The present study was carried out to investigate the concentration and species diversity of airborne fungi in thermophilic mushroom cultivation houses. Fungal concentration measurements were performed in April and May 2022 for a Pleurotus ostreatus cultivation house, in July and August 2023 for a Pleurotus sajor-caju and Agaricus blazei cultivation house, and in June, July and August 2023 for a Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus sajor-caju and Calocybe indica cultivation house. The airborne fungal concentration was 2.95 × 102 CFU/m3~105CFU/m3, above 105CFU/m3, and 1.12 × 103 CFU/m3~ 9.17 × 103 CFU/m3 in the three cultivation houses, respectively. A total of 8 genera and 22 species of airborne fungi were isolated from three mushroom cultivation houses. 5 genera and 7 species were identified from P. ostreatus cultivation house. Furthermore, 4 genera 6 species were found from A. blazei and C. indica cultivation house. In addition, 5 genera and15 species were isolated from P. pulmonarius, P. sajor-caju and C. indica cultivation house. Among the fungi isolated, the class of Eurotiomycetes was the most common. Among the 22 fungal species, Aspergillus flavus, A. ochraceus A. sydowii, A. tubingensis, A. westerdijkiae, Penicillium brevicompactum, P. citrinum, and P. steckii have been reported as harmful species to mushrooms, food, and human.

봄철 천식환자 가정집 9곳에서 실내 공기를 포집하여 부유진균의 농도 및 다양성을 조사하였다. 조사된 천식환자 가정집의 평균 부유진균 농도는 거실 143 CFU/m³, 방 142 CFU/m³ 이었으며 외기보다 낮았다. 이는 다중이용시설 실내공기질 기준법의 권고기준 기준치 500 CFU/m³를 초과하지 않았음을 보여준다. 총 59균주를 분리하였으며 5속 33종으로 동정하였다. 이 중 병원균으로서 인체에 위해성을 가지고 있는 진균은 4속 12종이었다. 동정된 종 중 Cladosporium crousii, Penicillium maximae, Aspergillus protuberus는 국내에 보고되지 않은 미기록 진균 종으로 확인하였다. 이 중 A. protuberus는 국외에서 인체에 질병을 유발시키는 균으로 알려진 진균이다. 이상의 결과는 천식환자 가정에서 진균의 관리는 정량적 수준에서뿐만 아니라 유해종을 파악하여 관리하는 정성적인 수준에서도 이루어져야 함을 제시한다. 본 연구는 봄철 천식환자 가정집에 존재하는 실내 공기 중 부유진균의 농도 및 다양성에 대한 최초의 연구이다.

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.

Recently, airborne fungi as indoor air pollutant have attention due to its health related problems such as asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis, atopy, pneumonia, building syndrome and etc.. However, it is considered that current laws and policies in Korea are not efficient to deal with these problems. Our research investigated influential factors and species distribution on the basis of previous research related to airborne fungi issue conduced in Korea by applying meta analysis technique. We selected 15 articles containing variables affecting fungi population such as outdoor air characteristics, temperature, location, and ventilation to evaluate significant factors. It was confirmed that airborne fungi level has partial correlation to those factors despite of limited sample size. It is required that the consistent and systematic research effort should be extended to characterize health effect caused by these fungi as well as to control them efficiently.

The objective of this study is to support an environmental policy related to the improved control of indoor airborne fungi in Korea. We reviewed 15 articles published in Korea to analyse the trend of airborne fungi level in indoor environment of various public facilities. The maximum mean concentrations of total airborne fungi in hospital and kindergarten were 1447 CFU/m3 and 1259 CFU/m3, respectively. We concluded that policy determination are urgently required to guide a proper management on airborne fungi in Korea.