Toxicity of Airborne Dust as an Indicator of Moisture Problems in School Buildings

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen BT ; Hirvonen MR ; Huttunen K ; Hyvärinen A ; Leppänen H ; Lindsley W ; Peltonen M ; Täubel M ; Tirkkonen J ; Chen BT ; Hirvonen MR ; Huttunen K ; Hyvärinen A ; Leppänen H ; Lindsley W ; Peltonen M ; Täubel M ; Tirkkonen J
• Description:
  Moisture-damaged indoor environments are thought to increase the toxicity of indoor air particulate matter (PM), indicating that a toxicological assay could be used as a method for recognizing buildings with indoor air problems. We aimed to test if our approach of analyzing the toxicity of actively collected indoor air PM in vitro differentiates moisture-damaged from non-damaged school buildings. We collected active air samples with NIOSH Bioaerosol Cyclone Samplers from moisture-damaged (index) and non-damaged (reference) school buildings (4 + 4). The teachers and pupils of the schools were administered a symptom questionnaire. Five samples of two size fractions [Stage 1 (>1.9 µm) and Stage 2 (1-1.9 µm)] were collected from each school. Mouse RAW264.7 macrophages were exposed to the collected PM for 24 h and subsequently analyzed for changes in cell metabolic activity, production of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a and interleukin (IL)-6. The teachers working in the moisture-damaged schools reported respiratory symptoms such as cough (p = 0.01) and shortness of breath (p = 0.01) more often than teachers from reference schools. Toxicity of the PM sample as such did not differentiate index from reference buildings, but the toxicity adjusted for the amount of the particles tended to be higher in moisture-damaged schools. Further development of the method will require identification of other confounding factors in addition to the necessity to adjust for differences in particle counts between samples. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Animals Dust Energy Metabolism Environmental Monitoring Laboratories Men Nitric Oxide Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Toxicology Women

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• Keywords:
  Airborne Dusts Air Samples Author Keywords: Indoor Air Cell Function Cellular Function Children Dust Exposure Dusts Humans IAQ Indoor Air Quality Indoor Environments In Vitro In Vitro Study Laboratory Animals Metabolic Effects Moisture Damage Nitric Oxide Particulates PM Questionnaires School Toxicity

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• ISSN:
  0895-8378
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division ; HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  75-81
• Volume:
  29
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049592
• Citation:
  Inhal Toxicol 2017 Feb; 29(2):75-81
• Contact Point Address:
  Jenni Tirkkonen, Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
• Email:
  jenni.tirkkonen@uef.fi
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance ; Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Inhalation Toxicology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b9ca64615d8b2b4bb49ad2b2c50b5b867925aa82dae3e520d099c9624945f01bc622e4e59cfe88852d2783839c7cd29686f21282d7a7cdd27bd0d1aa517964e0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/210297/cdc_210297_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.27 MB ]