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Mold Odor from Wood Treated with Chlorophenols despite Mold Growth That Can Only Be Seen Using a Microscope
Integrative Toxicology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SE-171 77, Sweden, Karolinska Institutet; Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, SE-113 65, Sweden, Region Stockholm.
Division of Building Physics, Lund University, Lund, SE-221 00, Sweden.
Urban Property Department, Gothenburg, SE-402 26, Sweden.
KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Civil and Architectural Engineering, Sustainable Buildings.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7073-2600
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2024 (English)In: Microorganisms, E-ISSN 2076-2607, Vol. 12, no 2, article id 395Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

We previously reported that indoor odorous chloroanisoles (CAs) are still being emitted due to microbial methylation of hazardous chlorophenols (CPs) present in legacy wood preservatives. Meanwhile, Swedish researchers reported that this malodor, described since the early 1970s, is caused by hazardous mold. Here, we examined to what extent CP-treated wood contains mold and if mold correlates with perceived odor. We found no studies in PubMed or Web of Science addressing this question. Further, we investigated two schools built in the 1960s with odor originating from crawlspaces. No visible mold was evident in the crawlspaces or on the surfaces of treated wood samples. Using a microscope, varying amounts of mold growth were detected on the samples, all containing both CP(s) and CA(s). Some samples smelled, and the odor correlated with the amount of mold growth. We conclude that superficial microscopic mold on treated wood suffices produced the odor. Further, we argue that CPs rather than mold could explain the health effects reported in epidemiological studies that use mold odor as an indicator of hazardous exposure.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI AG , 2024. Vol. 12, no 2, article id 395
Keywords [en]
allergy, asthma, confounding, dampness, indoor air, mold, odor, pesticides, sick building syndrome, wood preservatives
National Category
Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-344592DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12020395ISI: 001172534600001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85187306087OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-344592DiVA, id: diva2:1845980
Note

QC 20240321

Available from: 2024-03-20 Created: 2024-03-20 Last updated: 2024-04-29Bibliographically approved

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