Mould in buildings: the air spora of domestic dwellings

Hunter, Chad; Grant, C.; Flannigan, B.; Bravery, A. F.

doi:10.1016/0265-3036(88)90052-8

Cited by 174 publications

(113 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%

“…The fungi isolated in the present study are broadly the same as those found in some European studies (Beaumont et al, 1984(Beaumont et al, , 1985Verhoeff et al, 1988;Hunter and Lea, 1994;Hunter et al, 1988 ). However, comparing the percentage composition of Cladosporium spp.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…However, comparing the percentage composition of Cladosporium spp. in winter months of this study to that obtained by Hunter et al ( 1988 ) from Scottish dwellings, it was found that Cladosporium spp. accounted for significantly less of the total composition indoors, but it is in agreement with the finding of Hunter and Lea ( 1994 ) from British homes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

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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%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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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“…Airborne culturable fungal concentration is the most frequently used fungal exposure measurement (Hunter et al 1988;Li and Kendrick 1994). We found a significant quadratic relationship between total airborne fungal concentrations and upper respiratory symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

The work environment and workers' health in four large office buildings.

Chao

Schwartz

Milton

et al. 2003

Environ Health Perspect

105

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We conducted a 1-year epidemiologic study in Boston, Massachusetts, beginning May 1997, to examine the associations between environmental factors and office workers' health. We recruited 98 subjects (81 females and 17 males) in 21 offices in four office buildings. We conducted environmental sampling every 6 weeks and concurrently administered detailed questionnaires to collect information on work-related symptoms, psychosocial factors, and perceptions of the office environments. In multivariate analyses, eye irritation was positively correlated with floor dust [odds ratio (OR) = 1.46; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.14-1.86] and reported lack of office cleanliness (OR = 1.52; 95% CI, 1.11-2.08). Nonspecific symptoms were positively associated with unidentified chair fungi (OR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1. The first three symptom groups are commonly considered part of the BRS complex, although individual symptoms within each group may be associated with other welldefined diseases. Lower respiratory symptoms are usually considered as building-related illness and suggest the presence of asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, or lower respiratory infection. Eye irritation included reported "dry/irritated eyes" and "tired eyes." The nonspecific symptom group included seven symptoms: "headache," "unusual tiredness," "tension," "difficulty concentrating/remembering things," "dizziness," "feeling depressed," and "nausea." Upper respiratory symptoms included "sore/dry throat," "sinus congestion," "cough," and "sneezing." Lower respiratory symptoms included "wheezing," "chest tightness," and "shortness of breath." The symptom groups were determined according to the categories commonly used in previous investigations (Eriksson et al. 1996;Redlich et al. 1997) and the clinical judgment of one coauthor.A symptom was considered building related if a participant experienced the symptom at least one day per week during the past month and felt better when away from work (Sieber et al. 1996). A symptom group was then defined as present if a subject reported at least one BRS from the group, except that the nonspecific symptom group was defined as present if at least two of its components were reported. Symptom groups were used as outcome variables to correlate with predictor variables.Predictor variables. Variables used for fungal exposures were total culturable airborne fungal concentrations [colony-forming units (CFU) per cubic meter of air], total culturable fungal concentrations in floor dust (CFU per square meter of floor), and total culturable fungal concentrations in chair dust (CFU/chair). In addition, we used factor scores of the fungal groups derived from principal component analysis (PCA) for airborne (four PCA factors), floor (six PCA factors), and chair fungi (six PCA factors). PCA is a variable reduction procedure that can identify important subsets (i.e., principal components) of the original set of variables (Cody and Smith 1997;Jongman et al. 1995;Kleinbaum et al. 1988). PCA factor scores were calculated using linear combina...

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“…When one considers that urban residents typically spend more than 90% of their time indoors (6), it is readily recognized that very large numbers of people, both adults and children, are potentially exposed to indoor air contaminants. Although spore concentrations are usually much lower in homes than in agricultural workplaces, concentrations as high as 450,000 colony-forming units/m3 have been reported (7). In some of these homes, the toxigenic Stachybotrys chartarum (= Stachybotrys atra) was prominent on the walls and in the air.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fungal spores: hazardous to health?

Sorenson

1999

Environ Health Perspect

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Fungi have long been known to affect human well being in various ways, including disease of essential crop plants, decay of stored foods with possible concomitant production of mycotoxins, superficial and systemic infection of human tissues, and disease associated with immune stimulation such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis and toxic pneumonitis. The spores of a large number of important fungi are less than 5 microm aerodynamic diameter, and therefore are able to enter the lungs. They also may contain significant amounts of mycotoxins. Diseases associated with inhalation of fungal spores include toxic pneumonitis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, tremors, chronic fatigue syndrome, kidney failure, and cancer.

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Mould in buildings: the air spora of domestic dwellings

Cited by 174 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

The work environment and workers' health in four large office buildings.

Fungal spores: hazardous to health?

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