Microorganisms in Home and Indoor Work Environments ─ Diversity, Health Impacts, Investigation and Control

In 2007, scientists estimated the direct cost of diseases associated with mould and dampness on the US population to be in the range of 4 billion dollars, and the indirect costs of lost work and school days are gauged even higher. The US Centers for Disease Control recently concluded that elimination of moisture and mouldy materials in the home definitively results in improved health. Unfortunately, problems of accurate assessment and precise identification plague the full understanding of the effects of mould on human health.

Addressing exposure assessment and identification, Microorganisms in Home and Indoor Work Environments: Diversity, Health Impacts, Investigation, and Control, Second Edition discusses the methodology for conducting investigations on indoor environments, including details on key fungi and actinobacteria, and reflects advances in predicting their occurrence in buildings in various parts of the world.

Beginning with a review of types of microorganisms in outdoor and indoor air, their growth and control in home and work environments, and their role in respiratory disease, this second edition presents new studies on pollen and its allergenic effects, the mechanistic basis for the effects of toxins and inflammatory agents on lung biology, and the use of molecular methods for determining microbial contaminants. On the practical side, this edition examines remediation, control, and quality assurance; occupational exposures in a wide range of environments; and infectious fungi and bacterial endotoxins in the built environment.

Bringing together the state-of-the-science in this health-critical field, this accurate and timely book offers researchers, public health officials, and industrial hygienists crucial information on specific microorganisms in the built environment, along with current measurement and assessment solutions to clean up indoor air and keep residents and workers healthy in the future.

Microorganisms in air

Microorganisms in outdoor airJ. Mullins and B. Flannigan

Microorganisms in indoor airB. Flannigan

Pollen in indoor airT. Hugg, E. Yli-Panula and A. Rantio-Lehtimäki

Microorganisms in homes and work environments

Microbial growth in indoor environmentsB. Flannigan and J.D. Miller

Bacteria and other bioaerosols in industrial workplacesB. Crook, J.M. Gawn and J.R.M. Swan

Remediation and control of microbial growth in problem buildingsP.R. Morey

Airborne microorganisms and disease

Allergenic microorganisms and hypersensitivityA.K. Ellis and J.H. Day

Occupational respiratory disease: hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other forms of interstitial lung diseaseM.J. Hodgson and B. Flannigan

Respiratory tract infections caused by indoor fungiR.C. Summerbell

Microbiological investigation of indoor environments

Mycological investigations of indoor environmentsJ.D. Miller

Molecular methods for bioaerosol characterizationR.C. Summerbell, B.J. Green, D. Corr and J.A. Scott

Isolation and identification of fungiR.A. Samson and J. Houbraken

Analysis of microbial volatile organic compoundsT.J. Ryan

Analysis for toxins and inflammatory compoundsT. Rand and J.D. Miller
Interpreting sampling data in investigations of indoor environments: selected case studiesP.R. Morey

Common and important species of Actinobacteria and fungi in indoor environments

Common and important species of fungi and actinomycetes in indoor environmentsR.A. Samson, J. Houbraken, R.C. Summerbell, B. Flannigan and J.D. Miller

Descriptions and illustrations of common fungi and actinomycetes

Appendix: Glossary of mycological terms
Index