The relationships between health risk and special weather conditions according to fungal community characteristics

Abstract

Global air pollution is a serious problem, and the chemical components in PM can facilitate the invasion of biological components in the human body. However, previous studies have paid little attention to the health risks associated with fungi, as opposed to those associated with bacteria and viruses. This study analyzed fungal community structures, diversity and nutrition acquisition patterns under different weather conditions (sun, haze and dust). The results showed that the characteristics of the fungal community changed significantly when special weather occurred. Diversity and uniformity increased significantly, and the increase on haze days was greater than that on dust days. The dominant genera of fungi on sunny days were Periconia (26.76%) and Alternaria (27.56%), and the dominant genus of fungi on haze and dust days was Aspergillus (70.34 and 86.82%, respectively). According to the calculation of the concentration of cultivable fungi, the HI value on haze days was 1.43 times greater than that on sunny days. The exposure risk in adults was greater than that in children (adults (Age: 18–60) > adults (Age: > 60) > children (Age: 0–5) > children (Age: 6–17)). Within the same age group, the exposure risk in males was greater than that in females. According to the species annotation results, the relative abundance of dangerous fungi under special weather increased significantly, and the interaction between PM and microorganisms increased the health risk posed by special weather-related fungi in humans. The FUNGuild gene annotation results revealed that the pathogenic fungus content on sunny days was higher than those on haze and dust days, so the health risks associated with sunny days should not be ignored.