PubMed · 14513613
The source did not provide an abstract. Follow the original record for more information.
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Jennifer Trueland. 2003-09-11. Quit while you're ahead.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14513613/
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.
KEEP EXPLORING
Three mechanisms for disease caused by mold-infection, allergy, and toxicity-are established and well recognized by clinicians. In each case the corresponding diseases are specific to a particular fungus. The mechanisms involved include a recognized inflammatory pathology that leads to objective clinical evidence of disease. Recent widespread litigation has arisen out of an unproved assertion that exposure to indoor molds causes an ill-defined illness. This illness is characterized by the absence of objective evidence of disease and by the lack of a defined pathology. There is usually no specificity for the involved fungus purported to cause the illness. Those publications that claim such an illness are reviewed. They are found to lack scientific validity, often on the basis of faulty methodology and insufficient information. There is no coherent clinical description for the presumed illness. Recommendations are offered for published reports and studies to address this problem.
Personal exposures to viable fungi and bacteria were compared with the concentrations being assessed by stationary samplers in home and workplace microenvironments. A random sample of 81 elementary school teachers in eastern Finland performed two 24-hour measurement periods in wintertime. Concentrations and prevalences of viable fungi and bacteria on the collection filters were determined by cultivation method. The geometric mean concentration was 3-12 cfu m(-3) for total viable fungi, 0.6-3.7 cfu m(-3) for Penicillium and mainly under 1 cfu m(-3) for other fungi. The samples with higher fungal concentrations also had higher diversity of fungi than samples with lower concentrations. The total number of fungal genera recovered was 39 for personal, 34 for home and 23 for work samples. The variation in concentration of Penicillium explained even 25-95% of the variations of total fungal concentration in personal exposure, home and workplace environments. There was an association between personal exposure and home concentration of viable fungi and between personal exposure and home and work concentrations of viable bacteria. Personal exposure and home concentrations of fungi were higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Our results also indicate that presence of a certain fungus in a microenvironment does not necessarily mean similar findings in personal exposure samples.
We evaluated wiring in multifamily developments containing National Electrical Code(R) (NEC(R)) violations as a source of unusual exposure to 60 Hz magnetic fields. Two methods were used in this evaluation: measurement and modeling. We measured the building wiring as a source of magnetic fields in six multifamily developments in Michigan. In this small sample, building wiring proved to be an important source of exposure in four of the six cases. In all four cases with exposure from building wiring, one or more NEC violations were involved. To supplement our measurement efforts, we used computer modeling to compare magnetic field exposure due to building wiring with magnetic field exposure from external power lines. Our calculations showed that where the building wiring has a NEC violation leading to net current loops, the exposure due to wiring is likely to be more important than that from external power lines. Our results support the results obtained in a recent study of the exposure of Californian K-12 students to magnetic fields, where building wiring with one or more NEC violation was found to be the single most important exposure source. If 60 Hz magnetic fields are important to avoid, then improved enforcement of the NEC, as required by law, is perhaps the single most important mitigation policy to adopt. Bioelectromagnetics 25:102-106, 2004.