서울시 일부 지하철 역사 내 공기 중 진균 농도에 관한 연구

Assessment of Airborne Fungi Concentrations in Subway Stations in Seoul, Korea

This study was performed to assess airborne fungi concentrations during fall in eight subway stations in Seoul, Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate appropriate culture media and evaluate factors affecting airborne fungi concentrations. Results indicated that airborne fungi concentrations showed log-normal distribution. Thus, geometric mean (GM) and geometric standard deviation (GSD) were calculated. The GM of airborne fungi concentrations cultured on malt extract agar (MEA) media was 466 cfu/m3 (GSD 3.12; Range 113~4,172 cfu/m3) and the GM of concentrations cultured on DG18 media was 242 cfu/m3 (GSD 4.75; Range 49~6,093 cfu/m3). Both of GM values exceeded 150 cfu/ m3, the guideline of World Health Organization (WHO). There was no significant difference between two fungi concentrations cultured on MEA and DG18 media, respectively. Two factors, such as relative humidity and depths of subway stations were significantly related to airborne fungi concentrations. It is recommended that special consideration should be given to deeper subway stations for improvement of indoor air quality.