A comparison of airborne ergosterol, glucan and Air-O-Cell data in relation to physical assessments of mold damage and some other parameters

We report here a comparison of long duration air samples in 110 homes where the material collected on open faced filter cassettes was analyzed for beta 1,3-D glucan, ergosterol, cholesterol and endotoxin. These data were then compared to careful estimates of visible mold and Air-O-Cell data. All the values found except cholersterol were of a similar magnitude to values reported in the limited number of studies available. Glucan was measured with a factor G based assay of the Limulus Amebocyte Lysate followed by size exclusion chromatography. This showed that the majority of airborne glucan found in these houses was fungal in origin arising from both yeasts and intact spores, as well as hyphal and spore fragments. Hyphal and spore fragments together represented 16% of the intact spore counts but over a broad range. Correlations between airborne glucan were strong for ergosterol and visible mold. However, airborne ergosterol was more highly correlated to visible mold than glucan. Endotoxin and Air-O-Cell measurements were poorly or not related to the other measures in the study. This study provides confidence that long duration air samples of the toxin glucan and ergosterol are related to building damage.