Dampness and Mould - WHO guidelines for indoor air quality - PRWeb

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12 WHO GUIDELINES FOR INDOOR AIR QUALITY: DAMPNESS AND MOULD Table 1. Moisture levels required for growth of selected microorganisms in construction, finishing and furnishing materials Moisture level High (a w, > 0.90; ERH, > 90%) Intermediate (a w, 0.80–0.90; ERH, 80–90%) Low (a w, < 0.80; ERH, < 80%) Category of microorganism Tertiary colonizers (hydrophilic) Alternaria alternata Aspergillus fumigatus Epicoccum spp. Exophiala spp. Fusarium moniliforme Mucor plumbeus Phoma herbarum Phialophora spp. Rhizopus spp. Stachybotrys chartarum (S. atra) Trichoderma spp. Ulocladium consortiale Rhodotorula spp. Sporobolomyces spp. Actinobacteria (or Actinomycetes) Secondary colonizers Aspergillus flavus Aspergillus versicolor a Cladosporium cladosporioides Cladosporium herbarum Cladosporium sphaerospermum Mucor circinelloides Rhizopus oryzae Primary colonizers (xerophilic) Alternaria citri Aspergillus (Eurotium) amstelodami Aspergillus candidus Aspergillus (Eurotium) glaucus Aspergillus niger Aspergillus penicillioides Aspergillus (Eurotium) repens Aspergillus restrictus Aspergillus versicolor b Paecilomyces variotii Penicillium aurantiogriseum Penicillium brevicompactum Penicillium chrysogenum Penicillium commune Penicillium expansum Penicillium griseofulvum Wallemia sebi Note. aw, water activity; ERH, equilibrium relative humidity Sources: Grant et al. (1989); Gravesen, Frisvad, Samson (1994); ISIAQ (1996) a at 12 °C; b at 25 °C
BUILDING DAMPNESS AND ITS EFFECT ON EXPOSURE 13 2.2.3 Bacteria Bacteria are ubiquitous prokaryotic single-cell organisms, comprising an abundance of species. They can be found in the dust and on the surfaces of every house, including those with no damp problems. The main sources of bacteria in the indoor environment are outdoor air, people and indoor bacterial growth. Bacteria from outdoor air and those originating from people are considered to be fairly harmless; bacteria growing actively or accumulating in the indoor environment, however, may affect health, but this has not been studied extensively. As described for fungi, water is a critical requirement for bacterial growth. In fact, bacteria require higher water activities than most fungi. The temperature and nutrient demands are generally met in most indoor environments. Surprisingly, few studies have been conducted on bacterial growth in damp houses. Those that have suggest that bacteria grow in the same areas as fungi. In particular, Streptomycetes (Gram-positive spore-forming bacteria that are not normal indoor flora in urban environments) may grow on damp or wet building materials (Hyvärinen et al., 2002). Their presence in indoor air may therefore indicate that a building has a moisture problem (Samson et al., 1994). Although no clear association with dampness has been found, it has been suggested that endotoxins from Gram-negative bacteria occur at increased levels in damp buildings (Bischof et al., 2002; Solomon et al., 2006). 2.2.4 Protozoa It has been proposed that protozoa play a role in the complex mixture of exposures that contribute to adverse health effects associated with damp indoor environments (Yli-Pirila et al., 2004). In their study, amoeba were detected in 22% of 124 material samples from moisture-damaged buildings. Most of the 11 samples of materials that were badly damaged by moisture were found to contain ciliates and flagellates. No field studies have been conducted to assess the airborne concentrations of protozoa or fragments thereof. Although a study in vitro suggested that amoeba enhance the pro-inflammatory properties of certain microbes (Yli- Pirila et al., 2007), it is not clear whether protozoa in damp buildings contribute to ill health. 2.3 Dampness-related indoor pollutants In this section, we describe the most important indoor pollutants that have been associated with damp indoor spaces and related health effects. The health effects associated with these pollutants are discussed in Chapter 4. 2.3.1 Allergens All agents that can induce specific immune responses (resulting in the production of specific antibodies) are also potential allergens. The term allergen can refer to a single molecule, a mixture of molecules or a particle from which allergen
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When sufficient moisture is availab
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