Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University at Albany, School of Public Health, State University of New York, United States.
Norwegian Institute for Air Research, PO Box 100, 2027 Kjeller, Norway, Instituttveien 18, 2007 Kjeller, Norway.
Environ Res. 2016 Jul;148:127-136. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2016.03.026. Epub 2016 Apr 1.
The question regarding the true sources of the purported microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) remains unanswered.
To identify microbial, as well as non-microbial sources of 28 compounds, which are commonly accepted as microbial VOCs (i.e. primary outcome of interest is Σ 28 VOCs).
In a cross-sectional investigation of 390 homes, six building inspectors assessed water/mold damage, took air and dust samples, and measured environmental conditions (i.e., absolute humidity (AH, g/m(3)), temperature (°C), ventilation rate (ACH)). The air sample was analyzed for volatile organic compounds (μg/m(3)) and; dust samples were analyzed for total viable fungal concentration (CFU/g) and six phthalates (mg/g dust). Four benchmark variables of the underlying sources were defined as highest quartile categories of: 1) the total concentration of 17 propylene glycol and propylene glycol ethers (Σ17 PGEs) in the air sample; 2) 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol monoisobutyrate (TMPD-MIB) in the air sample; 3) semi-quantitative mold index; and 4) total fungal load (CFU/g).
Within severely damp homes, co-occurrence of the highest quartile concentration of either Σ17 PGEs or TMPD-MIB were respectively associated with a significantly higher median concentration of Σ 28 VOCs (8.05 and 13.38μg/m(3), respectively) compared to the reference homes (4.30 and 4.86μg/m(3), respectively, both Ps ≤0.002). Furthermore, the homes within the highest quartile range for Σ fungal load as well as AH were associated with a significantly increased median Σ 28 VOCs compared to the reference group (8.74 vs. 4.32μg/m(3), P=0.001). Within the final model of multiple indoor sources on Σ 28 VOCs, one natural log-unit increase in summed concentration of Σ17 PGEs, plus TMPD-MIB (Σ 17 PGEs + TMPD-MIB) was associated with 1.8-times (95% CI, 1.3-2.5), greater likelihood of having a highest quartile of Σ 28 VOCs, after adjusting for absolute humidity, history of repainting at least one room, ventilation rate, and mold index (P-value =0.001). Homes deemed severely mold damaged (i.e., mold index =1) were associated with 1.7-times (95% CI, 0.8-3.6), greater likelihood of having a highest quartile of Σ 28 VOCs, even though such likelihood was not significant (P-value =0.164). In addition, absolute humidity appeared to positively interact with mold index to significantly elevate the prevalence of the highest quartile category of Σ 28 VOCs.
The indoor concentration of Σ 28 VOCs, which are widely accepted as MVOCs, are significantly associated with the markers of synthetic (i.e. Σ17 PGEs and TMPD-MIB), and to less extent, microbial (i.e., mold index) sources.
关于所谓微生物挥发性有机化合物（MVOCs）的真实来源的问题仍然没有答案。
确定 28 种化合物的微生物和非微生物来源，这些化合物通常被认为是微生物 VOCs（即主要研究结果是Σ 28 VOCs）。
在对 390 户家庭的横断面调查中，六名建筑检查员评估了水/霉菌损坏情况，采集了空气和灰尘样本，并测量了环境条件（即绝对湿度（g/m3），温度（°C），通风率（ACH））。对空气样本进行挥发性有机化合物（μg/m3）分析；对灰尘样本进行总真菌浓度（CFU/g）和六种邻苯二甲酸酯（mg/g 灰尘）分析。将四个潜在来源的基准变量定义为最高四分位数类别：1）空气样本中 17 种丙二醇和丙二醇醚（Σ17 PGEs）的总浓度；2）空气样本中的 2,2,4-三甲基-1,3-戊二醇单异丁酸酯（TMPD-MIB）；3）半定量霉菌指数；和 4）总真菌负荷（CFU/g）。
在严重潮湿的房屋中，Σ17 PGEs 或 TMPD-MIB 的最高四分位数浓度的共同发生与 Σ 28 VOCs 的中位数浓度明显更高（分别为 8.05 和 13.38μg/m3）与参考房屋（4.30 和 4.86μg/m3）相比，分别为 0.002）。此外，在Σ真菌负荷和 AH 的最高四分位数范围内的房屋与参考组相比，Σ 28 VOCs 的中位数浓度明显增加（8.74 与 4.32μg/m3，P=0.001）。在Σ 28 VOCs 的多个室内源的最终模型中，Σ17 PGEs 加 TMPD-MIB（Σ 17 PGEs + TMPD-MIB）的总和浓度增加一个自然对数单位与具有 Σ 28 VOCs 的最高四分位数的可能性增加 1.8 倍（95%置信区间，1.3-2.5），这与绝对湿度、至少一间房重涂的历史、通风率和霉菌指数的调整有关（P 值=0.001）。被认为严重霉菌损坏的房屋（即霉菌指数=1）与具有 Σ 28 VOCs 的最高四分位数的可能性增加 1.7 倍（95%置信区间，0.8-3.6）相关，尽管这种可能性没有统计学意义（P 值=0.164）。此外，绝对湿度似乎与霉菌指数呈正交互作用，显著增加了Σ 28 VOCs 的最高四分位数类别的流行率。
被广泛认为是 MVOCs 的Σ 28 VOCs 的室内浓度与合成来源（即Σ17 PGEs 和 TMPD-MIB）的标志物显著相关，与微生物来源的相关性较小（即霉菌指数）。
