LeBouf Ryan, Yesse Liesel, Rossner Alan
Environmental Science and Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699, USA.
J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2008 May;58(5):684-92. doi: 10.3155/1047-3289.58.5.684.
It is well known that characterization of airborne bioaerosols in indoor environments is a challenge because of inherent irregularity in concentrations, which are influenced by many environmental factors. The primary aim of this study was to quantify the day-to-day variability of airborne fungal levels in a single residential environment over multiple seasons. Indoor air quality practitioners must recognize the inherent variability in airborne bio-aerosol measurements during data analysis of mold investigations. Changes in airborne fungi due to varying season and day is important to recognize when considering health impacts of these contaminants and when establishing effective controls. Using an Andersen N6 impactor, indoor and outdoor bioaerosol samples were collected on malt extract agar plates for 18 weekdays and 19 weekdays in winter and summer, respectively. Interday and intraday variability for the bioaerosols were determined for each sampler. Average fungal concentrations were 26 times higher during the summer months. Day-to-day fungal samples showed a relatively high inconsistency suggesting airborne fungal levels are very episodic and are influenced by several environmental factors. Summer bio-aerosol variability ranged from 7 to 36% and winter variability from 24 to 212%; these should be incorporated into results of indoor mold investigations. The second objective was to observe the relationship between biological and nonbiological particulate matter (PM). No correlation was observed between biological and nonbiological PM. Six side-by-side particulate samplers collected coarse PM (PM10) and fine PM (PM2.5) levels in both seasons. PM2.5 particulate concentrations were found to be statistically higher during summer months. Interday variability observed during this study suggests that indoor air quality practitioners must adjust their exposure assessment strategies to reflect the temporal variability in bioaerosol concentrations.
众所周知，由于室内环境中空气传播生物气溶胶的浓度存在固有的不规则性，且受多种环境因素影响，因此对其进行表征颇具挑战。本研究的主要目的是量化单一居住环境中多个季节里空气传播真菌水平的每日变化情况。室内空气质量从业者在霉菌调查的数据分析过程中必须认识到空气传播生物气溶胶测量中固有的变异性。在考虑这些污染物对健康的影响以及建立有效控制措施时，认识到由于季节和日期变化导致的空气传播真菌的变化非常重要。使用安德森N6撞击式采样器，分别在冬季的18个工作日和夏季的19个工作日，在麦芽提取物琼脂平板上采集室内和室外生物气溶胶样本。确定了每个采样器生物气溶胶的日间和日内变异性。夏季月份的平均真菌浓度高出26倍。每日真菌样本显示出相对较高的不一致性，表明空气传播真菌水平非常具有间歇性，且受多种环境因素影响。夏季生物气溶胶变异性范围为7%至36%，冬季变异性范围为24%至212%；这些应纳入室内霉菌调查结果中。第二个目标是观察生物和非生物颗粒物（PM）之间的关系。未观察到生物和非生物PM之间存在相关性。六个并排的颗粒物采样器在两个季节中都采集了粗颗粒物（PM10）和细颗粒物（PM2.5）水平。发现夏季月份的PM2.5颗粒物浓度在统计学上更高。本研究中观察到的日间变异性表明，室内空气质量从业者必须调整其暴露评估策略，以反映生物气溶胶浓度的时间变异性。
