Indoor and outdoor incidence of airborne fungal allergens at low- and high-altitude alpine environments

Abstract

Air samples of three indoor alpine environments at different altitudes were taken by means of volumetric sampling and compared with outdoor air at the same altitude for viable fungal spores. At low altitude (582 m) closed rooms usually provided lower concentrations of potential fungal allergens than outdoor environments. By contrast buildings at a higher altitude (1905 m) showed more than double the concentration of fungal spores than the nearby alpine outdoor atmosphere. In all indoor environments the spore counts decreased in the following order: Cladosporium > yeasts > mycelia sterilia > Penicillium > Epicoccum > Botrytis > Aureobasidium > Alternaria . At all sampling sites the total airborne propagules, of Cladosporium , mycelia sterilia, Alternaria, Botrytis and Epicoccum showed seasonal distribution and, in general, significant correlation between both the indoor and outdoor environment. Penicillium indoor counts did not correlate with those outdoors nor with those of Aspergillus indoors or outdoors.