Indoor air quality in schools: exposure to fungal allergens

Levetin, Estelle; Shaughnessy, Richard; Fisher, Eugene J.; Ligman, B.; Harrison, Jed; Brennan, Terry

doi:10.1007/bf02136141

Cited by 52 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Levetin et al (1995) said that elevated spore levels indoors might indicate an indoor source, that Aspergillus/Penicillium spores were often associated with contamination, and were more frequent when disturbed by activity. Dampness, especially of carpets, was cited as an important factor by Gallup (1986), water damage and visible mould by Green et al (2003), and also dust by Emberlin et al (1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Aspergillus/Penicillium spores have also been found in significant numbers indoors (Lacey, 1981;Gallup et al, 1986;Levetin et al, 1995), and recent work by Reed and Kita (2004) investigates the role of protease activation of inflammation in allergic respiratory disease suggesting that fungi growing in damp, water damaged buildings might increase the prevalence in these buildings of asthma, rhinitis and other respiratory disease. In order to increase our knowledge of Aspergillus/ Penicillium spore concentrations indoors, we decided to re-investigate the indoor air at two local contrasting houses (Stern et al, 1999), to assess the effect of household activity, and to compare the outdoor and indoor levels of concentration that allergy patients may encounter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Long term trends in outdoor Aspergillus/Penicillium spore concentrations in Derby, UK from 1970 to 2003 and a comparative study in 1994 and 1996 with the indoor air of two local houses

Millington¹,

Corden²

2005

Aerobiologia

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Aspergillus/Penicillium spore concentrations have been monitored in Derby since 1970 using a volumetric spore trap, with full year data from 1991. In addition a short comparative study with the indoor air was undertaken at two local houses in 1994 and 1996. Aspergillus/Penicillium spores were present in the Derby air throughout the year and often reached maximum monthly cumulative concentrations in the autumn, although they were occasionally the dominant spores in the winter when total spore concentrations were low. Very high daily concentrations could occur at any time of year with a count of over 5000 recorded. Peak days in the autumn and winter of 2002-2003 were examined on a two hourly basis showing higher concentrations in the middle of the day. There was a positive correlation of cumulative monthly Aspergillus/Penicillium totals with maximum temperature. Indoor data from the two houses was examined on a daily basis and compared with simultaneously sampled outdoor daily spore concentrations. The elevated Aspergillus/Penicillium spore levels found in the older of the two houses occurred on all of the days sampled. Compared to the modern house, the Aspergillus/Penicillium spore concentrations in the old house represented a much higher percentage of the total spore count than in the modern one. The correlation between outdoor Aspergillus/Penicillium spore concentrations and the indoor air of the old house was 0.62, whereas in the modern house it was 0.31. Peak hourly samples of Aspergillus/Penicillium spore counts occurred at times of greatest activity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Long term trends in outdoor Aspergillus/Penicillium spore concentrations in Derby, UK from 1970 to 2003 and a comparative study in 1994 and 1996 with the indoor air of two local houses

Millington¹,

Corden²

2005

Aerobiologia

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“…It has been reported that bioaerosols vary with location, season, climate and time of the day (Hyvärinen et al, 2001;Levetin et al, 1995;Li and Kuo, 1993;Medrela-Kuder, 2003). It has also been reported that the moisture content of building material (Pasanen et al 2000;Viitanen et al, 2000), outdoor concentrations, indoor /outdoor exchange rates (Kulmala et al, 1999), number of people and animals (ACGIH, 1999) and human activities (Buttner and Stetzenbach, 1993) affect the indoor concentration of bioaerosols.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter Time Concentrations and Size Distribution of Bioaerosols in Different Residential Settings in the UK

Nasir

Colbeck

2012

Water Air Soil Pollut

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The total concentration and size distribution of bioaerosols in three different types of housing (single room in shared accommodation (type I), single bedroom flat in three storey building (type II) and two or three bedroom detached houses (type III)) was assessed during the winter. This research was an extension of a previous study carried out in the summer. The measurement campaign was undertaken in winter 2008 and thirty houses were sampled. Samples were taken from kitchens, living rooms, corridors (only in housing type I) and outdoors with an Anderson 6 stage viable impactor. In housing type I the total geometric mean concentration was highest in the corridor for both bacteria and fungi (3171 CFU/m 3 , 1281 CFU/m 3 ). In type II residences both culturable bacteria and fungi were greatest in the living rooms (3487 CFU/m 3 , 833 CFU/m 3 ). The living rooms in type III residences had largest number of culturable bacteria (1361 CFU/m 3 ) while fungi were highest in kitchens (280 CFU/m 3 ). The concentrations of culturable bacteria and fungi were greater in mouldy houses than non-mouldy houses. A considerable variation was seen in the size distribution of culturable bacteria in type I residences compared to types II and III. For all housing types more than half of culturable bacterial and fungal aerosol were respirable (<4.7μm) and so have the potential to penetrate into lower respiratory system. Considerable variation in concentration and size distribution within different housing types in the same geographical region highlights the impact of differences in design, construction, use and management of residential built environment on bioaerosols levels and consequent varied risk of population exposure to airborne biological agents.

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“…The Burkard 7-day Volumetric Spore Trap (Burkard Manufacturing Company Ltd., Hertfordshire, UK) with a single-stage rotating drum is widely used for collecting outdoor fungi (Emberlin, Newman, & Bryant, 1995;Mitakakis, Clift, & McGee, 2001). The slit glass-slide impactors, such as the Burkard Personal Volumetric Air Sampler (Burkard Manufacturing Company Ltd.) and the Air-O-Cell sampling cassette (Zefon Analytical Instruments, Inc., St. Petersburg, FL, USA), are typically used for indoor spore sampling (e.g., Levetin, Shaughnessy, Fisher, Ligman, & Harrison, 1995;DeKoster & Thorne, 1995;Adhikari, Sen, Gupta-Bhattacharya, & Chanda, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collection of airborne spores by circular single-stage impactors with small jet-to-plate distance

Grinshpun

Mainelis

Trunov

et al. 2005

Journal of Aerosol Science

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Indoor air quality in schools: exposure to fungal allergens

Cited by 52 publications

References 6 publications

Long term trends in outdoor Aspergillus/Penicillium spore concentrations in Derby, UK from 1970 to 2003 and a comparative study in 1994 and 1996 with the indoor air of two local houses

Long term trends in outdoor Aspergillus/Penicillium spore concentrations in Derby, UK from 1970 to 2003 and a comparative study in 1994 and 1996 with the indoor air of two local houses

Winter Time Concentrations and Size Distribution of Bioaerosols in Different Residential Settings in the UK

Collection of airborne spores by circular single-stage impactors with small jet-to-plate distance

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