Laboratoire Matériaux et Durabilité des Constructions (LMDC), INSA Toulouse, 135 Avenue de Rangueil, 31400 Toulouse, France.
Laboratoire Génie Chimique (LGC), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, 35 Chemin des Maraîchers, 31400 Toulouse, France.
Toxins (Basel). 2023 Feb 25;15(3):175. doi: 10.3390/toxins15030175.
It is now well established that biological pollution is a major cause of the degradation of indoor air quality. It has been shown that microbial communities from the outdoors may significantly impact the communities detected indoors. One can reasonably assume that the fungal contamination of the surfaces of building materials and their release into indoor air may also significantly impact indoor air quality. Fungi are well known as common contaminants of the indoor environment with the ability to grow on many types of building materials and to subsequently release biological particles into the indoor air. The aerosolization of allergenic compounds or mycotoxins borne by fungal particles or vehiculated by dust may have a direct impact on the occupant's health. However, to date, very few studies have investigated such an impact. The present paper reviewed the available data on indoor fungal contamination in different types of buildings with the aim of highlighting the direct connections between the growth on indoor building materials and the degradation of indoor air quality through the aerosolization of mycotoxins. Some studies showed that average airborne fungal spore concentrations were higher in buildings where mould was a contaminant than in normal buildings and that there was a strong association between fungal contamination and health problems for occupants. In addition, the most frequent fungal species on surfaces are also those most commonly identified in indoor air, regardless the geographical location in Europe or the USA. Some fungal species contaminating the indoors may be dangerous for human health as they produce mycotoxins. These contaminants, when aerosolized with fungal particles, can be inhaled and may endanger human health. However, it appears that more work is needed to characterize the direct impact of surface contamination on the airborne fungal particle concentration. In addition, fungal species growing in buildings and their known mycotoxins are different from those contaminating foods. This is why further in situ studies to identify fungal contaminants at the species level and to quantify their average concentration on both surfaces and in the air are needed to be better predict health risks due to mycotoxin aerosolization.
现在已经证实，生物污染是室内空气质量恶化的一个主要原因。已经表明，来自室外的微生物群落可能会对室内检测到的群落产生重大影响。人们可以合理地假设，建筑材料表面的真菌污染及其向室内空气中的释放也可能会对室内空气质量产生重大影响。真菌是室内环境中常见的污染物，能够在许多类型的建筑材料上生长，并随后将生物颗粒释放到室内空气中。真菌颗粒携带的过敏原化合物或真菌毒素的气溶胶化，或者灰尘的载体，可能会直接影响居住者的健康。然而，迄今为止，很少有研究调查过这种影响。本文综述了不同类型建筑物中室内真菌污染的现有数据，旨在强调室内建筑材料上的生长与通过真菌毒素的气溶胶化导致室内空气质量恶化之间的直接联系。一些研究表明，在霉菌是污染物的建筑物中，空气中真菌孢子的平均浓度高于正常建筑物，而且真菌污染与居住者的健康问题之间存在很强的关联。此外，无论在欧洲还是美国，表面上最常见的真菌物种也是室内空气中最常见的真菌物种。室内污染的一些真菌物种可能对人类健康有害，因为它们会产生真菌毒素。这些污染物与真菌颗粒一起气溶胶化后可以被吸入，可能会危害人类健康。然而，似乎需要更多的工作来描述表面污染对空气中真菌颗粒浓度的直接影响。此外，在建筑物中生长的真菌物种及其已知的真菌毒素与污染食物的真菌物种不同。这就是为什么需要进一步进行现场研究，以确定物种水平的真菌污染物，并量化其在表面和空气中的平均浓度，以便更好地预测由于真菌毒素气溶胶化而导致的健康风险。
