US EPA

53148 

Book/Book Chapter 

The airborne fungal population of representative British homes 

Hunter, CA; Lea, RG 

1994 

Elsevier 

New York, NY 

Health implications of fungi in indoor environments 

In the UK, on average, seventy-five percent of a person's day is spent in the home where levels of airborne pollutants can be higher than outdoors. As airborne material of biological origin is known to induce allergic reactions in sensitive individuals there is a potential for, longer term, less immediately obvious, health effects on the general population. A first step to determine this potential is the establishment of a sound data base on the levels of biological propagules within dwellings.
The level of fungi in the air of selected dwellings was assessed in the Avon area of the UK, using the Andersen six-stage sampler, between November 1990 and October 1991. Counts ranged from 28 to >35,000 colony forming units (CFU)/m3 with the predominant organism being Penicillium spp. (in particular P chrysogenum), Cladosporium spp.,Mycelia Sterilia and yeasts. However, the indoor air flora distributions throughout the year did not follow the trend expected from published data, with Cladosponum spp. failing to show a summer peak and Penicillium spp. dominating the counts for a greater part of the year than expected. Examination of various geographical locations (urban, rural, coastal) within the Avon area revealed that there was no significant difference between these locations in terms of numbers or composition, nor was there any difference between three out of four housing types. After analysis of the data preliminary guideline figures for the expected maximum numbers of fungi in mould free dwellings is presented. 

Samson, R. A.; Flannigan, B.; Flannigan, M. E.; Verhoeff, A. P.; Adan, O. C. G.; Hoekstra, E. S.