Identification and Quantitation of Indoor Airborne Micro‐fungi During 12 Months From 44 Danish Homes

Gravesen, S.

doi:10.1111/j.1398-9995.1972.tb01433.x

Cited by 72 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Our results, regarding the presence of culturable molds outdoors as well as indoors varying widely from house to house generally agree with those reported by others (e.g., Gravesen, 1972;Hunter et al, 1988 ) . For two of the common molds, regarded as the main allergenic fungi, threshold concentrations for evoking allergic symptoms were estimated to be 100 Alternaria spores per cubic meter air and 3000 Cladosporium spores per cubic meter air ( Gravesen, 1979 ) .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Comparisons of seasonal fungal prevalence in indoor and outdoor air and in house dusts of dwellings in one Northeast American county1

Ren

Jankun

Leaderer

1999

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

141

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Fungi cause allergies and many other adverse health effects. In this study, we characterized the nature and seasonal variation of fungi inside and outside homes in the Greater New Haven, Connecticut area. Three indoor air samples ( in the living room, bedroom, and basement ) and one outdoor sample were collected by the Burkard portable air sampler. House dust samples were collected in the living room by a vacuum cleaner. The mold concentrations varied widely from house to house in both indoor and outdoor air. No significant difference ( p > 0.05 ) in concentration and type of fungi between living room and bedroom or by season was observed. Both concentration and type of fungi were significantly higher ( p < 0.05 ) in the basement than other indoor areas and outdoor air in winter. The type of fungi in living room, bedroom, and outdoor air were found to have significant changes among seasons, but there was no significant difference for the basement among seasons. Cladosporium spp. was dominant in both indoor and outdoor air in summer. Penicillium and Aspergillus were dominant in indoor air in winter, but neither was dominant in any season in outdoor air. The type of fungi and their concentrations in house dust samples were not representative of those isolated in indoor air. In dust samples, more Mucor, Wallemia, and Alternaria species, but less Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium species were found in all seasons. Air sampling in spring or fall in every suspected house is suggested for year -round fungal exposure assessment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Comparisons of seasonal fungal prevalence in indoor and outdoor air and in house dusts of dwellings in one Northeast American county1

Ren

Jankun

Leaderer

1999

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

141

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“…Indoor mold concentrations showed a very strong seasonality consistently with several other studies (Gravesen, 1972;Koch et al, 2000;Chew et al, 2001;Su et al, 2001). …”

Section: Seasonal Variabilitysupporting

confidence: 89%

Reproducibility of allergen, endotoxin and fungi measurements in the indoor environment

Heinrich

Hölscher

Douwes

et al. 2003

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

100

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Measurements of biocontaminants in settled house dust once a year are commonly used to assess long-term exposure. To examine stability over time and seasonal variation, we measured concentrations of mite and cat allergens, endotoxin and mold spores in living room floor dust in 745 German homes collected twice a year in two different seasons. The study population consisted of adults and children living in five different areas in Germany. All dust samples were collected in a standardized manner from the living room floor and taken during the years 1995 to 1998. The median interval between the two dust samplings was approximately 7 months. Mite and cat allergens were measured in settled house dust by monoclonal antibodies, endotoxin by the limulus amebocyte lysate method, and total spore counts by cultural methods. Crude Pearson's correlation coefficients between logtransformed concentrations in the first and second dust samples ranged between 0.65 and 0.75 for allergens, 0.59 for endotoxin and only 0.06 for total spore counts. The strongest and most consistent seasonal effects were observed for fungi with highest levels in July-September. Cat allergen concentrations were found consistently to be increased in January-March. Mite allergens did not show a strong and consistent seasonal pattern. We conclude that repeated measurements of mite and cat allergens and endotoxin in settled house dust improve the estimate for annual mean concentrations. However, even a single observation of these biocontaminants may be a good proxy for a 1-year exposure since repeated measures were highly correlated. However, repeated measurements of fungi levels were only weakly correlated and thus repeated observations for assessment of annual means of total spore counts are needed.

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“…Airborne mold samples, used in many studies as the measure of exposure, are quite variable over time [e.g., seasonal variation (Beaumont et al 1984;Gravesen 1972;Ren et al 1999)] and space [i.e., indoors vs. outdoors (Beaumont et al 1984) or between locations indoors, e.g., basements vs. living rooms (Ren et al 1999)] and as such have drawn criticism when used to represent longer-term levels of exposure (Verhoeff and Burge 1997). Estimates of cumulative exposure to mold from a single point-in-time sample are provided by dust sample analyses of ergosterol (Dharmage et al 2001) or extracellular polysaccharide (Chew et al 2001;Douwes et al 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Levels of household mold associated with respiratory symptoms in the first year of life in a cohort at risk for asthma.

Gent

Ren

Belanger

et al. 2002

Environ Health Perspect

138

113

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We assessed prospectively the risk of increased incidence of respiratory symptoms after exposure to particular fungal genera in a susceptible population--namely, infants (n = 880) at high risk for developing asthma. Days of wheeze or persistent cough, information on maternal allergy and asthma, socioeconomic variables, and housing characteristics were collected over the course of the infant's first year of life. Exposure to mold was assessed by airborne samples collected at one time early in the infant's life. Fungi were identified to genus level, recorded as colony-forming units per cubic meter (CFU/m3), and then categorized into four levels: 0 (undetectable), 1-499 CFU/m3 (low), 500-999 CFU/m3 (medium), and greater than or equal to 1,000 CFU/m3 (high). Effects of mold on wheeze and persistent cough, adjusting for potential confounding factors, were examined with Poisson regression analyses. The two most commonly found genera were Cladosporium (in 62% of the homes) and Penicillium (41%). Cladosporium was associated with reported mold (p < 0.02) and water leaks (p < 0.003). Rate of persistent cough was associated with reported mold [Rate ratio (RR) = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.18-1.88]. The highest level of Penicillium was associated with higher rates of wheeze (RR = 2.15; 95% CI, 1.34-3.46) and persistent cough (RR = 2.06; 95% CI, 1.31-3.24) in models controlling for maternal history of asthma and allergy, socioeconomic status, season of mold sample, and certain housing characteristics. We conclude that infants in this high-risk group who are exposed to high levels of Penicillium are at significant risk for wheeze and persistent cough.

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Identification and Quantitation of Indoor Airborne Micro‐fungi During 12 Months From 44 Danish Homes

Cited by 72 publications

References 15 publications

Comparisons of seasonal fungal prevalence in indoor and outdoor air and in house dusts of dwellings in one Northeast American county1

Comparisons of seasonal fungal prevalence in indoor and outdoor air and in house dusts of dwellings in one Northeast American county1

Reproducibility of allergen, endotoxin and fungi measurements in the indoor environment

Levels of household mold associated with respiratory symptoms in the first year of life in a cohort at risk for asthma.

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