If you get rid of mould and dampness in your home or office, you could guard your wellbeing against respiratory infections. This is according to a new study, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Tampere, Finland, which found that while getting rid of mould can reduce troubling symptoms for asthma sufferers across the globe, the best way to eliminate the mould remains unclear.
According to National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, mould is one of the most important environmental triggers of symptoms such as coughing and wheezing. Peter Thorne, head of the occupational and environmental health department at the University of Iowa, explains, ‘Mould is found in many homes with basements, in apartments and walkouts that are partially or fully below ground, and in buildings that have been flooded or have poor humidity control. Homes and office buildings alike have problems.’
Out of the study, which appears in the September issue of The Cochrane Library – a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration; an international organization that evaluates research in all aspects of health care – the researchers discovered mixed results for the wellness impact of relieving buildings of dampness and mould. Lead reviewer Riitta Sauni noted, ‘We were happy to find evidence that remediation of mould-damaged houses decreased the severity and amount of symptoms in patients with asthma and respiratory infections. Unfortunately, we did not find evidence that remediation could prevent these diseases.’
For the study, the researchers examined eight studies with 6,538 participants who had their homes, schools or workplaces remediated by a mixture of methods; either totally or partially renovating a building, or cleaning with a fungicide or bleach solution. However, the available studies did not offer high-quality evidence or large sample sizes, the researchers found that ‘drawing hard conclusions was difficult.’
Yet, Sauni commented, ‘The studies have shown that after cleaning and fungicide treatment, a large number of the buildings were soon re-infected with moulds, and also a partially remediated office building had to be repaired more thoroughly. Sometimes, if the structures are damaged widely, the easiest and most cost-effective possibility is to pull down the damp building and build a new one.’ The research team added that more studies are needed to draw clear conclusions.
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