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REVIEW OF CONCENTRATION STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR FUNGI IN INDOOR AIR
Citation:
Rao, C., H. Burge, AND J A. Chang*. REVIEW OF CONCENTRATION STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR FUNGI IN INDOOR AIR. EPA/AWMA Conference, Engineering Solutions to Indoor Air Quality Problems, Research Triangle Park, NC, 7/24-26/95.
Description:
The paper reviews and compares existing guidelines for indoor airborne fungi, discusses limitations of existing guidelines, and identifies research needs that should contribute to the development of realistic and useful guidelines for these important air pollutants. (NOTE: Exposure to fungal aerosols clearly causes human disease. However, methods for assessing exposure remain poorly understood, and guidelines for interpreting data are often contradictory.) Existing guidelines are based exclusively on baseline data (rather than on health effects data), and are either absolute (listing numbers) or relative (comparing indoors to outdoors), or a combination of the two. Regulations controlling fungal aerosols have been published only by the Russian Federation. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a standard that is being reviewed. Other guidelines have been proposed or sponsored by North American and European government agencies. Finally, some of the most often quoted guidelines have been proposed by individuals based on either prospective sampling studies or personal experience. Guidelines specify from <100 to >1000 colony forming units/cu m (total Fungi) as the upper limit for non-contaminated indoor environments.