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Meta-analyses of respiratory health outcomes reported in damp or moldy homes
Pooled analyses of building-dampness studies reported increased odds of several respiratory outcomes among occupants of homes classified as damp or moldy.
How to read this
This library reports what studies found. An entry describes a study's design, its findings in its own terms, and its limits. Nothing here is a claim about what a Sage Co. home does, delivers, or prevents.
Last reviewed August 30, 2026.
What they studied
- A systematic review and meta-analysis pooling published epidemiological studies of residential dampness and visible mold.
- Exposure in the source studies was generally assessed by occupant report or inspector observation of dampness, water damage, visible mold, or mold odour — not by a single quantitative measurement.
- Outcomes pooled included cough, wheeze, upper respiratory tract symptoms, and asthma-related endpoints.
What they found
- The authors reported statistically significant increases in the odds of cough, wheeze, and upper-respiratory symptoms in occupants of homes classified as damp or moldy, relative to those not so classified.
- The pooled increases were reported as modest in magnitude but consistent in direction across the included studies.
- The World Health Organization's 2009 indoor-air guideline on dampness and mold drew on this body of work in concluding that dampness-related exposures are associated with respiratory outcomes.
What this study does not establish
- Dampness exposure in the pooled studies is a broad category, largely self-reported or visually assessed; it is not a measurement of a specific organism or concentration.
- Associations reported in observational studies do not establish that dampness caused the outcomes.
- The analyses do not identify a threshold, a causal agent, or an intervention effect.
- This entry reports the study. It is not a statement about any building Sage Co. designs or constructs.
Source
Fisk WJ, Lei-Gomez Q, Mendell MJ (2007). Meta-analyses of the associations of respiratory health effects with dampness and mold in homes. Indoor Air 17(4):284–296.
dampnessmoldrespiratorymeta-analysis
Elsewhere under Moisture & Mold
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- Review of actinobacteria in indoor environments and reported respiratory effects
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- Inflammatory response in mice after instillation of Streptomyces spores from a moldy building
- Co-occurrence of bacterial and fungal secondary metabolites measured in moisture-damaged homes
- Chaetomium globosum prevalence in surveyed water-damaged buildings and metabolite production on building materials
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- Associations between fungal species and specific water-damaged building materials
- Systematic review of fungal exposure and hypersensitivity pneumonitis
- Review of Stachybotrys chartarum, trichothecene mycotoxins, and damp building–related illness
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- Nasal and olfactory effects of satratoxin G measured in rhesus monkeys
- Olfactory neuron loss and inflammation measured in mice after intranasal satratoxin G
- Lung inflammation measured in mice exposed to Aspergillus versicolor spores from a moisture-damaged building
- Inflammatory gene expression measured in macrophages exposed to toxins from damp-building fungi
- Lung responses measured in mice exposed to purified toxins from building-isolated Penicillium species
- Human brain cell responses measured at satratoxin concentrations reported from water-damaged buildings
- Time-series and clinical-trial data reported on illness in water-damaged building occupants
- Review of proposed injury mechanisms from exposure to water-damaged buildings
- Neuropsychological and electrocortical measures compared between mold-exposed subjects and controls