Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, USA.
Indoor Air Program, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Tulsa, USA; Faculty of Technology, Structures and Construction Technology, University of Oulu, Finland.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Mar 25;762:144190. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144190. Epub 2020 Dec 4.
This commentary is intended to provide a research roadmap for utilizing recent chemical and molecular-biological technological advances for addressing dampness and mold in buildings. The perspective is unique in that both the mold industry practitioners and academic researchers drive the questions. Research needs were derived from a 2018 international workshop attended by practitioners, researchers and governmental representatives, where challenges and opportunities in the mold remediation and restoration field were discussed focusing on the need to develop new tools that improve building diagnosis and clearance certification for mold inspectors and remediators. Suggestions are made on how new technologies surrounding DNA-based sequence analysis for fungal and bacterial identification and real-time chemical sensor technology can be leveraged by practitioners to improve inspection and remediation. The workshop put into effect a logical progression to distill and extract practice-based implications and encourage the process of transfer of the science to practice. Goals for the workshop, and this subsequent paper, are also centered on encouraging US government-funding agencies to better position and define research on the built environment geared for end-user scientists and practitioners to better explore practical solutions to dampness and mold in indoor environments. By facilitating the workshop forum and targeting industry, field practitioners, and government agencies, a sharing of needed commonalities may be infused into future research agendas and outreach efforts.
本述评旨在为利用最近的化学和分子生物学技术进步来解决建筑中的潮湿和霉菌问题提供研究路线图。该观点的独特之处在于，霉菌行业从业者和学术研究人员共同推动了相关问题的解决。研究需求源自于 2018 年一次国际研讨会，会上的从业者、研究人员和政府代表讨论了霉菌修复和恢复领域的挑战和机遇，重点是需要开发新工具，以提高霉菌检查员和修复人员的建筑诊断和清理认证。本文就如何利用围绕真菌和细菌鉴定的基于 DNA 序列分析的新技术和实时化学传感器技术提出了建议，供从业者在提高检测和修复方面使用。研讨会按逻辑顺序进行，以提炼和提取基于实践的影响，并鼓励将科学转化为实践的过程。研讨会和本文的目标还集中在鼓励美国政府资助机构更好地定位和定义针对终端用户科学家和从业者的建筑环境研究，以更好地探索室内环境中潮湿和霉菌问题的实用解决方案。通过促进研讨会论坛并针对行业、现场从业者和政府机构，未来的研究议程和外展工作可能会融入所需的共同要素。
