Assessment of indoor air in Austrian apartments with and without visible mold growth

Haas, Doris; Habib, Juliana; Galler, Herbert; Buzina, Walter; Schlacher, Robert; Marth, Egon; Reinthaler, Franz F.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.07.062

Cited by 74 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In order to specify the type of exposure, we defined three different kinds of mould exposure to account for conflicting study results in the past: domestic visible mould, measured airborne fungal species and measured mould-derived components assessed by house dust sampling. While there is a good correlation suggested between visible mould exposure and the concentration of fungal spores [73], recent literature indicated that exposure to mould-derived components might have a different impact on children's health and may not measure a single kind of exposure. This hypothesis was supported by a US cohort study that did not find a correlation between (1,3)-b-D-glucan exposure and visible mould [8,12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Association between domestic mould and mould components, and asthma and allergy in children: a systematic review

Tischer¹,

Cm²,

Heinrich³

2011

Eur Respir J

146

108

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Critical reviews over the past 10 yrs have found increased respiratory and allergic health outcomes for children living in damp and mouldy environments. However, recent studies have suggested that early childhood exposure to specific mould components may actually protect children from developing allergy.We conducted a systematic review of observational studies published in English from January 1980 to July 2010. This review was conducted according to systematic guidelines for Metaanalyses of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE). The literature was searched using a computerised bibliographic database, PubMed. In order to increase the quality of the reviewed studies, meta-analyses of the effects of visible mould exposure on allergic health outcomes were performed and we evaluated the findings according to the Bradford Hill criteria for evidence of causation.The literature search identified 1,398 peer-reviewed scientific publications, and 61 studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in this review. We observed increased risks of allergic respiratory health outcomes in children exposed to visible mould and mould spores. These findings were confirmed by the results of the meta-analysis and in line with the evaluation criteria according to Bradford Hill. Visible mould was positively associated with asthma (OR 1.49 (95% CI 1.28-1.72)), wheeze (OR 1.68 (95% CI 1.48-1.90)) and allergic rhinitis (OR 1.39 (95% CI 1.28-1.51)). However, there was a tendency of lower risk for allergic health outcomes in children exposed to mouldderived components such as (1,3)-b-D-glucan and extracellular polysaccharides.These findings suggest that home environments with visible mould and mould spore exposure increase the risk of allergic respiratory health outcomes in children. However, further investigations are needed to examine the effects of exposure to mould-derived components as the current literature is inconclusive. In order to disentangle the different effects of overall microbial exposure on children's health, research should focus on specific microbial markers in the home, in combination with new assessment techniques including molecular methods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there is a good correlation suggested between visible mould exposure and the concentration of fungal spores [73], exposure to mould-derived components might have different impacts on children's health. Indoor environments consist of a variety of indoor and outdoor sources, not only the measured ones.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between domestic mould and mould components, and asthma and allergy in children: a systematic review

Tischer¹,

Cm²,

Heinrich³

2011

Eur Respir J

146

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other studies have reported higher airborne fungal concentrations in moisture and mould problem buildings than in non-mouldy buildings (Gorny et al, 1999;Hyvärinen et al, 1993;Haas et al, 2007;Macher et al, 1991;Miller et al, 2000;Pessi et al, 2002;Salonen et al 2007). …”

Section: Total Concentration Of Culturable Bacteria and Fungimentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter Time Concentrations and Size Distribution of Bioaerosols in Different Residential Settings in the UK

Nasir

Colbeck

2012

Water Air Soil Pollut

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The total concentration and size distribution of bioaerosols in three different types of housing (single room in shared accommodation (type I), single bedroom flat in three storey building (type II) and two or three bedroom detached houses (type III)) was assessed during the winter. This research was an extension of a previous study carried out in the summer. The measurement campaign was undertaken in winter 2008 and thirty houses were sampled. Samples were taken from kitchens, living rooms, corridors (only in housing type I) and outdoors with an Anderson 6 stage viable impactor. In housing type I the total geometric mean concentration was highest in the corridor for both bacteria and fungi (3171 CFU/m 3 , 1281 CFU/m 3 ). In type II residences both culturable bacteria and fungi were greatest in the living rooms (3487 CFU/m 3 , 833 CFU/m 3 ). The living rooms in type III residences had largest number of culturable bacteria (1361 CFU/m 3 ) while fungi were highest in kitchens (280 CFU/m 3 ). The concentrations of culturable bacteria and fungi were greater in mouldy houses than non-mouldy houses. A considerable variation was seen in the size distribution of culturable bacteria in type I residences compared to types II and III. For all housing types more than half of culturable bacterial and fungal aerosol were respirable (<4.7μm) and so have the potential to penetrate into lower respiratory system. Considerable variation in concentration and size distribution within different housing types in the same geographical region highlights the impact of differences in design, construction, use and management of residential built environment on bioaerosols levels and consequent varied risk of population exposure to airborne biological agents.

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“…Different ways of assessing mould exposure could explain the conflicting results. HAAS et al [12] reported that visible mould growth was significantly correlated with the concentration of fungal spores. As opposed this, a US cohort study did not observe a correlation between (1,3)-b-D-glucan exposure and visible mould [3,5].…”

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confidence: 99%

Respiratory health in children, and indoor exposure to (1,3)-β-d-glucan, EPS mould components and endotoxin

Tischer¹,

Gehring²,

Chen³

et al. 2010

Eur Respir J

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For a long time, exposure to mould and dampness-derived microbial components was considered a risk factor for the development of respiratory diseases and symptoms. Some recent studies suggested that early childhood exposure to mould components, such as (1,3)-b-Dglucan and extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs), may protect children from developing allergy. We investigated the association of exposure to (1,3)-b-D-glucan, EPS and endotoxin with asthma and allergies in 6-yr-old children.This investigation was the follow-up to a nested case-control study among three European birth cohorts. Children from two ongoing birth cohort studies performed in Germany (n5358) and one in the Netherlands (n5338) were selected. Levels of (1,3)-b-D-glucan, EPS and endotoxin were measured in settled house dust sampled from children's mattresses and living-room floors when the children were, on average, 5 yrs of age. At the age of 6 yrs, health outcome information was available for 678 children.In the two German subsets, domestic EPS and endotoxin exposure from children's mattresses were significantly negatively associated with physician-diagnosed asthma (OR per interquartile range increase 0.60 (95% CI 0.39-0.92) and 0.55 (95% CI 0.31-0.97), respectively). In addition, EPS exposure was inversely related to physician-diagnosed allergic rhinitis (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.31-0.81). For the Dutch population, no associations were observed between exposure to microbial agents and respiratory health outcomes.We found inverse associations between domestic exposure to EPS and endotoxin from children's mattresses, and doctor-diagnosed asthma and rhinitis in German, but not in Dutch, school children. The reasons for the differences between countries are not clear.

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Assessment of indoor air in Austrian apartments with and without visible mold growth

Cited by 74 publications

References 24 publications

Association between domestic mould and mould components, and asthma and allergy in children: a systematic review

Association between domestic mould and mould components, and asthma and allergy in children: a systematic review

Winter Time Concentrations and Size Distribution of Bioaerosols in Different Residential Settings in the UK

Respiratory health in children, and indoor exposure to (1,3)-β-d-glucan, EPS mould components and endotoxin

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