There has been increased concern over health effects related to potential exposure of building occupants to bioaerosols. We report the case of a worker with a respiratory illness related to bioaerosol exposure in a water-damaged building with extensive fungal contamination. We performed environmental tests to evaluate potential exposure to fungi, and we used mycotoxin-specific IgG antibody in s...

Purpose: It has long been known that eating moldy food is hazardous, and airborne Aspergillus and other fungi can cause life-threatening illnesses in immunocompromised patients. However, the possible health risks of indoor mold exposure in immunocompetent humans are controversial. This literature review examines the health effects of indoor airborne exposure to mold. Design: Literature review. ...

OBJECTIVE To determine if gaseous ozone can effectively kill common environmental fungi. DESIGN This study was designed to test the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in viability between fungal conidia treated with ozone and fungal conidia not treated with ozone. A single control group design was utilized. SETTING Academic research laboratory. INTERVENTIONS Freshly p...

BACKGROUND The hurricanes and flooding in New Orleans, Louisiana, in October and November 2005 resulted in damp conditions favorable to the dispersion of bioaerosols such as mold spores and endotoxin. OBJECTIVE Our objective in this study was to assess potential human exposure to bioaerosols in New Orleans after the flooding of the city. METHODS A team of investigators performed continuous ...

The following is a review of some of the work that we have done since 2007 regarding the importance of molds in the phenomenon of sick building syndrome (SBS). In these studies we first examined mold contamination in air handling units (AHU). Our results showed that Cladosporium sp. were commonly recovered in AHU as growth sites and free spores. They were found mainly on the blower wheel fan bl...

BACKGROUND Patients with multisymptom chronic conditions, such as refractory ulcerative colitis (RUC) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), present diagnostic and management challenges for clinicians, as well as the opportunity to recognize and treat emerging disease entities. In the current case we report reversal of co-existing RUC and CFS symptoms arising from biotoxin exposures in a genetical...

BACKGROUND Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) continues to be one of the most serious intractable diseases that might start with activation of several triggers representing the genetic susceptibility of a patient. To elucidate what essentially contributes to the onset and progression of IPAH, we investigated factors playing an important role in IPAH by searching discrepant or con...

There is growing concern about the adverse effects of fungal bioaerosols on the occupants of damp dwellings. Based on an extensive analysis of previously published data and on experiments carried out within this study, critical limits for the growth of the indoor fungi Eurotium herbariorum, Aspergillus versicolor, and Stachybotrys chartarum were mathematically described in terms of growth limit...

Chaetomium globosum is one of the most common fungi that grows in damp buildings and occurs in agricultural and forestry workplaces. Using sera from atopic patients, we characterized and purified an extracellular chitosanase (Chg47) from C. globosum that is antigenic to humans. The study reports the production of monoclonal antibodies to the protein. Three capture ELISAs were developed for Chg4...