Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33314963›Full record

ArticleJournal of occupational and environmental hygiene2021

The Environmental Relative Moldiness Index reveals changes in mold contamination in United States homes over time.

Stephen Vesper, Larry Wymer, David Cox, Gary Dewalt, Eugene Pinzer, Warren Friedman, Peter J Ashley

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Stephen VesperCenter for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, United States Environmental Protection Agency , Cincinnati , Ohio.
Larry WymerCenter for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, United States Environmental Protection Agency , Cincinnati , Ohio.
David CoxQuanTech , Arlington , Virginia.
Gary DewaltQuanTech , Arlington , Virginia.
Eugene PinzerDepartment of Housing and Urban Development , Washington, DC.
Warren FriedmanDepartment of Housing and Urban Development , Washington, DC.
Peter J AshleyDepartment of Housing and Urban Development , Washington, DC.

Funding

Intramural EPA EPA999999
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) is a scale created to compare mold contamination levels in U.S. homes. The ERMI was developed as a result of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) first American Healthy Homes Survey (AHHS I), which sampled 1,096 homes selected to be representative of the U.S. housing stock. In AHHS I, a dust sample from each home was analyzed using quantitative PCR assays (qPCR) for 36 common indoor molds: 26 Group 1 molds, which were associated with water damage in homes and 10 Group 2 molds, which primarily enter the home from the outside environment. In 2019, HUD completed AHHS II by sampling 695 homes. Because lead was banned from paint in 1978, a larger proportion of homes selected for AHHS II had been built before 1978 compared to AHHS I. The 36 ERMI molds were analyzed in AHHS II exactly as in AHHS I. For the 36-ERMI molds, the rates of detection, average concentrations, and geometric means were in significant concordance (p < 0.001) between AHHS I and II, indicating that the ERMI methodology was stable over time. However, the average ERMI value in AHHS II homes was greater than in AHHS I. The reason for the difference was investigated by examining the Group 1 and 2 mold populations. The average summed logs of Group 1 molds were significantly greater in homes built before 1978 than the average for homes built later. Conversely, the average summed logs of Group 2 mold populations were the same in homes built before 1978 and homes built later. Since the summed logs of Group 2 mold is subtracted from the summed logs of Group 1 molds in the ERMI calculation, the average ERMI value was higher in AHHS II homes than AHHS I. In conclusion, by using the ERMI metric, we were able to demonstrate that water damage and mold growth were more likely to occur as homes get older.

Indexed as

DustEnvironmental MonitoringFungiHousingPolymerase Chain ReactionUnited StatesWaterDustWaterAmerican Healthy Homes SurveyasthmaERMIhomemold

Identifiers

PMID33314963
PMCPMC7853420

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.