[Occurrence of visible molds in French schools and nurseries]

Children exposure to molds in the school and preschool environment is not well described in France. A nationwide survey was performed in 2009-2011 in 310 schools and nurseries from France including two oversea territories, Reunion and Martinique. It showed that 5 % of the audited rooms had visible molds, mainly on the ceiling. These rooms belonged to 34 buildings (11 %). The multivariate analysis shows that several factors are associated with visible molds in rooms: the presence of textile wall covering, the location of the building in a suburban area, the size of the building (less visible molds in large buildings), the absence of a ventilation system with exhaust located in the room, and the absence of double-glazed windows. The prevalence of visible molds is comparable to the one observed in large European studies: 7 % of the 334 classrooms in the frame of the SINPHONIE project and 11 % of the buildings in 193 elementary schools in the HITEA study.