Continually measured fungal profiles in sick building syndrome

Buildings with indoor air quality (IAQ) complaints frequently have high air borne concentrations of Penicillium species, while buildings with few IAQ c omplaints have an indoor air (IDA) fungal ecology similar to outdoor air (O DA), where Cladosporium species is usually the dominant microorganism. Thes e studies compared fungal air profiles, measured continually over 6 h in a documented sick building, in IDA in a room experiencing IAQ problems with f ungal profiles measured concurrently in ODA. The dominant species collected at both sites were Penicillium species, Cladosporium species, and Alternar ia species. In the IDA, Penicillium species were always the dominant organi sms, ranging from 150 to 567 cfu/m(3) (89.8-100% of the total fungi). In th e ODA, Cladosporium species were dominant in four samples (40.0-70.6%), whi le Penicillium species were dominant (52.7-79.6%) in two. These data demons trate that, even though ODA fungal profiles are changing continuously, IDA fungal profiles in "sick" buildings tend to remain unchanged.