IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i10p1241-d115376.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dampness and Moisture Problems in Norwegian Homes

Author

Listed:
  • Rune Becher

    (Domain of Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404 Nydalen, N-0403 Oslo, Norway)

  • Anja Hortemo Høie

    (Domain of Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404 Nydalen, N-0403 Oslo, Norway
    Current Adress: Arendal Upper Secondary School, Kirkebakken 8, 4836 Arendal, Norway.)

  • Jan Vilhelm Bakke

    (The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, P.O. Box 4720 Sluppen, 7468 Trondheim, Norway)

  • Sverre Bjørn Holøs

    (SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, P.O. Box 124 Blindern, 0314 Oslo, Norway)

  • Johan Øvrevik

    (Domain of Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404 Nydalen, N-0403 Oslo, Norway)

Abstract

The occurrence of dampness and mold in the indoor environment is associated with respiratory-related disease outcomes. Thus, it is pertinent to know the magnitude of such indoor environment problems to be able to estimate the potential health impact in the population. In the present study, the moisture damage in 10,112 Norwegian dwellings was recorded based on building inspection reports. The levels of moisture damage were graded based on a condition class (CC), where CC0 is immaculate and CC1 acceptable (actions not required), while CC2 and CC3 indicate increased levels of damage that requires action. Of the 10,112 dwellings investigated, 3125 had verified moisture or mold damage. This amounts to 31% of the surveyed dwellings. Of these, 27% had CC2 as the worst grade, whereas 4% had CC3 as the worst grade level. The room types and building structures most prone to moisture damage were (in rank order) crawl spaces, basements, un-insulated attics, cooling rooms, and bathrooms. The high proportion of homes with moisture damage indicate a possible risk for respiratory diseases in a relatively large number of individuals, even if only the more extensive moisture damages and those located in rooms where occupants spend the majority of their time would have a significant influence on adverse health effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Rune Becher & Anja Hortemo Høie & Jan Vilhelm Bakke & Sverre Bjørn Holøs & Johan Øvrevik, 2017. "Dampness and Moisture Problems in Norwegian Homes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:10:p:1241-:d:115376
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/10/1241/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/10/1241/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dan Norbäck & Erik Lampa & Karin Engvall, 2014. "Asthma, Allergy and Eczema among Adults in Multifamily Houses in Stockholm (3-HE Study) - Associations with Building Characteristics, Home Environment and Energy Use for Heating," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-17, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nipuni Nilakshini Wimalasena & Alice Chang-Richards & Kevin I-Kai Wang & Kim N. Dirks, 2021. "Housing Risk Factors Associated with Respiratory Disease: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-24, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chengju Wang & Juan Wang & Dan Norbäck, 2022. "A Systematic Review of Associations between Energy Use, Fuel Poverty, Energy Efficiency Improvements and Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-29, June.
    2. Yingjie Liu & Chan Lu & Yuguo Li & Dan Norbäck & Qihong Deng, 2022. "Outdoor Air Pollution and Indoor Window Condensation Associated with Childhood Symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis to Pollen," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Talita Mariane Cristino & Antonio Faria Neto & Antonio Fernando Branco Costa, 2018. "Energy efficiency in buildings: analysis of scientific literature and identification of data analysis techniques from a bibliometric study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(3), pages 1275-1326, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:10:p:1241-:d:115376. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.