Indoor air fungus bioaerosols and comfort index in day care child centers

Abstract

Since this era, almost all children temporize most of their time outside home within the kindergarten environment, so the importance of this environment indoor air quality has been increasingly considerable. The aim of this study was to survey of airborne fungal flora in the indoor air of day Care Child Centers (DCCs) located in Delfan. The air temperature (degrees C), relative humidity (%), air velocity (m/s), and fungi density and flora were measured in four DCCs. In addition, information on each DCC characteristics was collected via an observation and officer questioning. Fungi sampling was performed using impaction technique (28.3L/min) for 10min. The mean temperature of indoors is 24.5 +/- 1.5 degrees C. Relative humidity of the air was 42.7 +/- 7.1%, which is depending on sampling place. The most isolated fungal species was Penicillium Spp. For Bagh-e-Koodak child care center. Maximum and minimum of total fungi (CFU) were 372 CFU or 1314 CFU/m(3) (Bagh-e-Koodak) VS. 91 CFU or 322 CFU/m(3) (Dariai-e-Mehr), respectively. There was only a significant difference for RH(%) based on sampling points, while there was significant relation for RH(%), temperature based on DCC, Penicillium spp., Aspergillus flavus and total fungal count. We conclude that indoor air fungal contamination (density and flora) in studied DCCs are considerable.