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Selected Works of Atin Adhikari
Article
Increased prevalence of indoor Aspergillus and Penicillium species is associated with indoor flooding and coastal proximity: a case study of 28 moldy buildings
Environ Science: Processes & Impacts (2021)
  • Mayomi H Omebeyinje
  • Adewale Adeluyi
  • Chandrani Mitra, University of South Carolina - Columbia
  • Paramita Chakraborty
  • Gregory M Gandee
  • Nalit Patel
  • Bindhu Verghese
  • Christine E Farrance
  • Matthew Hull
  • Paramita Basu
  • Kwonmoo Lee
  • Atin Adhikari, Georgia Southern University
  • Burcu Adivar
  • Jennifer A Horney
  • Anindya Chanda, Mycologics LLC
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Abstract
Indoor flooding is a leading contributor to indoor dampness and the associated mold infestations in the coastal United States. Whether the prevalent mold genera that infest the coastal flood-prone buildings are different from those not flood-prone is unknown. In the current case study of 28 mold-infested buildings across the U.S. east coast, we surprisingly noted a trend of higher prevalence of indoor Aspergillus and Penicillium genera (denoted here as Asp-Pen) in buildings with previous flooding history. Hence, we sought to determine the possibility of a potential statistically significant association between indoor Asp-Pen prevalence and three building-related variables: (i) indoor flooding history, (ii) geographical location, and (iii) the building's use (residential versus non-residential). Culturable spores and hyphal fragments in indoor air were collected using the settle-plate method, and corresponding genera were confirmed using phylogenetic analysis of their ITS sequence (the fungal barcode). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Generalized linear model procedure (GLM) showed that Asp-Pen prevalence is significantly associated with indoor flooding as well as coastal proximity. To address the small sample size, a multivariate decision tree analysis was conducted, which ranked indoor flooding history as the strongest determinant of Asp-Pen prevalence, followed by geographical location and the building's use.
Disciplines
Publication Date
October, 2021
DOI
10.1039/d1em00202c
Citation Information
Mayomi H Omebeyinje, Adewale Adeluyi, Chandrani Mitra, Paramita Chakraborty, et al.. "Increased prevalence of indoor Aspergillus and Penicillium species is associated with indoor flooding and coastal proximity: a case study of 28 moldy buildings" Environ Science: Processes & Impacts (2021) ISSN: 2050-7895
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/atin_adhikari/262/