• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to assess the level of fungi concentration in the university laboratories in Seoul, Korea, and to investigate factors contributing to these concentrations. The samples were taken from three spots in each laboratory; the top of sink, the center of laboratory, and the front of ventilation system, i.e fume hood at the chemical laboratory and clean bench/biosafety cabinet at the microbial laboratory. Air samples were collected using the single-stage Anderson sampler (Quick Take 30) at a flow rate of 28.3 l/min for 5 min on nutrient media in Petri-dishes located on the impactor. Fifty-two air samples were collected from 19 different laboratories (13 microbiology laboratories, 6 chemistry laboratories) in the university, and concentrations of airborne fungi showed no significant difference (p>0.05) between microbiology and chemistry laboratory, and also no significant difference at three locations (sink, center, front of ventilation system) in microbiology and chemistry laboratories. Average concentrations of fungi in 19 laboratories ranged from 7 to 459 cfu/$m^3$, with an overall Geometric Mean of 52 cfu/$m^3$. Airborne fungi concentrations of 6 samples (12 %) exceeded 150 cfu/$m^3$, the guideline of WHO. The ratios of Indoor/Outdoor for airborne fungi ranged from 0.2 to 4.8 (mean = 1.6). Related factors were measured such as relative humidity, temperature, and laboratory area. Temperature and laboratory area showed no significant relations to concentrations of airborne fungi except for relative humidity in the laboratory Concentrations of fungi were significant different (p<0.01) between rainy or cloudy and sunny. However, there was no significant difference between general ventilation and nongeneral ventilation.