Exposures to molds in school classrooms of children with asthma

Abstract

Background Students spend a large portion of their day in classrooms which may be a source of mold exposure. We examined the diversity and concentrations of molds in inner-city schools and described differences between classrooms within the same school. Methods Classroom airborne mold spores, collected over a 2 day period, were measured twice during the school year by direct microscopy. Results There were 180 classroom air samples collected from 12 schools. Mold was present in 100% of classrooms. Classrooms within the same school had differing mold levels and mold diversity scores. The total mold per classroom was 176.6 ± 4.2 spores/m3 (geometric mean ± standard deviation) and ranged from 11.2 to 16,288.5 spores/m3. Mold diversity scores for classroom samples ranged from 1 to 19 (7.7 ± 3.5). The classroom accounted for the majority of variance (62%) in the total mold count, and for the majority of variance (56%) in the mold diversity score versus the school. The species with the highest concentrations and found most commonly included Cladosporium (29.3 ± 4.2 spores/m3), Penicillium/Aspergillus (15.0 ± 5.4 spores/m3), smut spores (12.6 ± 4.0 spores/m3), and basidiospores (6.6 ± 7.1 spores/m3). Conclusions Our study found that the school is a source of mold exposure, but particularly the classroom microenvironment varies in quantity of spores and species among classrooms within the same school. We also verified that visible mold may be a predictor for higher mold spore counts. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical significance of mold exposure relative to asthma morbidity in sensitized and non-sensitized asthmatic children.

Indoor Aeroallergens in Asthmatic Pediatric Population in Annaba (Algeria)

“…sensitization fungi, particularly Alternaria alternata, have been linked to the presence, persistence and severity of asthma. This result is in accordance with those found by many previous studies (Khosravi et al, 2009;Baxi et al, 2013).…”

Airborne culturable fungi in naturally ventilated primary school environments in a subtropical climate

“…Andersen Impactor and Biotest RCS High Flow air samplers are widely used to detect and quantify bioaerosols, identify bioaerosol release from sources, assessment of human exposure to biological agents, and monitor the effectiveness of control measures (Li, 2011;Saldanha and Manno, 2008). It should be noted that although cultivation methods are convenient, being able to identify major fungal species with simple equipment and analysis techniques, they are slow and always selective and therefore underestimate the total fungal counts (ACGIH, 1999) and may ignore some clinically relevant moulds (Baxi et al, 2013;Holme et al, 2010).…”

Mexico City normal weight children exposed to high concentrations of ambient PM2.5 show high blood leptin and endothelin-1, vitamin D deficiency, and food reward hormone dysregulation versus low pollution controls. Relevance for obesity and Alzheimer disease

“…Sources of air pollutants include common environmental pollutants, molds, and outdoor and indoor fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) (Baxi et al, 2013;Amato et al, 2014). PM 2.5 is particularly important for children's health and particle size range, source category, residency within a city, and season have a different impact upon adverse health effects Torres-Jardón, 2012, 2015;Amato et al, 2014).…”