Disclaimer

# Disclaimer

**Version 2026-10-09**
**Effective: October 27, 2026**

This Disclaimer is incorporated by reference into the **Terms of Service** and applies to all use of the website at explainmyermi.com (the "**Site**") and any report, deliverable, or service provided through it (collectively, the "**Service**"). Capitalized terms not defined here have the meanings given in the Terms of Service.

By using the Service, you agree to this Disclaimer. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

## 1. Educational and Informational Only

The information presented on the Site and in any Report we deliver is provided for **general educational and informational purposes only**. It is not intended to substitute for, and should not be relied upon as, professional medical, legal, real-estate, environmental, building-science, insurance, or remediation advice. **The Report is not a substitute for a licensed mold assessment or inspection where such assessment is required or recommended under applicable law.**

ExplainmyERMI applies a proprietary interpretive framework to lab values and building information you submit. The Report explains what the science says about each elevated species, how the species composition compares to a reference distribution of U.S. homes, and what kind of moisture conditions the pattern is generally consistent with. **It does not, and cannot, diagnose, treat, cure, prevent, predict, or rule out any disease, condition, or building defect.**

**EPA position on the ERMI test.** ExplainmyERMI does not perform, sell, or recommend the ERMI test itself. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which developed ERMI, currently states on its public mold information page that ERMI "is a research tool and is not recommended for use except as a research tool." ExplainmyERMI does not claim EPA endorsement or validation of the ERMI test, of our interpretation of any ERMI result, or of our methodology page. You acknowledge that you, not ExplainmyERMI, made the decision to obtain an ERMI test from a laboratory of your choosing, and that our Service is limited to providing an educational interpretation of test results you have already obtained. The EPA's position and its history are set out on our methodology page at explainmyermi.com/methodology. If you do not yet have an ERMI result, please read the EPA's guidance directly at epa.gov/mold before deciding whether to order such a test.

## 2. Not a Mold Inspection or Mold Assessment

ExplainmyERMI is not, and is not held out as:

- A mold inspection.
- A mold assessment, mold survey, or mold-amplification investigation.
- A determination that any property is, or is not, water-damaged, contaminated, habitable, or safe.
- A regulated activity within the meaning of any of the following statutes: **Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958** and **16 TAC Chapter 78**; **Florida Statutes Chapter 468 Part XVI** (including § 468.8411 and § 468.8419); **New York Labor Law Article 32** (including § 930 and § 931); **New Hampshire RSA 310-A:189-b**; **D.C. Code § 8-241.01 *et seq.***; or any analogous statute or regulation in any other jurisdiction.

ExplainmyERMI does not employ "mold assessors," "certified mold assessors," "registered mold assessors," "licensed mold assessors," or "professional mold assessors." We do not use those titles or any combination of them, and we do not deliver work that constitutes "mold assessment" within the meaning of those statutes. The Service is purely informational: we interpret laboratory data and building information supplied by the customer, and we do not visit, inspect, sample, survey, or otherwise engage with any building.

**Additional jurisdictions.** Mold-related licensing and certification regimes vary state by state and change over time. We may decline to serve customers in additional jurisdictions if local law creates a material risk that the Service could be interpreted as regulated mold-assessment activity. The fact that the Service is available in a particular state does not constitute a representation that it complies with all local requirements.

If your situation requires a licensed mold assessment under applicable law (for example, in connection with a real-estate transaction, a landlord-tenant dispute, an insurance claim, or remediation work), **engage a licensed assessor in your jurisdiction**. The Report is not a substitute for that engagement.

## 3. Not Medical Advice; Not a Diagnosis

ERMI and HERTSMI-2 are dust-based laboratory tests. They measure DNA fragments of specific mold species in settled house dust. They do **not** diagnose mold-related illness, do not measure airborne exposure, do not assess any individual's susceptibility, and do not predict how any specific person will respond to a building's mold composition.

Health decisions, including any decision to seek treatment, change medications, vacate a building, modify activities, or pursue diagnostic testing, must be made in consultation with a qualified medical professional who has evaluated you in person. Use of the Service does not create a doctor–patient or any other care-provider relationship.

## 4. Not a Remediation Plan

The Report does not constitute a remediation plan, scope of work, or specification. It does not direct, recommend, or authorize any demolition, construction, abatement, encapsulation, or repair work. Remediation decisions should be made by a qualified Indoor Environmental Professional (IEP), Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or licensed mold assessor or contractor, based on a current on-site investigation of the property.

## 5. Not a Real-Estate, Insurance, or Legal Document

You may not use the Report as evidence, exhibit, attachment, expert opinion, or supporting document in:

- Any real-estate transaction, listing, disclosure, or dispute (including but not limited to claims under *Johnson v. Davis* in Florida or analogous doctrines in other states).
- Any insurance claim, coverage dispute, or proof of loss.
- Any litigation, arbitration, mediation, regulatory proceeding, or code-enforcement action.
- Any landlord–tenant proceeding, including without limitation actions under D.C. Code § 8-241.04 or § 8-241.05, or analogous tenant-protective statutes elsewhere.

We do not provide testimony, declarations, depositions, affidavits, or expert reports in any proceeding involving the Report. If you anticipate any such use, retain an appropriately licensed professional and do not order a Report for that purpose.

## 6. Sample Quality and "Garbage In, Garbage Out"

The accuracy of any interpretation depends entirely on the accuracy of the data you submit and the representativeness of the sample on which the lab values were generated. **A Report computed from inaccurate, transcribed-incorrectly, or fabricated values will produce inaccurate conclusions.** ExplainmyERMI is not responsible for verifying that the values you submit match your actual lab report.

**Optional PDF upload is a convenience only.** The order form offers an optional feature that attempts to read your lab report PDF and pre-fill the form with the species values, sample date, and ZIP code. It supports the report formats of certain common ERMI laboratories; those formats change without notice, scanned or image-only PDFs cannot be read automatically, and parsing errors are possible. **You remain solely responsible for reviewing every pre-filled value against your actual lab report before submitting.** If any value shown in the form does not match the printed value on your PDF, for any reason, correct it before you submit. By submitting an order you confirm that you have reviewed each value against your lab report, regardless of whether you typed it in or the upload feature pre-filled it. How an uploaded file is stored, retained, and deleted is described in our Privacy Policy.

The following factors materially affect ERMI/HERTSMI-2 results in ways the Report cannot account for:

- Sample collection technique (vacuum, swab, gauze; settled dust vs. surface; depth of sampling).
- The room or rooms sampled, and whether they are representative of the building.
- The interval between sampling and any recent cleaning, vacuuming, or HVAC maintenance.
- Time of year (outdoor mold load varies seasonally and shifts the indoor signal).
- Building-specific factors such as occupancy patterns, ventilation, pets, and seasonal changes in window/door operation.
- Laboratory-specific assay variation, including the fact that the EPA OIG has stated that "if samples from the same home were sent to two or more MSQPCR licensed labs, there is no guarantee that the homeowner would get the same test results" (OIG Report 13-P-0356, p. 6).

The Report assumes the lab values you submit are correct, the sample was collected reasonably, and the building was in a reasonably representative state at the time of collection. None of these assumptions can be verified from the values alone.

## 7. ERMI Methodology Limitations

The ERMI panel was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for **population-level research** on relationships between mold burden and respiratory outcomes. The EPA has stated publicly that ERMI was not validated for diagnostic use in individual buildings. ExplainmyERMI is not affiliated with the EPA, with the developers of the HERTSMI-2 scoring system (Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker), or with any laboratory or testing service.

Specific intrinsic limitations of settled-dust ERMI testing (applicable to all ERMI-based services, not specific to this one) include:

- **DNA, not viability.** qPCR detects DNA, including from non-viable spores, hyphal fragments, and historical exposures. A signal does not establish active growth.
- **Single-sample variance.** A single sample reflects one moment in one location.
- **No source localization.** ERMI cannot tell you where in the building any growth, if present, is located.
- **Reference-baseline staleness.** Vesper et al. (2007) reference geometric means derive from a sample of 1,096 U.S. homes collected from June 2005 to March 2006. Housing stock and construction standards have changed since.
- **Group composition matters.** The single ERMI score can mask very different underlying species patterns. Two homes with the same score can have very different moisture problems.

The Report communicates these limitations within its body. By using the Service you confirm that you have read and understood them and that you accept them as part of the methodology.

## 8. Research-Attributed Framing; No Endorsement

The Report cites peer-reviewed research throughout. Citations are provided so you can verify what the underlying literature says and form your own judgment.

- **EPA / ERMI.** ERMI methodology was developed by the U.S. EPA. ExplainmyERMI is **not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by** the U.S. EPA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or any government agency. References to ERMI, AHHS, or any government work product are descriptive, not affiliative.
- **HERTSMI-2 / Shoemaker.** HERTSMI-2 scoring was developed by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. ExplainmyERMI is **not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by** Dr. Shoemaker or any organization or practice associated with him. References are descriptive.
- **Cited authors.** The Report and the Site reference work by Vesper, Pitt & Hocking, Grant *et al.*, the World Health Organization, and others. Those authors and organizations have no involvement with ExplainmyERMI and have not endorsed our use of their work.

## 9. The EME Framework: What It Is and Is Not

The "EME" (ExplainmyERMI) classification framework is a four-tier interpretive structure (Group 1: Low Mold Load; Group 2: Average Mold Load; Group 3: Elevated Mold Load; Group 4: High Mold Load) developed by ExplainmyERMI from prior knowledge in the indoor-mycology, water-activity, and operational-ERMI literature.

Our methodology page at explainmyermi.com/methodology describes the framework's approach, how it behaves on public reference data, and its limits. The framework's rules are proprietary and are not published.

The framework has **not been validated** against:

- Occupant illness, symptom severity, or sensitization markers.
- Professional building-inspection findings.
- Water-damage history.
- Remediation outcomes.

The public reference data on which we have analyzed the framework holds settled-dust results and no outcome data, so no analysis of it can establish those correspondences. Nothing in the Report should be read as a clinical or building-science validation. We have not independently replicated any analysis, and we are aware of no peer-reviewed publication of the EME framework as of the date of this Disclaimer.

The Report's building-related sections combine the species pattern with the building details you give us and with published building-science literature. They describe conditions commonly associated with that combination in buildings of that type. They have not been validated against inspection findings at any property, they cannot account for anything you did not tell us, and they are only as accurate as the details you provide.

## 10. No Warranties; Limitation of Liability

The Report and the Service are provided **"AS IS"** and **"AS AVAILABLE,"** without any warranty of any kind. Without limiting Section 11 of the Terms of Service, we expressly disclaim warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness, and non-infringement. Aggregate liability is capped, fraud and willful misconduct are carved out, and disputes are subject to the dispute-resolution terms, including the jury-trial and class-action waivers, in the Terms of Service. See Sections 12, 13, and 14 of the Terms of Service for details. Nothing in this Disclaimer is intended to broaden or contract those provisions.

## 11. No Professional Relationship

Use of the Service does not create:

- A doctor–patient relationship.
- An attorney–client relationship.
- A consultant–client, fiduciary, agency, employment, joint-venture, or partnership relationship.
- A relationship in which ExplainmyERMI owes you any professional duty of care of the kind owed by a licensed health-care provider, attorney, mold assessor, indoor environmental professional, real-estate professional, or licensed contractor.

## 12. Action and Inaction Disclaimer

You are solely responsible for any decision you make in light of the Report, including decisions to act, decisions to refrain from acting, and decisions to consult or not consult professionals. ExplainmyERMI is not responsible for outcomes that result from any such decision.

## 13. Geographic Scope

The Service may not be available in all jurisdictions. ExplainmyERMI may decline to serve customers in particular states if doing so risks an interpretation that the Service constitutes regulated mold-assessment activity in that jurisdiction. The fact that the Service is available to you does not constitute a representation that the Report satisfies any standard, definition, or licensing requirement that may apply in your jurisdiction.

## 14. Updates to This Disclaimer

We may publish new versions of this Disclaimer from time to time. The version that governs your order is the one in force at the time you placed it.

## 15. Contact

Questions about this Disclaimer:
**legal@mycolytica.com**