德一所受水损的学校的每个楼层采集了沉降灰尘样本（n = 10），并在爱达荷州的五所学校的每个楼层采集了两个样本。对每个灰尘样本进行了构成ERMI的36种霉菌的分析。2013年春季，在每所学校的两个地点测量了2.5微米颗粒物（PM2.5）的浓度。
斯普林菲尔德学校的平均ERMI值为15.51，显著高于爱达荷州学校的平均ERMI值-2.87（p < 0.001）。与水损环境相关的26种第1组霉菌中有10种在斯普林菲尔德学校的浓度显著更高。即使没有水损，在室内也常见的第2组霉菌在斯普林菲尔德学校和爱达荷州学校中的数量基本相同。斯普林菲尔德学校和爱达荷州学校的平均PM2.5浓度分别为11.6和3.4微克/立方米。
ERMI量表可能有助于比较学校中相对的霉菌污染情况。
