Infants exposed to mold in their home have more than double the risk of developing asthma, suggests new research in the Annals of Asthma, Allergy & Immunology. The risk is even greater if a parent has asthma.

The research is the first to suggest that mold exposure in babies under the age of 1 plays a critical role in children developing asthma.

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati visited the homes of 176 babies born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and northern Kentucky from 2001 to 2003, where at least one parent was allergic to a common airborne allergen. They inspected the homes for mold when the children were 1 and 7, and offered children allergy tests at ages 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7.

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