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Incidence of allergenically significant fungal aerosol in a rural bakery of West Bengal, India

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Abstract

The frequency of fungal spores in the air of three different sections of a rural bakery was analyzed using a Burkard personal slide sampler and Andersen two stage viable sampler. In average concentration of spores (No./m3) was 228–26770/m3 and concentration of viable colony forming units (CFU/m3) was 65-2061 CFU/m3. Dominant fungus species both culturable and nonculturable, were species of Aspergillus and Penicillium, Cladosporiumsp., Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Penicillium citrinum and Alternaria alternata. Seasonal variations in the spore concentrations were clearly observed in case of some fungi. Total culturable mould concentration of different bakery sections sometimes exceeded the acceptable limit for a healthy indoor environment. Antigenic extracts prepared from some dominant culturable fungi showed high level of allergenicity in skin prick tests indicating that they could be responsible for allergic respiratory dysfunction of bakery workers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Palynology and Environmental Biology, Department of Botany, Bose Institute, Calcutta, 700 009, India

    Atin Adhikari, Moon Moon Sen, Swati Gupta-Bhattacharya & Sunirmal Chanda

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  1. Atin Adhikari
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  2. Moon Moon Sen
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  3. Swati Gupta-Bhattacharya
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  4. Sunirmal Chanda
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Adhikari, A., Sen, M.M., Gupta-Bhattacharya, S. et al. Incidence of allergenically significant fungal aerosol in a rural bakery of West Bengal, India. Mycopathologia 149, 35–45 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007171420410

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