Jacob Beate, Ritz Beate, Gehring Ulrike, Koch Andrea, Bischof Wolfgang, Wichmann H E, Heinrich Joachim
GSF-Institute of Epidemiology, Munich, Germany.
Environ Health Perspect. 2002 Jul;110(7):647-53. doi: 10.1289/ehp.02110647.
Evidence that indoor dampness and mold growth are associated with respiratory health has been accumulating, but few studies have been able to examine health risks in relation to measured levels of indoor mold exposure. In particular, little is known about the contribution of indoor molds to the development of allergic sensitization. As a part of an ongoing study examining the effects of ambient air pollutants on respiratory health and atopic diseases in German school children, we examined the relation between viable mold levels indoors and allergic sensitization in 272 children. We examined whether allergic sensitization in children is associated with higher fungal spore count in settled house dust sampled from living room floors. Adjusting for age, sex, parental education, region of residency, and parental history of atopy, we found that mold spore counts for Cladosporium and Aspergillus were associated with an increased risk of allergic sensitization. Sensitized children exposed to high levels of mold spores (> 90th percentile) were more likely to suffer from symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis. We conclude that elevated indoor concentrations of molds in wintertime might play a role in increasing the risk of developing atopic symptoms and allergic sensitization not only to molds but also to other common, inhaled allergens. These effects were strongest in the group of children who had lived in the same home since birth.
室内潮湿和霉菌生长与呼吸系统健康相关的证据不断积累，但很少有研究能够根据实测的室内霉菌暴露水平来检测健康风险。特别是，对于室内霉菌在过敏性致敏发展中的作用知之甚少。作为一项正在进行的研究的一部分，该研究旨在调查环境空气污染物对德国学童呼吸系统健康和特应性疾病的影响，我们调查了272名儿童室内活霉菌水平与过敏性致敏之间的关系。我们研究了儿童的过敏性致敏是否与从客厅地板采集的沉降屋尘中较高的真菌孢子计数有关。在对年龄、性别、父母教育程度、居住地区和父母特应性病史进行调整后，我们发现枝孢菌属和曲霉属的霉菌孢子计数与过敏性致敏风险增加有关。暴露于高水平霉菌孢子（>第90百分位数）的致敏儿童更有可能出现鼻结膜炎症状。我们得出结论，冬季室内霉菌浓度升高可能不仅在增加对霉菌而且对其他常见吸入性过敏原发生特应性症状和过敏性致敏的风险中起作用。这些影响在自出生以来一直住在同一所房子里的儿童组中最为明显。
