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Prevalence of dampness and mold in European housing stock

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 22 October 2012

Abstract

An assessment of the prevalence of dampness and mold in European housing stock was carried out. It is based on general indicators of dampness and mold in dwellings reported in the literature. The assessment relies on recent studies, taking into account regional and climatic differences, as well as differences in study design, methodology, and definitions. Data were available from 31 European countries. Weighted prevalence estimates are 12.1% for damp, 10.3% for mold, 10.0% for water damage, and 16.5% for a combination of any one or more indicators. Significant (up to 18%) differences were observed for dampness and mold prevalence estimates depending on survey factors, region, and climate. In conclusion, dampness and/or mold problems could be expected to occur in one of every six of the dwellings in Europe. Prevalence and occurrence of different types of problems may vary across geographical areas, which can be partly explained by differences in climate.

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Acknowledgements

The assessment reported herein was performed as a part of the INTARESE project, co-funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme (project number 018385). It includes some work performed for the WHO project on quantifying disease from inadequate housing in Europe. I thank Ms. Hanna Richie Keller for performing the language check.

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Correspondence to Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy.

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Haverinen-Shaughnessy, U. Prevalence of dampness and mold in European housing stock. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 22, 461–467 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2012.21

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