This study measured the suspended fungal concentration in indoor multiple facilities nationwide. The regions were selected as representative cities by region: Seoul, Gyeonggi (Incheon), Gangwon, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Busan. A total of 2028 regional comparisons, including department stores, schools, public toilets, libraries, and banks, subway, sports facilities and comparative analysis were conducted for each multi-use facility industry. Among the nationwide, Among the regions, the average concentration of floating mold in indoor multi-use facilities was the lowest in Busan at 394.67 CFU/m3, followed by Gyeonggi and Incheon 487.90 CFU/m3, Seoul 542.84 CFU/m3, Daejeon 809.30 CFU/m3, Gangwon 1,145.22 CFU/m3, Gwangju was 1,371.10 CFU/m3 in the order. Busan was the lowest, and Gangwon was the highest. The reason that Busan, which has a high average temperature and population density, shows a lower mold concentration than Gangwon, is that floating mold in the indoor air is not affected by the external atmospheric environment, population density, and number of facility users. Although it cannot be said that there is no influence of the atmospheric environment, it was found that the indoor environment has different characteristics from the outdoor environment. The importance of air quality management has been confirmed, and further, it is necessary to subdivide the management standards by region and multi-use facilities, and the management standards need to be converted to maintenance rather than recommendations.

As modern society has emerged and developed, the subway has established itself as a representative means of transportation in the city due to its speed, accuracy, and accessibility. According to the Indoor Air Quality Management Act, underground stations have established and managed the maintenance and recommendation standards for PM10, PM2.5, CO2, CO, HCHO, NO2, Rn, VOCs However, th the standards for airborne mold has not been applied for subway stations even though management for the health effect of exposure to mold is necessay. In this study, the correlation with major contributing factors was analyzed by measuring the concentration of airborne molds in the indoor air of underground stations and through literature research. It was confirmed that there was a correlation between the concentration of airborne molds in subway stations and the major contributing factors. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the concentration of airborne molds became higher as the location of the platform became deeper underground, during periods of congestion, and especially in summer. There was no significant correlation with the year of construction. Our findings indicate that appropriate management measures should be devised in response to such contributing factors.

Mold grows more easily when humidity is higher in indoor spaces, and as such is found more often on wetted areas in housing such as walls, toilets, kitchens, and poorly managed spaces. However, there have been few studies that have specifically assessed the level of mold in the indoor spaces of water-damaged housing in the Republic of Korea. We investigated the levels of airborne mold according to the characteristics of water damage types and explored the correlation between the distribution of mold genera and the characteristics of households. Samplings were performed from January 2016 to June 2018 in 97 housing units with water leakage or condensation, or a history of flooding, and in 61 general housing units in the metropolitan and Busan area, respectively. Airborne mold was collected on MEA (Malt extract agar) at flow rate of 100 L/min for 1 min. After collection, the samples were incubated at 25oC for 120 hours. The cultured samples were counted and corrected using a positive hole conversion table. The samples were then analyzed by single colony culture, DNA extraction, gene amplification, and sequencing. By type of housing, concentrations of airborne mold were highest in flooded housing, followed by water-leaked or highly condensed housings, and then general housing. In more than 50% of water-damaged housing, the level of airborne mold exceeded the guideline of Korea's Ministry of Environment (500 CFU/m3). Of particular concern was the fact that the I/O ratio of water-damaged housing was greater than 1, which could indicate that mold damage may occur indoors. The distribution patterns of the fungal species were as follows: Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp. (14%), Aspergillus spp. (13%) and Alternaria spp. (3%), but significant differences of their levels in indoor spaces were not found. Our findings indicate that high levels of mold damage were found in housing with water damage, and Aspergillus flavus and Penicillium brevicompactum were more dominant in housing with high water activity. Comprehensive management of flooded or water-damaged housing is necessary to reduce fungal exposure.

The aim of this study was to examine indoor fungal concentration and fungal volatile organic compounds(VOCs) in single-person households. A total of 22 houses occupied by one person were investigated in this study. 19 VOCs detected in the field were estimated as fungi-derived VOCs through a review of the literature, and 11 VOCs were confirmed as fungal VOCs by laboratory experiments. Exposure to fungal VOCs in the indoor environment has been confirmed to be highly influenced by airborne fungal concentration and indoor humidity. 3-octanone was characterized by a clear generation profile in Aspergilus versiocolor, and n-decane in Pencillum chrysogenum. ntetradecane emitted by Stachybotrys chartarum exhibited a tendency to occur consistently. The observations made in this study demonstrated that single-person households can easily be exposed to fungi, and MVOCs can be used as an indicator of fungal exposure in indoor environments.

Since airborne fungi have been known to aggravate indoor air quality, studies on developing anti-fungal filters increase recently. In this study, silver (Ag) nanoparticle was selected as anti-fungal agent. HEPA filter was coated with silver nanoparticles which were generated via spark discharge system operating at atmospheric pressure and temperature. The anti-fungal effect of the Ag-filter was evaluated with the conventional culture assay. When the number of Ag nano particle per a fungal particle in the filter was 1.91X106, the fungicidal efficiency was higher than 99%. As another anti-fungal test, ATP bioluminiscence detection method was also carried out and the results were correlated with those of the culture assay.