Airborne microfungi from eastern Canadian sawmills

Abstract

Working in sawmills is associated with bioaerosol exposure and respiratory health problems. This study is the first to analyze the mycoflora of eastern Canadian sawmills and the nature of airborne contamination at different work sites. Fifty work sites (debarking, sawing, planing, and sorting) within 17 sawmills were sampled for airborne microfungi. One thousand seven hundred strains were isolated, quantified to determine the frequency of occurrence, and then identified. Unlike the European studies, we did not frequently identify the presence of fungi that were described in European sawmills as being related to respiratory health problems. In eastern Canadian sawmills, Penicillium species are the most frequently isolated microfungi.