Microbial secondary metabolites in homes in association with moisture damage and asthma.
We aimed to characterize the presence of microbial secondary metabolites in homes and their association with moisture damage, mold, and asthma development. Living room floor dust was analyzed by LC-MS/MS for 333 secondary metabolites from 93 homes of 1-year-old children. Moisture damage was present in 15 living rooms. At 6 years, 8 children had active and 15 lifetime doctor-diagnosed asthma. The median number of different metabolites per house was 17 (range 8-29) and median sum load 65 (4-865) ng/m(2) . Overall 42 different metabolites were detected. The number of metabolites present tended to be higher in homes with mold odor or moisture damage. The higher sum loads and number of metabolites with loads over 10 ng/m(2) were associated with lower prevalence of active asthma at 6 years (aOR 0.06 (95% CI <0.001-0.96) and 0.05 (<0.001-0.56), respectively). None of the individual metabolites, which presence tended (P < 0.2) to be increased by moisture damage or mold, were associated with increased risk of asthma. Microbial secondary metabolites are ubiquitously present in home floor dust. Moisture damage and mold tend to increase their numbers and amount. There was no evidence indicating that the secondary metabolites determined would explain the association between moisture damage, mold, and the development of asthma.
Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.|Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
P V
PV
Kirjavainen
Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
M
M
Täubel
Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
A M
AM
Karvonen
Department IFA-Tulln, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
M
M
Sulyok
Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
P
P
Tiittanen
Department IFA-Tulln, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
R
R
Krska
Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.
A
A
Hyvärinen
Department of Environmental Health, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Kuopio, Finland.|Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.|Hjelt Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
J
J
Pekkanen
D000391:Air Microbiology; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005658:Fungi / Q000254:growth & development*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013227:Steam / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*
D004391:Dust; D013227:Steam
Asthma; Moisture damage; Molds; Mycotoxins; Secondary metabolites