Effect of moisture-damage intervention on the immunotoxic potential and microbial content of airborne particles and on occupants' upper airway inflammatory responses.

This intervention study evaluated the effect of moisture-damage repairs on the exposure and on the upper airway inflammatory responses of the occupants. The airborne microbial exposure was followed by quantitative PCR analyses of 13 microbial species in repeated long-term indoor air samples before (N = 26) and after (N = 28) repairs of the school building. Airborne particulate matter was collected similarly from the same premises (before N = 25, after N = 34) for determination of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), measured in the cell culture medium of mouse macrophages.

Concentrations and diversity of microbes from four local bioaerosol emission sources in Finland.

Microbial particles can readily be released into the air from different types of man-made sources such as waste operations. Microbiological emissions from different biological sources and their dispersion may be an issue of concern for area planning and for nearby residents. This study was designed to determine the concentrations and diversity of microbiological emissions from four different man-made source environments: waste center with composting windrows, sewage treatment plant, farming environment, and cattle manure spreading.

Molecular profiling of fungal communities in moisture damaged buildings before and after remediation--a comparison of culture-dependent and culture-independent methods.

Background: Indoor microbial contamination due to excess moisture is an important contributor to human illness in both residential and occupational settings. However, the census of microorganisms in the indoor environment is limited by the use of selective, culture-based detection techniques. By using clone library sequencing of full-length internal transcribed spacer region combined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for 69 fungal species or assay groups and cultivation, we have been able to generate a more comprehensive description of the total indoor mycoflora.

Immunotoxicological properties of airborne particles at landfill, urban and rural sites and their relation to microbial concentrations.

We investigated the immunotoxicological activity of airborne particles in three different environments during 11 months. Specifically, we analyzed the relation of the immunotoxicological activity to microbial concentrations. During the study period, samples from a landfill, an urban and a rural site were collected on filters once a month.

The effect of ozonization on furniture dust: microbial content and immunotoxicity in vitro.

Moisture and mold problems in buildings contaminate also the furniture and other movable property. If cleaning of the contaminated furniture is neglected, it may continue to cause problems to the occupants even after the moisture-damage repairs. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of high-efficiency ozone treatment in cleaning of the furniture from moisture-damaged buildings.