Evaluating fungal contamination indoors is complicated because of the many different sampling methods utilized. In this study, fungal contamination was evaluated using five sampling methods and four matrices for results. The five sampling methods were a 48-hour indoor air sample collected with a Button™ inhalable aerosol sampler and four types of dust samples: a vacuumed floor dust sample, newly settled dust collected for four weeks onto two types of electrostatic dust cloths (EDCs) in trays, and a wipe sample of dust from above floor surfaces. The samples were obtained in the bedrooms of asthmatic children (n=14). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to analyze the dust and air samples for the 36 fungal species that make up the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI). The results from the samples were compared by four matrices: total concentration of fungal cells, concentration of fungal species associated with indoor environments, concentration of fungal species associated with outdoor environments, and ERMI values (or ERMI-like values for air samples). The ERMI values for the dust samples and the ERMI-like values for the 48-hour air samples were not significantly different. The total cell concentrations of the 36 species obtained with the four dust collection methods correlated significantly (r=0.64-0.79, p<0.05), with the exception of the vacuumed floor dust and newly settled dust. In addition, fungal cell concentrations of indoor associated species correlated well between all four dust sampling methods (r=0.68-0.86, p<0.01). No correlation was found between the fungal concentrations in the air and dust samples primarily because of differences in concentrations of Cladosporium cladosporioides type 1 and Epicoccum nigrum. A representative type of dust sample and a 48-hour air sample might both provide useful information about fungal exposures.

中文翻译：

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使用定量 PCR 评估真菌暴露的室内空气采样和除尘方法的比较


由于采用了许多不同的采样方法，评估室内真菌污染很复杂。在这项研究中，使用五种采样方法和四种结果矩阵来评估真菌污染。这五种采样方法是使用 Button™ 可吸入气溶胶采样器采集的 48 小时室内空气样本和四种类型的灰尘样本：吸尘地板灰尘样本、在两种类型的静电除尘布 (EDC) 上收集四个星期的新沉降灰尘样本放在托盘中，并擦拭地板表面的灰尘样本。样本是在哮喘儿童的卧室中采集的（n=14）。使用定量聚合酶链反应 (qPCR) 分析灰尘和空气样本中构成环境相对霉菌指数 (ERMI) 的 36 种真菌。样品结果通过四个矩阵进行比较：真菌细胞总浓度、与室内环境相关的真菌物种浓度、与室外环境相关的真菌物种浓度以及 ERMI 值（或空气样品的类 ERMI 值）。灰尘样品的 ERMI 值和 48 小时空气样品的类 ERMI 值没有显着差异。除吸尘地板灰尘和新沉降灰尘外，四种集尘方法获得的 36 个物种的总细胞浓度显着相关（r=0.64-0.79，p<0.05）。此外，室内相关物种的真菌细胞浓度在所有四种灰尘采样方法之间具有良好的相关性（r=0.68-0.86，p<0.01）。 空气和灰尘样品中的真菌浓度之间没有发现相关性，主要是因为 1 型枝孢枝孢菌和黑附孢菌的浓度存在差异。代表性类型的灰尘样本和 48 小时空气样本都可以提供有关真菌暴露的有用信息。