indoor and outdoor air fungus bioaerosols in khorramabad day care child centers western of iran, 2018

Introduction: the aim of this study was to determine the quantity and quality of indoor and outdoor air fungus bioaerosols in khorramabad day care child centers.materials and methods: a total of 180 air samples were collected from 10 centers in 2018. the samples included 7 indoor and 2 outdoor sampling points. the total number of children was 580. sampling of fungal bioaerosols was performed by the zefon pump (zefon factory, usa) with a flow rate of 28.3 l/min. the sabouraud dextrose agar containing chloramphenicol was used as the culture medium. relative humidity and temperature were measured by a hygrothermometer (tes1360a taiwanmade humidity and temperature meter).results: the results showed that 96.1 % of the samples were positive and had grown colonies. the highest amount of fungal agents in the indoor air and outdoor air were 175.58 cfu/m^3 and 274.56 cfu/m^3 in may, while the lowest rates were 3.4 cfu/m^3 and 7.8 cfu/m^3 in july, respectively. aspergillus niger and mucor were the most highly abundant fungus genera, while fusarium was the lowest one. in all samples, the i/o (indoor/outdoor) ratio was more than 1; so, fungal bioaerosols in indoor environments were dominant than the outdoor fungal bioaerosols. the relationship of fungal bioaerosols with rh and t) °c( was significant (pvalue = 0.001).conclusion: generally, the amount of contamination is considerable in the studied day care child centers. therefore, ventilation modification is recommended by a purifier filter. moreover, the ventilation conditions and favorable air standards should be monitored continuously by supervisory authorities.