Characterisation of exposure to airborne fungi: Measurement of ergosterol

Robine, Enric; Lacaze, Isabelle; Moularat, Stéphane; Ritoux, Sébastien; Boissier, Marjorie

doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2005.03.008

Cited by 26 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The fungi levels calculated by us according to the obtained ergosterol concentrations were even by 2 orders of magnitude higher than those obtained by means of the culturable method. A similar relationship was shown by Robine et al [3] in the study carried out in indoor air of apartments, schools, an office and laboratory. The authors obtained a calculated concentration of fungi, which was by 2-fold higher than the mean value obtained by means of the culturable method.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Based on these studies, several authors used the measurement of this sterol to evaluate indoor air fungal contamination [1,3]. In our study an attempt was made to use ergosterol concentrations as an indicator of the working environment air contamination with fungi.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important issue is that sampling and subsequent analytical process may strongly influence the quality of bioaerosol sample. Therefore non-culturable methods are recommended for this purpose, including determination of ergosterol level as a suitable marker of fungal mass in air sample [1][2][3]. Ergosterol was usually determined using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrometry (MS) and spectrophotometric techniques [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method has been used for years in studies on fungal contamination of products of vegetable origin [4]. In recent years, studies have been carried on to check its use for evaluation of building materials moldiness [7,9] and to evaluate microbiological indoor air quality [1,3]. Furthermore, in the past decade several studies were carried out to find a correlation between the concentration of ergosterol and the occurrence of health effects in exposed people.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Assessment of exposure to fungi in the heavily contaminated work environment (a solid waste sorting plant) based on the ergosterol analysis

Kozajda¹,

Jeżak²,

Sowiak³

et al. 2015

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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Objectives: This paper reports on the results of the study aimed at application of ergosterol as an quantitative indicator of fungal bioaerosol present in the indoor air in occupational environment heavily contaminated with organic dust as well as its comparison with the culturable method. Material and Methods: The study was conducted in the indoor solid waste sorting plant. Using Andersen impactor adapted to 1 plate at the flow rate of 30 l/min, indoor air was sampled in the workers' breathing zone. Ergosterol was sampled using gelatinous filter (1000 l of air) and then analyzed by means of the spectrophotometric method. Fungi were sampled on malt extract agar (MEA) medium (3 replications: 2 l, 7.5 l, 15 l of air) and analyzed by means of the culturable method. Based on ergosterol analyzes, concentration of fungi was calculated. Results were given as the range assuming min. as 5.1 pg ergosterol/spore and max as 1.7 pg ergosterol/spore. Results: The average concentrations of ergosterol in a working room (arithmetic mean (AM), standard deviation (SD); minimum-maximum (min. . It was revealed that concentrations of calculated fungi were even 2 orders of magnitude higher than culturable fungi. Conclusions: The quantitative assessment of moldiness by means of ergosterol measurement seems to be a reliable indicator for environments heavily contaminated with organic dust, where viable and non-viable fungi are present in high proportions. Based on that result, more restrictive (as compared to a similar assessment carried out by means of the culturable method) hygienic recommendations, especially those related to the use of preventive measures protecting the employees' respiratory tract, should have been undertaken.-

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of exposure to fungi in the heavily contaminated work environment (a solid waste sorting plant) based on the ergosterol analysis

Kozajda¹,

Jeżak²,

Sowiak³

et al. 2015

Int J Occup Med Environ Health

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“…Recently flow cytometry (FC) 25,26 , PCR 27 and different biochemical assays targeting, for example, ß,1-3-D-glucan 28 , ergosterol 29 FC proved to be more precise and reliable than epifluorescence microscopy but it suffered from a relatively high detection limit (10 3 cells/ml). In addition, high background fluorescence was observed for several samples.…”

Section: Alternatives To Spc For the Quantification Of Airborne Micromentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection and quantification of viable airborne bacteria and fungi using solid-phase cytometry

2009

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This protocol describes the use of solid-phase cytometry for the enumeration of airborne bacteria and fungi. In contrast with conventional methods, accurate results can be obtained in real time, especially for air samples with low numbers of microorganisms. Air samples are collected by impaction on a water-soluble polymer that is subsequently dissolved. Part of the sample can be filtered over two membrane filters with different pore sizes. One filter is used to obtain a total count of all viable microorganisms, and a second filter is used to determine the number of airborne fungi. Microorganisms present on the filter are labeled with a viability substrate and subsequently detected and quantified using a solid-phase cytometer. The detected spots are microscopically validated using an epifluorescence microscope to discriminate between bacteria, fungi and fluorescent particles. The whole procedure takes 5 h to complete and results in the accurate quantification of airborne bacteria and fungi for samples with a low or high microbial load

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A Method to Determine the Transfer of Mycotoxins from Materials to Air

Moularat¹,

Robine

2008

CLEAN Soil Air Water

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The aim of this work was to propose a new methodological approach to enable the measurement of three airborne mycotoxins and thus determine directly the rate of production and physical characteristics of these aerosols. A method enabling the measurement of three major mycotoxins in indoor air (sterigmatocystin (ST), deoxynivalenol (DON), and ochratoxin A (OA)) was thus optimized. This assay method was able to identify and quantify these mycotoxins at respective concentrations of 30 lg/L (n = 30, r/m = 3.9%), 20 lg/L (n = 10, r/m = 5.5%), and 20 lg/L (n = 10, r/m = 7.6%). Using this analytical technique and a rotary cup collection system validated elsewhere, measurement of the concentrations of three airborne mycotoxins was made possible with a theoretical limit of quantification (LOQ) of 60 pg/m 3 of air. Study of the transfer of mycotoxins from a substrate to the air made it possible to demonstrate, firstly, that the quantity of aerosolized mycotoxins was not proportional to that present on the moldy materials, and secondly that mycotoxins can be transported by aerosols in the alveolar fraction. We determined, under these conditions, a rate of production of ST aerosols.

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Characterisation of exposure to airborne fungi: Measurement of ergosterol

Cited by 26 publications

References 12 publications

Assessment of exposure to fungi in the heavily contaminated work environment (a solid waste sorting plant) based on the ergosterol analysis

Assessment of exposure to fungi in the heavily contaminated work environment (a solid waste sorting plant) based on the ergosterol analysis

Detection and quantification of viable airborne bacteria and fungi using solid-phase cytometry

A Method to Determine the Transfer of Mycotoxins from Materials to Air

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