Fungal and bacterial growth in floor dust at elevated relative humidity levels

New papers on microbiology of the built environment , June 12 , 2016

Under sustained, elevated building moisture conditions, bacterial and fungal growth occurs. The goal of this study was to characterize microbial growth in floor dust at variable equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) levels. (...) Quantitative PCR and DNA sequencing of ribosomal DNA for bacteria and fungi were used to quantify growth and community shifts. Over a one week period, fungal growth occu...

Effect of relative humidity on fungal colonization of fiberglass insulation.

Fiberglass duct liners and fiberglass duct boards from eight buildings whose occupants complained of unacceptable or moldy odors in the air were found to be heavily colonized by fungi, particularly by Aspergillus versicolor. Unused fiberglass was found to be susceptible to fungal colonization in environmental chambers dependent upon relative humidity. No colonization was observed at relative hu...

Resistance of Aerosolized Bacterial Viruses to Relative Humidity and Temperature.

The use of aerosolized bacteriophages as surrogates for hazardous viruses might simplify and accelerate the discovery of links between viral components and their persistence in the airborne state under diverse environmental conditions. In this study, four structurally distinct lytic phages, MS2 (single-stranded RNA [ssRNA]), ϕ6 (double-stranded RNA [dsRNA]), ϕX174 (single-stranded DNA [ssDNA]),...

Resistance of Aerosolized Bacterial Viruses to Relative Humidity and

Relative humidity in incubators.

In a previous paper Hey and Maurice (1968) have reported the effect of changes of relative humidity on the heat production and heat loss in normal naked babies in a specially constructed metabolic chamber under controlled environmental conditions. In order to evaluate the clinical relevance of these observations we have studied the control of relative humidity that could be achieved in three co...