DISTRIBUTION OF FUNGAL CONTAMINATION IN INDOOR BAZAARS- ZANJAN

Background and Aim:Indoor air pollution is one of the challenging cases in the health community created by biological and non-biological agents. Fungi are biological contaminants that produce many symptoms such as allergy, asthma and respiratory disorders. Bioaerosols of fungal origin, consisting of spores and hyphal fragments that inhaled easily and lead to bronchial irritation, immune diseases.Methods:The community composition and concentration variation pattern of airborne fungi were investigated in Sep (2017) to March (2018) in two marketplaces in Zanjan. The first sampling place is Zanjan bazaar known as a longest roofed bazaar in Iran. The second place is a fruit and vegetable market. Air sampling is done weekly with SKC sampling pump with airflow of 14.5 lit/min for a period of 10 min. The samples were transferred on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) media containing 50 µg/mL kanamycin and then incubated at 25ºC.Results:The type and concentration of fungi species were determined. The most common fungi were Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium and Alternaria spp and less population of Rhizopus sp Candida sp determined. The concentration of fungi shows the variable pattern in different part of the bazaar, especially during autumn.Conclusion:The environmental factors such as temperature, humidity affected the results. Additionally, the age of a building, ventilation rate, the length of a bazaar, and type of shopping have considerable effects on the isolates. The fungi population and concentration in Fruit market were higher than other places. In the middle of the bazaar, the pattern of fungi distribution was different from the entry.

Keywords:

Fungi , Air , Contamination , Market , Zanjan