Mycotoxin in Carpet Dust

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List members:

In the abstract below, the authors found sterigmatocystin

(mycotoxin) in carpet dust in very low concentrations; at 3 nanograms per

gram of carpet dust, this represents about 10 parts per trillion (ppt).

Many mycotoxins are known to cause health symptoms

in animals if ingested regularly in the range of 20 to 200 parts per billion

(ppb) of feed. Thus, the concentration reported in the carpet dust is over

2,000 times less than at-risk animal exposures by ingestion. Inhalation

of carpet dust would represent doses of still lower orders of magnitude.

Nonetheless, in my opinion, no level of exposure

to mycotoxin due to inadequate maintenance (such as mold growth in carpeting)

should be permissible.

May

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Abstract from "Applied and Environmental Microbiology," August 2002:

<http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/8/3886>

"Occurrence of Toxigenic Aspergillus versicolor Isolates and Sterigmatocystin

in Carpet Dust from Damp Indoor Environments"

Steffen Engelhart,1* Annette Loock,1 Dirk Skutlarek,1 Helmut Sagunski,2

Annette Lommel,2 Harald Färber,1 and Exner1

Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, Bonn,1 Behörde

für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales, Amt für Gesundheit, Freie

und Hansestadt, Hamburg, Germany2

Received 17 October 2001/ Accepted 13 May 2002

Over the past decade, there has been growing concern regarding the role

of toxigenic fungi in damp indoor environments; however, there is still

a lack of field investigations on exposure to mycotoxins. The goal of our

pilot study was to quantify the proportion of toxigenic Aspergillus versicolor

isolates in native carpet dust from damp dwellings with mold problems

and to determine whether sterigmatocystin can be detected in this matrix.

Carpet dust samples (n = 11) contained from <2.5 x 101 to 3.6 x 105

(median, 3.1 x 104) A. versicolor CFU/g of dust, and the median proportion

of A. versicolor from total culturable fungi was 18%. Based on thin-layer

chromatography detection of sterigmatocystin, 49 of 50 A. versicolor isolates

(98%) were found to be toxigenic in vitro. By using

high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem

mass spectrometry, sterigmatocystin could be detected in low concentrations

(2 to 4 ng/g of dust) in 2 of 11

native carpet dust samples. From this preliminary study, we conclude

that most strains of A. versicolor isolated from carpet dust are able to

produce sterigmatocystin in vitro and that

sterigmatocystin may occasionally occur in carpet dust from damp

indoor environments. Further research and systematic field investigation

are needed to confirm our results and to

provide an understanding of the health implications of mycotoxins in

indoor environments.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Hygiene and Public

Health, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany.

Phone: 49-228-287-5520. Fax: 49-228-287-5645. E-mail: steffen.engelhart@....