Everyday activities and variation of fungal spore concentrations in indoor air

Lehtonen, M.; Reponen, Tiina; Nevalainen, Aino

doi:10.1016/0964-8305(93)90012-q

Cited by 80 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…If we focus our attention on this summer period, it can be seen how a very high isolated peak only occurs on 1 day a year, after which the fungal spore levels sharply decrease again. Some authors (Lehtonen et al 1993) have reported that variations in spore levels indoors are mainly caused by day-to-day activities such as cleaning, object movement, or transport of spores on pets or clothes, and, although previous studies in the cave of Nerja had registered daily variations caused by this sort of activity (Docampo et al 2003), they were not enough to explain the sharp increases mentioned above.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

High incidence of Aspergillus and Penicillium spores in the atmosphere of the cave of Nerja (Malaga, southern Spain)

et al. 2009

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The cave of Nerja, which is visited annually by more than half a million people, is a karstic cavity situated in the east part of the province of Malaga (southern Spain), with internal conditions of humidity and temperature that make it a space highly conducive to the development of fungus. Fungal spores are of great interest in aerobiology and allergy due to their high incidence in both outdoor and indoor environments and their widely recognized ability to cause respiratory diseases and other pathologies. In this work, we focus on the seasonal and intradiurnal study of the Aspergillus/Penicillium spore type (conidia), which is especially abundant in the atmosphere inside the cave of Nerja. This study was carried out over an uninterrupted period of 4 years (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005) with the aid of a Hirst-type volumetric pollen trap (Lanzoni VPPS 2000) situated in one of the halls of the cave. The results show that the spores of Aspergillus/Penicillium type represent 48.6% of the annual spore index, June, July and August being the months with the highest rates of these spores, with an average incidence for the 4 years of 11, 63 and 15% of the annual total, respectively. However, the most interesting observation was the sudden increase in the concentration of these spores that occurred during 1 day of the year, when levels might reach nearly 300,000 spores/m 3 of air as daily mean. Finally, it was concluded that these peaks were due to human activities carried out inside the cave, coinciding with celebration of the annual festival of dance and music. On the other hand, the intradiurnal study showed that the highest concentrations are reached between 1200 and 1400 hours. Although there are no standard indices related to the risk of exposure to spore concentrations, we think that the values obtained were high enough to be considered as a potential risk factor capable of producing harmful effects on human health. We therefore recommend taking the necessary measures to prevent such high increases in the spore levels inside the cave.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

High incidence of Aspergillus and Penicillium spores in the atmosphere of the cave of Nerja (Malaga, southern Spain)

et al. 2009

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“…become airborne as a consequence of active liberation mechanism or more often in working environments by agitation of their substrates (INGOLD 1971). Handling of unwashed vegetables was responsible for the increase of the spore load concentration in the air especially of Cladosporium and Penicillium (LEHTONEN et al 1993). These genera were also isolated from the surface samples of vegetables.…”

Section: Spore Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incidence of post-harvest disease and airborne fungal spores in a vegetable market

Kakde¹,

Kakde²

2012

Acta Botanica Croatica

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-The sampling of bioaerosols has been carried out using a Rotorod sampler as well as by exposing culture plates. The screening of some common vegetables was also done for the isolation of fungi as market pathogens to study post-harvest diseases. Altogether, fifty nine fungal spore types and 78 species of 33 genera belonging to different groups were recorded respectively on the rotorod strips and on exposed Petri dishes. Many saprophytic and pathogenic fungi were found to be associated with sampled vegetables from the market. In all forty-six fungal species belonging to 26 genera were recovered from five varieties of vegetables collected from the same market. The most dominant forms of fungi were of Aspergillus followed by Cladosporium, Penicillium, Alternaria, Fusarium, Curvularia, Trichoderma, and Rhizopus. Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, Penicillium spp. and Cladosporium herbarum, found to be dominant during the period of investigation. Important mycotoxin-producing fungi such as A. flavus, A. fumigatus and Fusarium moniliforme were isolated from the vegetables collected from the market.

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“…Fungal spores in outdoor air are a major source for indoor fungi during the growing seasons (e.g., spring and summer) for naturally ventilated buildings (10). Although outdoor fungi do not penetrate easily into large buildings with complex ventilation systems, the outdoor aerosol still may dominate indoors (11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Populations and determinants of airborne fungi in large office buildings.

Chao

Schwartz

Milton

et al. 2002

Environ Health Perspect

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Bioaerosol concentrations in office environments and their roles in causing building-related symptoms have drawn much attention in recent years. Most bioaerosol studies have been cross-sectional. We conducted a longitudinal study to examine the characteristics of airborne fungal populations and correlations with other environmental parameters in office environments. We investigated four office buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, during 1 year beginning May 1997, recruiting 21 offices with open workstations. We conducted intensive bioaerosol sampling every 6 weeks resulting in 10 sets of measurement events at each workstation, and recorded relative humidity, temperature, and CO2 concentrations continuously. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify groups of culturable fungal taxa that covaried in air. Four major groupings (PCA factors) were derived where the fungal taxa in the same groupings shared similar ecological requirements. Total airborne fungal concentrations varied significantly by season (highest in summer, lowest in winter) and were positively correlated with relative humidity and negatively related to CO2 concentrations. The first and second PCA factors had similar correlations with environmental variables compared with total fungi. The results of this study provide essential information on the variability within airborne fungal populations in office environments over time. These data also provide background against which cross-sectional data can be compared to facilitate interpretation. More studies are needed to correlate airborne fungi and occupants' health, controlling for seasonal effects and other important environmental factors.

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Everyday activities and variation of fungal spore concentrations in indoor air

Cited by 80 publications

References 10 publications

High incidence of Aspergillus and Penicillium spores in the atmosphere of the cave of Nerja (Malaga, southern Spain)

High incidence of Aspergillus and Penicillium spores in the atmosphere of the cave of Nerja (Malaga, southern Spain)

Incidence of post-harvest disease and airborne fungal spores in a vegetable market

Populations and determinants of airborne fungi in large office buildings.

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