Guidelines on ambient intramural airborne fungal spores

Objectives: to generate baseline data for indoor airborne fungal spores in noncomplaint residential properties (with no moisture/mold-related problems) and to identify home characteristics indicative of elevated fungal levels. methods: air samples were collected onto petroleum jelly-coated slides from living rooms of 100 residential properties in leicestershire,united kingdom,using a burkard continuous recording air sampler. the slides were examined by microscopy to determine fungal spore concentrations (spores/m3 air/day). results: total indoor fungal spore concentrations were approximately 16% of outdoor concentrations. abundant indoor fungal genera include cladosporium,sporobolomyces,tilletiopsis,and didymella,all of which followed seasonal patterns of release and detection. no clear association was shown between outdoor-predominant fungi and home characteristics. in contrast,aspergillus/penicillium-type (asp/ pen-type) spores were common indoors and exceeded outdoor levels,with the highest concentrations detected in properties over 90 years old (p=.006) and terraced properties (p=.003). conclusion: asp/pen-type spores are found in noncomplaint uk residential properties and mostly in old terraced houses. this study provides guidelines on acceptable levels of /asp/pen-type spores and other abundant indoor fungal taxa that can be comparatively used in clinical evaluations of fungal exposure-related disease. © 2010 esmon publicidad.