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Analysis of moisture findings in the interior spaces of Finnish housing stock

Chelelgo, J., Haverinen, U., Vahteristo, M., Koivisto, J., Husman, T., Nevalainen, A. and Jaaskelainen, E.
2001
JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, 51 (1): 69-77

Chelelgo, J., Haverinen, U., Vahteristo, M., Koivisto, J., Husman, T., Nevalainen, A. and Jaaskelainen, E., (2001), "Analysis of moisture findings in the interior spaces of Finnish housing stock", JOURNAL OF THE AIR & WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, 51 (1): 69-77.
Abstract:
A grading system was developed to rate the moisture damage profile of dwellings and to study the relationship between moisture-induced indoor air problems and occupant health. A total of 630 randomly selected houses and apartments, built between 1950 and 1989, were visually inspected. Moisture observations were standardized into three damage levels. Thus, a system to classify the homes into three grades was devised. The two grades of homes associated with the highest levels of damage were graded as index homes.

Overall, 51% of the sample had some kind of moisture fault in them and one in every three homes (33%) was classified as an index home. The mean number of damage incidents in the index dwellings varied from 1.4 to 2.6. The mean number of damage incidents in the reference homes was 0.28. Prevalence of index dwellings was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in houses (38%) than in apartments (26%). There was no major difference in the prevalence of index buildings in houses built in any particular decade (30-35%). Moisture was observed in 28% of bathrooms, in 10% of kitchens, and in 17% of other spaces. Indoor relative humidity (RH) levels were low in most homes.
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  • This link has not been checked.Laboratory of Building Physics, Leuven, Belgium
    "...research and educational activities in the field of heat and mass transfer in building materials, building parts and buildings, the energy use in buildings, building installations and building acoustics. Also research in urban physics is part of our activities.

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Author Information and Other Publications Notes
Chelelgo, J.
     
Haverinen, U.
  1. An approach to management of critical indoor air problems in school buildings
  2. Characteristics of moisture damage in houses and their association with self-reported symptoms of the occupants
  3. Comparison of two-level and three-level classifications of moisture-damaged dwellings in relation to health effects
  4. Knowledge-based and statistically modeled relationships between residential moisture damage and occupant reported health symptoms
  5. Modeling moisture damage and its association with occupant health symptoms  
Vahteristo, M.
  1. Characteristics of moisture damage in houses and their association with self-reported symptoms of the occupants
  2. Comparison of two-level and three-level classifications of moisture-damaged dwellings in relation to health effects
  3. Indoor air microbes and respiratory symptoms of children in moisture damaged and reference schools
  4. Knowledge-based and statistically modeled relationships between residential moisture damage and occupant reported health symptoms
  5. Moisture, mold and health in apartment homes
  6. Temporal and spatial variation of fungal concentrations in indoor air  
Koivisto, J.
  1. Indoor air microbes and respiratory symptoms of children in moisture damaged and reference schools
  2. Moisture, mold and health in apartment homes  
Husman, T.
National Public Health Institute, Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Kuopio, Finland.
  1. An approach to management of critical indoor air problems in school buildings
  2. Characteristics of moisture damage in houses and their association with self-reported symptoms of the occupants
  3. Comparison of two-level and three-level classifications of moisture-damaged dwellings in relation to health effects
  4. Control of exposure to airborne viable microorganisms during remediation of moldy buildings; report of three case studies
  5. Effect of building frame and moisture damage on microbiological indoor air quality in school buildings
  6. Health effects of indoor-air microorganisms
  7. Indoor air microbes and respiratory symptoms of children in moisture damaged and reference schools
  8. Knowledge-based and statistically modeled relationships between residential moisture damage and occupant reported health symptoms
  9. Moisture damage in schools - symptoms and indoor air microbes
  10. Moisture, mold and health in apartment homes
  11. Size distributions of airborne microbes in moisture-damaged and reference school buildings of two construction types
  12. The relationship between moisture or mould observations in houses and the state of health of their occupants  
Nevalainen, A.
Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology, National Public Health Institute, Kuopio, Finland, and Department of Health Evaluation Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
  1. An approach to management of critical indoor air problems in school buildings
  2. Comparison of concentrations and size distributions of fungal spores in buildings with and without mould problems
  3. Comparison of two-level and three-level classifications of moisture-damaged dwellings in relation to health effects
  4. Control of exposure to airborne viable microorganisms during remediation of moldy buildings; report of three case studies
  5. Effect of building frame and moisture damage on microbiological indoor air quality in school buildings
  6. Effect of growth medium on potential of Streptomyces anulatus spores to induce inflammatory responses and cytotoxicity in RAW264.7 macrophages
  7. Effect of indoor sources on fungal spore concentrations and size distributions
  8. Effect of liner and core materials of plasterboard on microbial growth, spore-induced inflammatory responses, and cytotoxicity in macrophages
  9. Everyday activities and variation of fungal spore concentrations in indoor air
  10. Fungal spores as such do not cause nasal inflammation in mold exposure
  11. Fungi and actinobacteria in moisture-damaged building materials - concentrations and diversity
  12. Indoor air microbes and respiratory symptoms of children in moisture damaged and reference schools
  13. Induction of Cytotoxicity and Production of Inflammatory Mediators in RAW264.7 Macrophages by Spores Grown on Six Different Plasterboards
  14. Inlet sampling efficiency of bioaerosol samplers
  15. Knowledge-based and statistically modeled relationships between residential moisture damage and occupant reported health symptoms
  16. Microbes and moisture content of materials from damaged building
  17. Moisture, mold and health in apartment homes
  18. Performance of bioaerosol samplers: collection characteristics and sampler design considerations
  19. Personal exposures and microenvironmental concentrations of particles and bioaerosols
  20. Size distributions of airborne microbes in moisture-damaged and reference school buildings of two construction types
  21. Skin-prick test findings in students from moisture- and mould-damaged schools: A 3-year follow-up study
  22. Temporal and spatial variation of fungal concentrations in indoor air
  23. The relationship between moisture or mould observations in houses and the state of health of their occupants
  24. Validity of detection of microbial growth in buildings by trained dogs  
Jaaskelainen, E.
     


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