Removal of Viable Airborne Fungi from Indoor Environments by Benzalkonium Chloride-Based Aerosol Disinfectants

Abstract

ABSTRACTFungi are ubiquitous in indoor environments, and some taxa can cause clinical symptoms in humans. Thus, from the viewpoint of public health, methods to reduce indoor airborne fungi are needed. The goal of this study was to examine the efficacies of benzalkonium chloride (BAC)–based aerosol disinfectants to remove airborne viable fungi from indoor environments. The laboratory- and field-based experiments were conducted to compare airborne culturable fungal concentrations before and after the disinfectant aerosol applications. The laboratory-based experiments showed the greater efficacies by the BAC-based disinfectant aerosol than by pure-water control aerosol (p <.05, t-test). In the field study using the BAC-based disinfectant aerosols, on average a 58% reduction of total airborne culturable fungal concentrations were observed. Additionally, the significant reduction was found for a group of airborne yeasts or yeast-like organisms (p <.05, Wilcoxon signed rank test). The BAC-based aerosol disinfectants are effective when used to reduce the numbers of airborne culturable fungi, in particular yeasts or yeast-like organisms, from indoor environments.