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QUANTIFYING INDOOR MOLDS
Citation:
VESPER, S. J. QUANTIFYING INDOOR MOLDS. Presented at Product Expo Region 7, Kansas City, KS, May 11, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
1. Develop and publish a standard method or guidance document for QPCR analysis of microorganisms in environmental samples (air and water filtrates and dust).a standard method or guidance document for QPCR analysis of microorganisms in environmental samples (air and water filtrates and dust). Publication will involve a consensus standards organization. 2. Use QPCR methods to monitor childhood exposures to mold as a part of field studies, in order to establish whether a relationship exists between molds encountered in indoor environments and asthma-related health problems.
Description:
There is growing awareness that indoor molds/fungi may be connected to such conditions as asthma, allergies, hemorrhaging, chronic rhinosinusitis, memory loss, and a symptom complex called sick-building-syndrome. In addition, molds cause frequently fatal nosocomical infections. The US EPA has developed a mold specific quantitative PCR (MSQPCR) process that relies of the unique DNA signature of each mold species to do the identification and quantification. Assays are now available for more than 100 of the most common and relevant molds. These assays are standardized, specific, and sensitive (usually down to a single spore). The analysis can be completed in 2 to 3 hours. An automated platform can be used to perform these analyses. Examples of the use of the technology will be described in the presentation.