A Three‐Year‐Survey of Microfungi in the Air of Copenhagen 1977–79

Abstract

The presence and prevalence of common saprophytic airborne microfungi has been studied. Since August 1977 culturable microfungi in the outdoor air of Copenhagen have been monitored. The method used is a volumetric analysis by means of a Biap Slit-Sampler. The microfungal flora was dominated by very few genera, thus Cladosporium, Alternaria, Penicillium and Aspergillus make up 86.8% of the organisms collected. The mere number of microfungal spores might be misleading as a guide to the relative importance of atmospheric allergens. An alternative or a supplementary parameters could be the spore substance expressed as cubic spore substance/m3 of air, as suggested by Hyde (20). Most fungi show a seasonal dependence as well as fluctuations from year to year. The high season for living microfungi is found to be from June until October. The microfungi thus constitute a prolongation of the pollen season, a fact of importance in relation to patients suffering from inhalation-allergy.

The link between fungi and severe asthma: a summary of the evidence

“…were reported in July, Alternaria spp. and hyaline basidiospores in August, uredospores in September and coloured basidiospores in October [41], and similar results were seen in Derby [45] and Copenhagen (Denmark) [52]. However, these data were collected retrospectively, and prospective data are required to confirm the associations demonstrated.…”

Crop harvest in Denmark and Central Europe contributes to the local load of airborne <i>Alternaria</i> spore concentrations in Copenhagen

“…In Denmark, Cladosporium and Alternaria dominate the atmospheric fungal spore flora by 68.9 % and 9.4 % of the total fungal spore catch, respectively (Larsen, 1981). High season for fungal spores is June until October, but external meteorological factors affect the fluctuation from day to day and year to year (Larsen, 1981). Our studies suggest that the Alternaria concentrations can be explained by combining source maps with atmospheric transport.…”

“…Such studies can also be considered an answer to both the editorial in The Lancet (2008) as well as the overall recommendations given by Cecchi et al (2010). In Denmark, Cladosporium and Alternaria dominate the atmospheric fungal spore flora by 68.9 % and 9.4 % of the total fungal spore catch, respectively (Larsen, 1981). High season for fungal spores is June until October, but external meteorological factors affect the fluctuation from day to day and year to year (Larsen, 1981).…”

“…Fungal spores that are among the most often observed genera are Aspergillus, Pennicillium, Cladosporium and Alternaria (Lang-Yona et al, 2012;Larsen, 1981). The genus Alternaria includes numerous plant pathogens (Gravesen et al, 1994) and Alternaria spores are considered an important part of the total fungal spectrum in, e.g.…”

The variation in spore concentrations of selected fungal taxa associated with weather conditions in Szczecin, Poland, 2004–2006

“…The dominance of this genus over other spores has been observed in many locations, including Denmark (Larsen, 1981;Larsen & Gravesen, 1991), Spain (Infante & Dominquez, 1988;Infante et al, 1992), Italy (Cosentino et al, 1990;Marchisio et al, 1997), Austria (Ebner et al, 1992), Jordan (Shaheen, 1992), Sweden In bold -highest monthly concentrations. Adjusted R-square -percentage of explained variation.…”