Long term measurement of molds in the concealed spaces of detachedhouses in Japan

Recently, dampness in buildings has beenindicated to be associated with occupants' healthdamages such as allergies. In particular mold inindoor air is considered to be a significant riskfactor of health. The indoor concentration ofmolds becomes higher with mold growth on thesurfaces of wall, floor, ceiling and so on.However, mold growth in the concealed spaces:inner wall spaces, beam spaces and crawlspaces, can not be ignored as one of theemission sources. There is a possibility thatmold in the crawl spaces should move throughthe concealed spaces in walls and flow intorooms through the leakages of walls, outlets andso on. Molds in concealed spaces of the wallshave been investigated for one year in eighteendetached houses located in the northern cities inJapan. The air of concealed spaces wascollected through the leaks of switch panels onthe walls and the colonies of molds werecounted. This paper describes the measuredresults of molds and the possibility of molds inthe concealed spaces as sources of indoor airpollution