| Keywords |
Airborne fungi; House; Life space; Seasonal variation; Species analysis |
| Abstract |
With a rise in indoor living hours, the evaluation of indoor air is important. Fungi exist in the form of airborne spores so that they are considered severe. The purpose of this study is to find the seasonal airborne fungi concentration of indoor air. To do that, thirty households of apartment and multiplex house in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do were measured continuously for four seasons. Airborne fungus pollution was surveyed in the rest room and kitchen where fungus can reproduce easily because of the influence of humidity, in the living room with a dry condition. In addition, species of fungus were analyzed to find what types of species appeared. The result of the analysis on seasonal indoor concentration was presented as follows: spring (GM: 338.1CFU/m3), summer (GM: 328.4CFU/m3), fall(GM: 359.5CFU/m3), and winter (GM: 111.4CFU/m3). In case of outdoor concentration, fall had the highest concentration, or 733.7CFU/m3. I/O ratio was 0.8 on average. Indoor airborne fungi were found to be influenced by external factors. According to the analysis on species, indoor and outdoor dominant species were Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., Aspergillus spp., and Alternaria spp.. As the result of seasonal measurement, Penicillium spp. had the highest distribution in spring and more various species appeared in summer with high temperature and humidity than in other seasons. In fall and winter, Cladosporium spp. and Aspergillus spp. tended to increase. In addition, Cladosporium spp. (25%) and Alternaria spp. (9%) had more distribution outdoor than indoor. |