Microbial volatile organic compounds—what substances can be found in sick buildings?

Wessén, Bengt; Schoeps, Karl-Olof

doi:10.1039/an9962101203

Cited by 82 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…MVOCs have been considered to be potential causative agents since Wessen and Schoeps (1996) reported having found 26 MVOCs whose concentrations were higher indoors than outdoors.…”

Section: Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (Mvocs) Include a Rangementioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between exposure to microbial volatile organic compound and allergy prevalence in single-family homes

Araki

Kanazawa

Kawai

et al. 2012

Science of The Total Environment

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Microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) are a type of VOCs produced by microorganisms. Exposure to 1-octen-3-ol, one of the known MVOCs, has been reported to reduce nasal patency and increase nasal lavage myeloperoxidase, eosinophil cationic proteins, and lysozymes in both experimental and field studies. We reported in a previous paper that 1-octen-3-ol exposure at home is associated with mucosal symptoms. In this study, our aim was to investigate the relationship between asthma and allergies and MVOC exposure in single-family homes. The subjects were 624 inhabitants of 182 detached houses in six regions of Japan. Air samples were collected using diffusive samplers, and the concentrations of eight selected MVOCs were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in selected-ion-monitoring mode. Each inhabitant of each of the dwellings was given a self-administered questionnaire. Among the 609 subjects who answered all of the questions about allergies, history of the medical treatment for asthma, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, and allergic conjunctivitis within the past two years was 4.8%, 9.9%, 18.2%, and 7.1 %, respectively. A significant association between 1-octen-3-ol (per log 10 unit) and allergic rhinitis odds ratio (OR): 4.10, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.71 to 9.80 and conjunctivitis (OR: 3.54, CI: 1.17 to 10.7) was found after adjusting for age, sex, environmental-tobacco-smoke exposure, wall-to-wall carpeting in the home, signs of dampness, history of treatment for hay fever, and other potentially relevant environmental factors. No relationships were found between any MVOCs and asthma or atopic dermatitis after the adjustment. The levels of MVOCs and airborne fungi were only weakly correlated. These results are consistent with previous studies that have associated higher levels of 1-octen-3-ol exposure with increased irritation of nasal 4 and ocular mucosae. Although the indoor-air concentrations of 1-octen-3-ol found in this study were relatively low, we conclude that exposure to MVOC may be related to rhinitis and conjunctivitis.

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“…MVOCs have been considered to be potential causative agents since Wessen and Schoeps (1996) reported having found 26 MVOCs whose concentrations were higher indoors than outdoors.…”

Section: Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (Mvocs) Include a Rangementioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between exposure to microbial volatile organic compound and allergy prevalence in single-family homes

Araki

Kanazawa

Kawai

et al. 2012

Science of The Total Environment

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“…From previously reports (Elke et al, 1999;Schleibinger et al, 2005;Wessen and Schoeps, 1996), five major alcohols and three ketones were selected as the target compounds of MVOC to define the sampling rates. A MVOC measurement was conducted using the diffusive sampling method which was validated in advance (Araki et al, 2009).…”

Section: Environmental Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although it is not known which dampness-related exposures are responsible for the effect on health, suggested causative agents are dust mite allergens, microbiological exposures and chemicals emitting from degradation of building materials (Bornehag et al, 2004). Ever since Wessen and Schoeps (1996) reported that the concentrations of 26 different compounds emitted from certain micro-organisms, called microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC), were higher in indoor air than in outdoor air, an association between MVOC levels and health problems has been sought. reported that the MVOC concentration was higher in buildings that had problems with dampness than in control buildings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between selected indoor volatile organic compounds, so-called microbial VOC, and the prevalence of mucous membrane symptoms in single family homes

Araki

Kawai

Eitaki

et al. 2010

Science of The Total Environment

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Abstract:Micro-organisms are known to produce a range of volatile organic compounds, so-called microbial VOC (MVOC). Chamber studies where humans were exposed to MVOC addressed the acute effects of objective and/or subjective signs of mucosal irritation. However, the effect of MVOC on inhabitants due to household exposure is still unclear. The purpose of this epidemiological study was to measure indoor MVOC levels in single family homes and to evaluate the relationship between exposure to them and sick building syndrome (SBS). All inhabitants of the dwellings were given a self-administered questionnaire with standardized questions to assess their symptoms.Air samples were collected and the concentrations of eight selected compounds in indoor air were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry -selective ion monitoring mode (GC/MS-SIM). The most frequently detected MVOC was 1-pentanol at a detection rate of 78.6% and geometric mean of 0.60 μg/m 3 . Among 620 participants, 120 (19.4%) reported one or more mucous symptoms; irritation of the eyes, nose, airway, or coughing every week (weekly symptoms), and 30 (4.8%) reported that the symptoms were home-related (home-related symptoms). Weekly symptoms were not associated with any of MVOC, whereas significant associations between home-related mucous symptoms and 1-octen-3-ol (per log 10 -unit: odds ratio (OR) 5.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.1 to 14.8) and 2-pentanol (per log 10 -unit: OR 2.3, 95%CI: 1.0 to 4.9) were obtained after adjustment for gender, age, and smoking.Associations between home-related symptoms and 1-octen-3-ol remained after mutual adjustment. However, concentrations of the selected compounds in indoors were lower than the estimated safety level in animal studies. Thus, the statistically significant association between 1-octen-3-ol may be due to a direct effect of the compounds or the associations may be being associated with other offending compounds. Additional studies are needed to evaluate these possibilities.

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“…Volatile organic compounds of possible microbial origin (MVOC) were sampled on charcoal tubes (Anasorb 747, SKC Inc, Eighty Four, PA, USA) (0.2 l/min; 4-hour sampling time). The tubes were desorbed by 2 milliliters of methylene chloride and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with selective ion monitoring (24). The following 15 compounds were measured: n-butanol, isobutanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-pentanol, 1-octene-3-ol, isobutylacetate, ethyl isobutyrate, ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, 2-hexanone, 2-heptanone, 3-octanone, dimethyldisulfide, 3-methylfuran, and 2-pentylfuran.…”

Section: Aircraft Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in ocular and nasal signs and symptoms among air crew in relation to air humidification on intercontinental flights

Norbäck¹,

Lindgren²,

Wieslander³

2006

Scand J Work Environ Health

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Microbial volatile organic compounds—what substances can be found in sick buildings?

Cited by 82 publications

References 2 publications

The relationship between exposure to microbial volatile organic compound and allergy prevalence in single-family homes

The relationship between exposure to microbial volatile organic compound and allergy prevalence in single-family homes

Relationship between selected indoor volatile organic compounds, so-called microbial VOC, and the prevalence of mucous membrane symptoms in single family homes

Changes in ocular and nasal signs and symptoms among air crew in relation to air humidification on intercontinental flights

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