ITHACA, N.Y. -- After the widespread flooding in various areas of New York state in April, mold is growing in many homes and could be prompting allergies and asthma-type symptoms and other health problems in otherwise healthy people, say Cornell University housing experts.

"When water sits in a garage or basement or areas of a building that are excessively damp or humid, mold, bacteria and dust mites may thrive," said Joseph Laquatra, professor of design and environmental analysis (DEA) in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell, New York state's land-grant institution. "And a 2004 review of the scientific literature by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has linked indoor mold and building dampness with chronic respiratory problems." 

Laquatra and his colleague, Mark Pierce, a DEA Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) associate, have been asked to give more educational workshops than ever throughout the state on how to prevent mold and moisture problems in buildings. 

"The early spring rains coupled with development in many areas -- such as new parking lots that reduce the amount of soil that can act as a sponge to absorb the water, and more roof structures that collect water and then dump buckets at a time onto the soil -- have contributed to the moisture problems in many areas," Pierce said. 

The Cornell housing experts point out that mold problems in homes and offices may stem from a variety of sources, including poor construction, poorly maintained heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems and inadequate ventilation. The best solution to such problems involves reducing relative humidity levels in homes and repairing water leaks -- whether it is a roof leak or a plumbing leak -- as soon as possible. For specific information on how to prevent and treat humidity problems, see http://www.cce.cornell.edu/housing/.

Both Laquatra and Pierce work with a national program, Healthy Indoor Air for America's Homes, to educate consumers and building industry professionals on how to adopt healthier indoor air quality practices. The program provides education through 50 state extension program specialists who direct the program in their respective states. It has fostered partnerships with state and county health departments and numerous community organizations to reach consumers and others on how to prevent and address problems related to indoor air quality, from mold and moisture to radon, lead, asbestos, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, secondhand smoke and more. The program has reached people through workshops, public service announcements, newspaper articles and online Q&As.

Now in its 10th year, the program was this year's winner of the Jeanne M. Priester State/Multi-state Award in recognition of outstanding extension health programming at the National Extension Health Conference in Lexington, Ky., April 15.

Laquatra is one of a dozen housing and environment state extension staff members who met with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service staff in 1995 to design the national indoor air quality extension educational program. 

Laquatra is also one of six state extension housing specialists on the project's program development team. He said that the program also has led to the development of a project on indoor air quality for limited-resource households, which was implemented by Cornell's Healthy Living and Learning Environments Program Work Team; another spin-off is the Central New York Coalition for Healthy Indoor Air, a 16-county effort led by Pierce that involves local CCE associations, county health departments, the American Lung Association, nonprofit housing-related agencies and others.

Laquatra also teaches about mold in affiliation with the Syracuse Healthy Indoor Environment Living Demonstration project that he is conducting with CCE/Onondaga, State University of New York Upstate Medical University at Syracuse, SUNY/Environmental Science and Forestry and the New York State Indoor Environmental Quality Center.