AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
The Influence of Residential Environmental Factors on the Indoor Microbiome
KAREN C. DANNEMILLER, Janneane Gent, Brian Leaderer, Jordan Peccia, Yale University
Abstract Number: 255 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Through aerosol inhalation and direct contact, the microbial community in house dust represents an important human exposure to bacteria and fungi. While it is known that specific features of microbial communities can affect human health, the influence of housing factors on microbial communities remains unclear. In this study, we determine the effect of residential factors on fungal and bacterial community content. We utilized house dust from 198 southern New England homes of children with asthma and used next-generation DNA sequencing to quantify fungal and bacterial richness and taxa distribution. Considered residential environmental factors included number of people and children in the home, town type (suburban vs. urban), house type (single family vs. multifamily), reported visible mold, reported water leaks, air conditioning use, and presence of pets. We determined that microbial richness was influenced by number of people and children, pets, reported water leaks, length of air-conditioning use, and town type (p<0.05). Specific taxa previously associated with human health effects, including members of the genera Acinetobacter, were shown to have associations with crowded living conditions and the presence of pets. When coupled with emerging information on the effects of microbial exposures, these results provide insights for how homes can be designed, operated, and occupied in order to encourage an indoor microbiome that contributes to human wellness.