title: Bacteria, molds, and toxins in water-damaged building materials.
abstract: Microbial toxins and eukaryotic cell toxicity from indoor building materials heavily colonized by fungi and bacteria were analyzed. The dominant colonizers at water-damaged sites of the building were Stachybotrys chartarum (10(3) to 10(5) visible conidia cm-2), Penicillium and Aspergillus species (10(4) CFU mg-1), gram-negative bacteria (10(4) CFU mg-1), and mycobacteria (10(3) CFU mg-1). The mycobacterial isolates were most similar to M. komossense, with 98% similarity of the complete 16S rDNA sequence. Limulus assay of water extracts prepared from a water-damaged gypsum liner revealed high contents of gram-negative endotoxin (17 ng mg-1 of E. coli lipopolysaccharide equivalents) and beta-D-glucan (210 ng mg-1 of curdlan equivalents). High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of the methanol extracts showed that the water-damaged gypsum liner also contained satratoxin (17 ng mg-1). This methanol-extracted substance was 200 times more toxic to rabbit skin and fetus feline lung cells than extract of gypsum liner sampled from a non-water-damaged site. The same extract contained toxin(s) that paralyzed the motility of boar spermatozoa at extremely low concentrations; the 50% effective concentration was 0.3 microgram of dry solids per ml. This toxicity was not explainable by the amount of bacterial endotoxin, beta-D-glucan, or satratoxin present in the same extract. The novel in vitro toxicity test that utilized boar spermatozoa as described in this article is convenient to perform and reproducible and was a useful tool for detecting toxins of microbial origin toward eukaryotic cells not detectable in building materials by the other methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikulin
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Köljalg
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rainey
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reijula
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Hintikka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salkinoja-Salonen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002415:Cats; D002460:Cell Line; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D003252:Construction Materials; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011817:Rabbits; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects; D013552:Swine; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004731:Endotoxins; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009183:Mycotoxins