Rylander Ragnar, Reeslev Morten, Hulander Thomas
BioFact Environmental Health Research Centre, Bjorkasv 21, 44391, Lerum, Sweden.
J Environ Monit. 2010 Nov;12(11):2161-4. doi: 10.1039/c0em00336k. Epub 2010 Oct 11.
Mould in buildings constitutes a threat to health. Present methods to determine the moulds comprise counting of spores or determination of viable moulds which give imprecise measures of total mould cell biomass. Analysis of ergosterol and β-glucan as markers of mould cell biomass is expensive and cumbersome. To evaluate if airborne enzyme activity was related to mould in buildings air samples were taken using an impinger technique or cellulose filters in 386 rooms in 141 buildings. The samples were analysed for the activity of N-acetylhexosaminidase (NAHA) and expressed as enzyme units per m(3) (EU per m(3)). The highest value found in a building was used for the classification of the building and was related to the results from the subsequent technical inspection. In buildings without mould damage, the NAHA activity was generally below 20 EU per m(3). In buildings with mould damage, almost all the buildings had activities above 20 EU per m(3) (specificity 85%). At 30 EU per m(3) the specificity was 100%. Measurements of airborne enzyme activity have a high sensitivity and specificity to identify buildings with mould problems. The method can be used in the investigations of building related symptoms or for home exposure characteristics when investigating diseases such as asthma that can be related to mould exposure.
建筑物中的霉菌对健康构成威胁。目前确定霉菌的方法包括孢子计数或活霉菌的测定，这些方法对霉菌细胞总生物量的测量并不精确。将麦角固醇和β-葡聚糖作为霉菌细胞生物量的标志物进行分析既昂贵又麻烦。为了评估空气中的酶活性是否与建筑物中的霉菌有关，在141栋建筑物的386个房间中，使用冲击式采样器技术或纤维素过滤器采集空气样本。对样本进行N-乙酰己糖胺酶（NAHA）活性分析，并以每立方米酶单位（每立方米EU）表示。一栋建筑物中测得的最高值用于该建筑物的分类，并与随后的技术检查结果相关。在没有霉菌损坏的建筑物中，NAHA活性通常低于每立方米20 EU。在有霉菌损坏的建筑物中，几乎所有建筑物的活性都高于每立方米20 EU（特异性为85%）。当NAHA活性为每立方米30 EU时，特异性为100%。测量空气中的酶活性对识别有霉菌问题的建筑物具有很高的灵敏度和特异性。该方法可用于调查与建筑物相关的症状，或在调查可能与霉菌暴露有关的疾病（如哮喘）时用于家庭暴露特征研究。
