Re: Re: Mold Free Model Home

September 8, 2007

Barb,

Avoiding mold in conventional buildings is basically avoiding leaks

and condensation of water vapor on cold surfaces.

_____cut here______

Indoor Air. 2004 Jun;14(3):196-9. Links

Wall relative humidity: a simple and reliable index for predicting

Stachybotrys chartarum infestation in dwellings.

Boutin-Forzano S, Charpin-Kadouch C, Chabbi S, Bennedjai N, Dumon H, Charpin D.

Department of Chest Diseases and Allergy, Hôpital Nord, Marseille, France.

Because the indoor mold Stachybotrys chartarum has been considered as

potentially responsible for serious health effects, its identification

in dwellings with water damages is of utmost importance. As such

dwellings are many, it would be of great value to have a simple and

reliable index for predicting its presence. The aim of the study was

to compare measurements of wall relative humidity (RH) to mold

identification in 458 samples from 100 dwellings. Mold identification

was performed by direct microscopic examination of a sample collected

on the wall by the gummed paper technique. Mean (+/- s.d.) wall RH (%)

was much higher (97.0 +/- 6.1) on the 30 samples where S. chartarum

was identified compared with the 291 samples where other molds were

identified (41.8 +/- 36.9) and to the 137 samples where no molds were

identified (38.9 +/- 34.8). There was no straightforward relationship

between wall and room RH. In conclusion, this study clearly

demonstrate that the simple measurement of wall RH can be used as a

reliable index for discarding and suspecting S. chartarum infestation

in dwellings. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: This paper suggests that very

high relative humidity (RH) within walls is a strong risk factor for

their infestation with the 'toxic mold' Stachybotrys chartarum.

Besides, data from the literature demonstrate that other molds are

able to produce mycotoxins when RH is very high. Thus, measurement of

wall RH, which is easy to perform and very cheap, could be used as a

screening tool to select those dwellings where mold identification

should be performed and remediation should be promptly carried out.

PMID: 15104787 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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