Airborne Alt a 1 Dynamic and Its Relationship With the Airborne Dynamics of Alternaria Conidia and Pleosporales Spores

Fungal spores are universal atmospheric components associated to allergic reactions. Alternaria (Ascomycota) is considered the most allergenic spore taxa. Alt a 1 is the major allergen of Alternaria and is present also in other Pleosporales. In this study, standard Hirst-based sampling and analyzing methods for measuring spore daily concentrations of Alternaria, Curvularia, Drechslera-Helminthosporium, Epicoccum, Leptosphaeria, Pithomyces, Pleospora and Stemphyllium (all included in the taxon Pleosporales) have been used besides two high-volume samplers, Burkard Cyclone (2017) and MCV CAV-A/mb (2019-2020), and ELISA Kits for measuring the allergen. The detection and quantification of Alt a 1 was only possible in the samples from the MCV sampler. Although Alt a 1 was better correlated with Alternaria spores than with Pleosporales spores, the three of them showed high correlations. It is shown, for the first time, a high and significant correlation of Alt a 1 with temperature, a negative one with relative humidity and no correlation with precipitation. The aerobiological monitoring of these three elements ensures the best information for understanding the affectation to allergy sufferers but, if not possible, as a minimum public health service aiming at the detection, treatment and prevention of allergy, the study of the airborne Alternaria spores should be ensured.

Pollen and Fungal Spores Evaluation in Relation to Occupants and Microclimate in Indoor Workplaces

Indoor air quality depends on many internal or external factors mutually interacting in a dynamic and complex system, which also includes indoor workplaces, where subjects are exposed to many pollutants, including biocontaminants such as pollen and fungal spores. In this context, the occupants interact actively with their environment through actions, modifying indoor environmental conditions to achieve their own thermal comfort. Actions such as opening/closing doors and windows and turning on/off air conditioning could have effects on workers’ health. The present study explored the contribution of human occupants to pollen and fungal spore levels in indoor workplaces, combining aerobiological, microclimate, and worker monitoring during summer and winter campaigns. We evaluated the overall time spent by the workers in the office, the workers’ actions regarding non-working days and working days, and non-working hours and working hours, during two campaigns of pollen and fungal spore monitoring. Our results showed that the biocontaminant values depend on many mutually interacting factors; hence, the role of all of the factors involved should be investigated. In this regard, aerobiological monitoring should be a valid tool for the management of occupational allergies, providing additional information to improve occupational health protection strategies.

Allergenic fungal spores in the air of urban parks

Urban green spaces, especially urban parks, are essential for the proper functioning of cities, but they can be a serious source of airborne fungal spores. Aerobiological monitoring was carried out in urban parks of different typology to estimate the risk associated with fungal spores for citizens. Volumetric method was applied with the use of portable Burkard Sampler. In the air of the studied parks, the most dominant spores are strong allergenic or considered as potentially allergenic. Cladosporium spores were found in enormous concentrations in all studied parks, and it affected the low biodiversity of fungal spores in the parks. Compared to Cladosporium, concentrations of Alternaria spores in the air were several dozen times lower, but still a risk for people who are allergic. The fungal spores spectra and their seasonal occurrence in each park were similar. The highest similarities in the patterns of the season were found in the case of Cladosporium, Alternaria, Epicoccum, and the lowest in the case of Torula and Drechslera type. Due to the fact that allergy sufferers are most often polysensitized, the period when they should limit long visits in the urban parks is July–August, when the concentration of allergenic fungal spores of many taxa is the highest.

Preventive Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Biodeteriogens Control by Aerobiological Monitoring

Artefact conditions need to be continuously monitored to avoid degradation effects naturally caused by time and public exploitation in order to increase the value of cultural assets. In this way, the atmospheric analysis of both biological and chemical pollutants potentially present inside conservation environments represents valid support for the adoption of preventive conservation actions by evaluating periodically the presence of risk for the same artefacts. The aim of the present study was to analyze the fungal particles, potentially biodeteriogen, through aerobiological volumetric monitoring, particularly inside valuable historical, artistic, and cultural sites. Different exposition and conservation typologies of the artefacts with different flows of visitors were considered. The applied methodologies have furnished a reliable description of biological air pollution due to the presence of fungal spores—moreover, they have allowed for the prevention of risk situations and the measurement of their evolution in order to limit degradation processes. Through aerobiological monitoring, it was possible to provide important indications for interventions of prevention, conservation and restoration of cultural heritage in indoor environments.