Relationships between exposure to spores from Rhizopus microsporus and Paecilomyces variotii and serum IgG antibodies in wood trimmers.

A longitudinal study of wood trimmers exposed to mould spores was carried out from 1985 to 1988. Exposure to airborne spores from Rhizopus microsporus ssp. rhizopodiformis and Paecilomyces variotii was measured by scanning electron microscopy of filter samples. Specific IgG antibodies to these moulds were measured by ELISA in serum samples collected at half-year intervals. Antibody levels to R. microsporus and P. variotii were higher in wood trimmers than in other sawmill workers whose jobs had an assumed lower exposure to mould spores. Antibody levels were significantly elevated after periods with high exposure compared to antibody levels in the same wood trimmers after periods with low exposure. Antibodies were also found in newly employed wood trimmers. These wood trimmers were exposed to 1,300 x 10(3) R. microsporus spores/m3 and 130 x 10(3) P. variotii spores/m3 (arithmetic mean exposure). Antibody levels in the newly employed wood trimmers were similar to antibody levels in wood trimmers who had already worked in the trimming department before the start of the study. Antibody levels to R. microsporus and P. variotii in wood trimmers can be regarded as indicators of fairly recent exposure. There were, however, large differences between the individual antibody levels of similarly exposed wood trimmers.