Assessment of fungal contamination in a group of Lisbon's gymnasiums with a swi...

• Author(s): Viegas, Carla ; Alves, Célia ; Carolino, Elisabete ; Pinheiro, Catarina ; Rosado, Laura ; Santos, Carlos Silva
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/943
• Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa
• Subject(s): Saúde ambiental; Saúde ocupacional; Ginásio; Piscina; Contaminação; Fungo; Gymnasium; Swimming pool; Fungal contamination; Surfaces
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

The study’s main purpose was the assessment of the environmental fungal contamination, the exploration of possible associations between related environmental variables and the study of the relationship between fungal contamination of air and surfaces. A descriptive study was developed based upon air and surfaces monitoring for fungal contamination in ten indoor gymnasiums with a swimming pool located in Lisbon’s urban area. Fifty 200 litres air samples and 120 surface swabs were collected. Surfaces samples were collected before and after cleaning and disinfection and temperature and relative humidity values were registered during the collection period. Twenty five different species of fungi were identified in the air samples, being the three most commonly isolated genera the following: Cladosporium (36.6%), Penicillium (19.0%) and Aspergillus (10.2%). Thirty-seven different species of fungi were identified in the surface samples. Fusarium sp. was the most frequent genera before (19.1%) and after (17.2%) cleaning and disinfection. There was a significant association between the numbers of visitors and the fungal contamination determined in the surface samples (p<0.05). There was no significant association (p>0.05) between the contamination encountered in the air samples and the one registered in the surface samples and between the fungal contamination and the temperature or relative humidity measured on location. The data obtained enabled the assessment of the establishment’s fungal contamination and led the authors to conclude, consequently, that physical activity, which generally promotes health, can in fact be challenged by this factor.