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Beate Jacob,^1,2 Beate Ritz,³ Ulrike Gehring,^1,2 Andrea Koch,⁴ Wolfgang Bischof,⁴ H. E. Wichmann,^1,2 and Joachim Heinrich¹ for the INGA-Study Group

¹GSF-Institute of Epidemiology, Munich, Germany; ²Institute of Medical Data Management, Biometrics, and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Germany; ³Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California, USA; ⁴Department of Indoor Climatology, University of Jena, Erfurt, Germany

Abstract

Evidence that indoor dampness and mold growth are associated with respiratory health has been accumulating, but few studies have been able to examine health risks in relation to measured levels of indoor mold exposure. In particular, little is known about the contribution of indoor molds to the development of allergic sensitization. As a part of an ongoing study examining the effects of ambient air pollutants on respiratory health and atopic diseases in German school children, we examined the relation between viable mold levels indoors and allergic sensitization in 272 children. We examined whether allergic sensitization in children is associated with higher fungal spore count in settled house dust sampled from living room floors. Adjusting for age, sex, parental education, region of residency, and parental history of atopy, we found that mold spore counts for Cladosporium and Aspergillus were associated with an increased risk of allergic sensitization. Sensitized children exposed to high levels of mold spores (> 90th percentile) were more likely to suffer from symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis. We conclude that elevated indoor concentrations of molds in wintertime might play a role in increasing the risk of developing atopic symptoms and allergic sensitization not only to molds but also to other common, inhaled allergens. These effects were strongest in the group of children who had lived in the same home since birth. Key words: allergic sensitization, house dust, indoor allergen exposure, molds. Environ Health Perspect 110:647-653 (2002) . [Online 24 May 2002]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2002/110p647-653jacob/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to B. Jacob, GSF-Institute of Epidemiology, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1 D-85758 Neuherberg, Germany. Telephone: +49-89-3187-4150. Fax: +49-89-3187-3380. E-mail: beate.jacob@t-online.de

We thank G. Wölke and B. Hollstein for coordinating the home visits. The Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology, grant EE 93016, supported this study.

The Inga-Study Group: GSF--National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Institute of Epidemiology (H.E. Wichmann, J. Heinrich, P. Schneider, J. Cyrys, I. Groß, G. Wölke, G. Silbernagl, U. Gehring, B. Jacob, A. Houzer) , Institute of Ecological Chemistry (I. Gebefügi, G. Lörinci, J. Schnelle) ; Friedrich Schiller University--Jena Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine (W. Bischof, A. Koch, J. Witthauer, K.J. Heilemann) , Institute of Clinical Immunology (L. Jäger, B. Fahlbusch, G. Schlenvoigt) ; Großhansdorf Hospital--Hamburg Center for Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (H. Magnussen, K. Richter, R. Jörres) ; University of Utrecht--Division of Environmental and Occupational Health (B. Brunekreef, J. Douwes, G. Doekes) .

Received 18 May 2001 ; accepted 17 December 2001.