BACKGROUND: Students spend a large portion of their day in classrooms which may be a source of mold exposure. We examined the diversity and concentrations of molds in inner-city schools and described differences between classrooms within the same school. METHODS: Classroom airborne mold spores, collected over a 2 day period, were measured twice during the school year by direct microscopy. RESULTS: There were 180 classroom air samples collected from 12 schools. Mold was present in 100% of classrooms. Classrooms within the same school had differing mold levels and mold diversity scores. The total mold per classroom was 176.6 ± 4.2 spores/m3 (geometric mean ± standard deviation) and ranged from 11.2 to 16,288.5 spores/m3. Mold diversity scores for classroom samples ranged from 1 to 19 (7.7 ± 3.5). The classroom accounted for the majority of variance (62%) in the total mold count, and for the majority of variance (56%) in the mold diversity score versus the school. The species with the highest concentrations and found most commonly included Cladosporium (29.3 ± 4.2 spores/m3), Penicillium/Aspergillus (15.0 ± 5.4 spores/m3), smut spores (12.6 ± 4.0 spores/m3), and basidiospores (6.6 ± 7.1 spores/m3). CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that the school is a source of mold exposure, but particularly the classroom microenvironment varies in quantity of spores and species among classrooms within the same school. We also verified that visible mold may be a predictor for higher mold spore counts. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical significance of mold exposure relative to asthma morbidity in sensitized and non-sensitized asthmatic children.
BACKGROUND: Students spend a large portion of their day in classrooms which may be a source of mold exposure. We examined the diversity and concentrations of molds in inner-city schools and described differences between classrooms within the same school. METHODS: Classroom airborne mold spores, collected over a 2 day period, were measured twice during the school year by direct microscopy. RESULTS: There were 180 classroom air samples collected from 12 schools. Mold was present in 100% of classrooms. Classrooms within the same school had differing mold levels and mold diversity scores. The total mold per classroom was 176.6 ± 4.2 spores/m3 (geometric mean ± standard deviation) and ranged from 11.2 to 16,288.5 spores/m3. Mold diversity scores for classroom samples ranged from 1 to 19 (7.7 ± 3.5). The classroom accounted for the majority of variance (62%) in the total mold count, and for the majority of variance (56%) in the mold diversity score versus the school. The species with the highest concentrations and found most commonly included Cladosporium (29.3 ± 4.2 spores/m3), Penicillium/Aspergillus (15.0 ± 5.4 spores/m3), smut spores (12.6 ± 4.0 spores/m3), and basidiospores (6.6 ± 7.1 spores/m3). CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that the school is a source of mold exposure, but particularly the classroom microenvironment varies in quantity of spores and species among classrooms within the same school. We also verified that visible mold may be a predictor for higher mold spore counts. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical significance of mold exposure relative to asthma morbidity in sensitized and non-sensitized asthmatic children.
Authors: R J Delfino; B D Coate; R S Zeiger; J M Seltzer; D H Street; P Koutrakis Journal: Am J Respir Crit Care Med Date: 1996-09 Impact factor: 21.405
Authors: Brett J Green; Euan R Tovey; Jason K Sercombe; Francoise M Blachere; Donald H Beezhold; Detlef Schmechel Journal: Med Mycol Date: 2006-09 Impact factor: 4.076
Authors: Tiina Reponen; James Lockey; David I Bernstein; Stephen J Vesper; Linda Levin; Gurjit K Khurana Hershey; Shu Zheng; Patrick Ryan; Sergey A Grinshpun; Manuel Villareal; Grace Lemasters Journal: J Allergy Clin Immunol Date: 2012-07-11 Impact factor: 10.793
Authors: Yulia Y Iossifova; Tiina Reponen; Patrick H Ryan; Linda Levin; David I Bernstein; James E Lockey; Gurjit K Khurana Hershey; Manuel Villareal; Grace LeMasters Journal: Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol Date: 2009-02 Impact factor: 6.347
Authors: Anne M Karvonen; Anne Hyvärinen; Marjut Roponen; Matthias Hoffmann; Matti Korppi; Sami Remes; Erika von Mutius; Aino Nevalainen; Juha Pekkanen Journal: Pediatrics Date: 2009-07-27 Impact factor: 7.124
Authors: Watcharoot Kanchongkittiphon; William J Sheehan; James Friedlander; Martin D Chapman; Eva-Maria King; Karine Martirosyan; Sachin N Baxi; Perdita Permaul; Jonathan M Gaffin; Lianne Kopel; Ann Bailey; Chunxia Fu; Carter R Petty; Diane R Gold; Wanda Phipatanakul Journal: Allergy Date: 2014-04-18 Impact factor: 13.146
Authors: A P Nayak; B J Green; A R Lemons; N B Marshall; W T Goldsmith; M L Kashon; S E Anderson; D R Germolec; D H Beezhold Journal: Clin Exp Allergy Date: 2016-05-03 Impact factor: 5.018