DNA-based analyses of molds in Singapore public buildings results in a proposed Singapore Environmental Relative Moldiness Index.

Dust samples (n=75) were collected from shopping malls, hotels and libraries in Singapore and then analyzed using Mold Specific Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (MSQPCR) for the 36 molds that make up the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI). Most of these molds (23/36) occur at similar rates in Singapore and the United States. A Singapore Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (SERMI) is proposed which might be divided into low (<18), medium (18 to 28) and high (>28) mold burden categories but more samples will help to refine these categories.