In 2007, scientists estimated the direct cost of diseases associated with mould and dampness on the US population to be in the range of 4 billion dollars, and the indirect costs of lost work and school days are gauged even higher. The US Centers for Disease Control recently concluded that elimination of moisture and mouldy materials in the home definitively results in improved health. Unfortunately, problems of accurate assessment and precise identification plague the full understanding of the effects of mould on human health.

Addressing exposure assessment and...