Microbes in schools with moisture damage affect respiratory symptoms – however, connections between symptoms and moisture damage are complex
Exposure to microbes offers a partial, albeit incomplete explanation for the association between moisture damage and respiratory symptoms. This is one of the conclusions of a new publication from the HITEA project, led by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The study has been published in the scientific journal Indoor Air.
For several decades, studies have been conducted aiming to identify specific microbes, toxins, or volatile organic compounds (VOC) that might explain the ill health of occupants of moisture damaged buildings, but with little success. It has become obvious that no individual factor can fully explain the adverse health symptoms caused by moisture damage.
People often link the harm caused by moisture damage to moulds, even though epidemiological studies indicate that moulds and their toxins offer only weak or inconsistent explanations for the adverse health effects. In a recent analysis from the HITEA study, bacteria associated with moisture damage in Finnish school buildings were found to have a greater, even if still weak connection with respiratory symptoms in Finnish pupils, when compared to moulds. Many other factors affecting building occupant exposure may also be linked with moisture damage, such as chemical compounds and poor ventilation.
“The connection between moisture damage and respiratory symptoms can probably be explained by a combination of microbes and several other causes. When we breathe air, we are always exposed to many different compounds at the same time. In the future, the different risk factors of symptoms should be studied together within the same research, instead of studying one compound at a time. Nevertheless, it is good to remember that even though we do not know the precise mechanism that leads to adverse health effects caused by moisture damage in buildings, we know what to do: it is important to fix significant damage caused by moisture damage and to prevent its re-emergence”, says Martin Täubel, Chief Researcher at THL.
“Much research is needed to better understand the link between moisture damage and health. There is just no simple solution to this complex problem”, Täubel adds.
A connection between moisture damage in school buildings and respiratory symptoms in pupils has previously been reported in the HITEA project. In this new study a DNA-based analysis method was used to examine which microbes are more common in classrooms with moisture problems compared to classrooms without moisture damage. In a second step the investigators then studied if the microbes that were found could explain part of the increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms in moisture damage schools.
This part of the HITEA project was carried out in 16 schools in Finland and The Netherlands with more than 2700 pupils participating in the study. In addition to THL, researchers from the United States, The Netherlands, Spain, and the University of Eastern Finland took part in the project. Funding to the study was provided by the European Commission, the Finnish Work Environment Fund, the Academy of Finland, the Juho Vainio Foundation, and the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation.
Reference
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Martin Täubel
Chief researcher
THL
tel. +358 29 524 6466
[email protected]
