Comparative studies of the fungal aerosols in some educational buildings from urban and rural environments in neamt county, Romania

Abstract

The levels of airborne microbe in different educational buildings from urban and rural environments are unknown previously in Neamt County, Romania. Air contamination by airborne fungal spores was investigated in 2017 over a period of 3 months (April-June) using the Petri plate gravitational settling (passive) method. Petri plates contained nutrient media (PDA) in three different compositions (classic, with rose-bengal and with streptomycin) were exposed to room air for a 15-min period face upwards to collect particles settling by gravity. The location differed in habitat characteristics, such as urbanization level, vegetation and microclimate and these characteristics could affect spore occurrence in indoor air. The identification of the fungi was made according to their microscopic properties and through references. The most common culturable airborne fungal genera were Penicillium, Aspergillus and Cladosporium (89.4, 7.3 and 1.4% of the total, respectively). Our results showed that fungal spores concentrations in the educational institutions air was situated at low level, with exception of one kindergarten classroom from the rural area, which has potential to develop adverse health effects to the occupants (957 CFU/m3 air).