Microbial exposures in moisture-damaged schools and associations with respiratory symptoms in students: A multi-country environmental exposure study

Abstract

Moisture-damaged buildings are associated with respiratory symptoms and underlying diseases among building occupants, but the causative agent(s) remain a mystery. We first identified specific fungal and bacterial taxa in classrooms with moisture damage in Finnish and Dutch primary schools. We then investigated associations of the identified moisture damage indicators with respiratory symptoms in more than 2700 students. Finally, we explored whether exposure to specific taxa within the indoor microbiota may explain the association between moisture damage and respiratory health. Schools were assessed for moisture damage through detailed inspections, and the microbial composition of settled dust in electrostatic dustfall collectors was determined using marker-gene analysis. In Finland, there were several positive associations between particular microbial indicators (diversity, richness, individual taxa) and a respiratory symptom score, while in the Netherlands, the associations tended to be mostly inverse and statistically non-significant. In Finland, abundance of the Sphingomonas bacterial genus and endotoxin levels partially explained the associations between moisture damage and symptom score. A few microbial taxa explained part of the associations with health, but overall, the observed associations between damage-associated individual taxa and respiratory health were limited.