BACKGROUND: Dampness and mould exposure have been repeatedly associated with respiratory health. However, less is known about the specific agents provoking or arresting health effects in adult populations. We aimed to assess predictors of microbial agents in mattress dust throughout Europe and to investigate associations between microbial exposures, home characteristics and respiratory health. METHODS: Seven different fungal and bacterial parameters were assessed in mattress dust from 956 adult ECRHS II participants in addition to interview based home characteristics. Associations between microbial parameters and the asthma score and lung function were examined using mixed negative binomial regression and linear mixed models, respectively. RESULTS: Indoor dampness and pet keeping were significant predictors for higher microbial agent concentrations in mattress dust. Current mould and condensation in the bedroom were significantly associated with lung function decline and current mould at home was positively associated with the asthma score. Higher concentrations of muramic acid were associated with higher mean ratios of the asthma score (aMR 1.37, 95%CI 1.17-1.61). There was no evidence for any association between fungal and bacterial components and lung function. CONCLUSION: Indoor dampness was associated with microbial levels in mattress dust which in turn was positively associated with asthma symptoms.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/610304 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Tischer, Christina, Zock, Jan-Paul, Valkonen, Maria, Doekes, Gert, Guerra, Stefano, Heederik, Dick, Jarvis, Deborah, Norbäck, Dan, Olivieri, Mario, Sunyer, Jordi, Svanes, Cecilie, Täubel, Martin, Thiering, Elisabeth, Verlato, Giuseppe, Hyvärinen, Anne, Heinrich, Joachim |
| Contributors | Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstrasse 1, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), Living Environment and Health Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, Arizona Respiratory Center, University of Arizona, Respiratory Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Imperial College London, MRC-HPA Centre for Environment Health, King's College London, The Department of Medical Science, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University, Department of Occupational Medicine, University of Verona, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Department of Occupational Medicine, Centre for International Health, University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital, Division of Metabolic Diseases and Nutritional Medicine, Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Verona |
| Publisher | BioMed Central Ltd |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Rights | © 2015 Tischer et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) |
| Relation | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2466/15/48 |
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