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Indoor microbial growth -- especially fungal growth -- has recently received a great deal of attention in the mass media. It is a prominent feature of the breakdown of dampness control. Its many possible causes include a breach of the building envelope, failure of a water-use device and excessive indoor water vapour generation. Occupants, health professionals and others have wondered whether indoor exposure to mould and other agents might have a role in adverse health outcomes experienced by occupants of damp buildings.
The committee found sufficient evidence of an association between exposure to damp indoor environments and some respiratory health outcomes: upper respiratory tract (nasal and throat) symptoms, cough, wheeze, and asthma symptoms in sensitized asthmatic persons. Epidemiologic studies also indicate that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the presence of mould (otherwise unspecified) indoors is associated with upper respiratory symptoms, cough, wheeze, asthma symptoms in sensitized asthmatic persons, and hypersensitivity pneumonitis (a relatively rare immune-mediated condition) in susceptible persons.
The committee found inadequate or insufficient information to determine whether damp indoor environments or the agents associated with them are related to these health outcomes: dyspnea; asthma development; airflow obstruction (in otherwise healthy persons); mucous membrane irritation syndrome; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; inhalation fevers (non-occupational exposures); lower respiratory illness in otherwise healthy adults; acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage in infants; skin symptoms; gastrointestinal tract problems; fatigue; neuropsychiatric symptoms; cancer; reproductive effects; and rheumatologic and other immune diseases. |