Preliminary Study of Fungal Spores in an Indoor Library Environment in Yangming Shan

Abstract

A study of the concentration of fungal spores was conducted in the library of Chinese Culture University, Yangming Shan, Taipei, Taiwan, monthly from July 1995 to December 1995. The screened area included indoor air and the insides and surfaces of books. Aerial spores were collected using a Burkard’s portable air sampler for agar plates (malt extract agar and Sabouraud dextrose agar), and dust from books was desposited directly on MEA and SBDA. The major genera of fungi isolated were Cladosporium (30.33%), Penicillium (21.57%), Aspergillus (4.23%), Rhodotorula (12.05%), white yeast (3.71%), Rhizoctonia (1.12%), and sterile colonies of Mycelia sterilia (18.20%). The highest number of fungal colonies were found in indoor air, while some genera appeared only on surfaces of books, including Rhizopus, Mucor, Syncephalastrum (Zygomycetes), Chaetomium (Ascomycete) and Curvularia, Doratomyces, Drechslera, Scytalidium, Sporidesmium (Deuteromycetes). Similarity indices were approximately 50% between indoor air and surfaces and insides of books.