13 research outputs found
The construction of community indexes of mental health and social and mental well-being and their application to New York City
Populations of some molds in water-damaged homes may differ if the home was constructed with gypsum drywall compared to plaster
Correlation between ERMI Values and Other Moisture and Mold Assessments of Homes in the American Healthy Homes Survey
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) values in the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Healthy Homes Survey (AHHS) homes and an alternative analysis frequently used in mold investigations, i.e., the inspector’s “walk-through” assessment of visual or olfactory evidence of mold combined with occupant’s answers to a questionnaire about mold odors and moisture. Homes in the highest ERMI quartile were in agreement with visual inspection and/or occupant assessment 48% of the time but failed to detect the mold in 52% of the fourth quartile homes. In about 7% of lowest ERMI quartile homes, the inspection and occupant assessments overestimated the mold problem. The ERMI analysis of dust from homes may be useful in finding hidden mold problems. An additional objective was to compare the ERMI values in inner city east-Baltimore homes, where childhood asthma is common, to the AHHS randomly selected homes