The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) developed an index for indoor mold analysis called ERMI (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index). The standard is based on a test using state of the art DNA testing (MSQPCR) to identify molds that are linked to water intrusion and various respiratory diseases such as Asthma, Chronic Sinusitis, and Infant Wheezing. The results obtained from this test give each home a meaningful ERMI score, which can be compared to the 1,100 homes that were studied by the EPA.
Homes and businesses receiving a high ERMI score are more likely to have unwanted indoor mold growth than those that receive a low ERMI score.
What is an ERMI Score?
The ERMI panel includes 26 mold species known to thrive in water damaged homes and 10 species found in all homes, with or without water damage. Each species and group of species is enumerated from DNA extracted from dust samples,which are taken in both the living and sleeping quarters of the home. Concentrations of each of the 36 molds are used to derive an “ERMI score” that rates the moldiness of each sample against those tested by the US-EPA.
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