A group of Berkeley National Laboratory researchers recently published a study in the scientific journal, Indoor Air, that adds significant weight to the supposition that mold adversely affects respiratory health. The scientists were all employed in the National Lab’s Department of Indoor Environment. Lead author, W. J. Fisk, Ph.D. puts together extremely convincing evidence that molds associated with building dampness, are detrimental to the respiratory health of building occupants.
Berkeley researchers used an increasingly-common and powerful quantitative statistical technique known as Meta-Analysis in the study. Meta-analysis combines the data of multiple studies to address an overarching or Mega research hypothesis. In this case, Fisk and others, collated the data from 33 previously published scientific studies to test the hypothesis that indoor mold growth in water damaged buildings cause adverse respiratory symptoms.
The results of their meta-analyses indicate that “building dampness and mold are associated with approximately 30–50% increases in a variety of respiratory and asthma-related health outcomes”. Furthermore, the associations between health problems and indoor mold were statistically significant across a variety of populations.
