We used Burkard seven-day volumetric spore trap to monitor daily ambient fungal
spores in Taipei from January to December during 2015, and investigate the distributions
and characteristics of ambient fungal spores. We found the temporal distribution of fungal
spores in Taipei. Concentration of fungal spores were affected by the meteorological
parameters and air pollutants. In summer, the higher temperature and humidity, the higher
level in concentration. While there were the heavy rainfall and strong wind, the
concentration decreased. Most air pollutants bind with fungal spores. When the
concentration of pollutants were higher, it found higher concentration of fungal spores.
This study is baseline of concentration of ambient fungal spores in Taipei. Further study
can utilize it to investigate the health outcome.
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Table 1a. Descriptive statistics for ambient fungal concentrations (#/M3) in Taipei in 2015. (N=309)
Fungal categories Freq(%) Mean Median SD Min Max IQR
Total spores 100.00 4448.08 2838.89 4187.03 155.56 18950.56 5281.11 Ascospores 100.00 1850.47 1170.56 1890.24 31.11 9601.67 2080.56 Aspergillus/Penicillium 100.00 372.62 221.67 432.04 11.67 4281.67 423.89 Basidiospores 99.68 1500.68 758.33 1747.74 0.00 8458.33 2080.56 Cladosporium 99.68 529.19 326.67 589.07 0.00 3780.00 544.44
Drechslera/Helminthosporium 11.00 0.79 0.00 3.77 0.00 50.56 0.00
Peronospora 9.71 0.94 0.00 4.47 0.00 58.33 0.00
Freq-frequency; SD-standard deviation; Min-minimum; Max-maximum; IQR-inter-quartile range
*Frequency was the percentage of samples (total n=309) with presence of that specific fungal category.
Table 1b. Descriptive statistics for environmental parameters in Taipei in 2015. (N=309)
Variables Mean Median SD Min Max IQR
Temperature (°C) 23.86 24.80 5.38 11.30 32.20 9.50
Td (°C) 19.15 20.80 5.18 5.10 25.40 8.20
RH (%) 75.76 76.00 7.57 51.00 93.00 12.00
WS (m/s) 2.30 2.10 1.20 0.50 9.60 1.80
Rainfall (mm) 7.58 0.00 25.58 0.00 306.70 4.00
Solar radiation (MJ/m2) 12.51 12.80 7.43 0.00 27.81 12.88
CO (ppm) 0.53 0.49 0.17 0.13 1.21 0.22
NO2 (ppb) 19.49 18.90 5.64 2.38 41.38 6.23
O3(ppb) 25.19 25.10 7.80 6.86 55.13 9.38
PM2.5 (μg/ m3) 17.08 14.58 11.26 0.00 68.91 11.14
PM2.5-10 (μg/ m3) 27.61 27.33 7.57 -5.04 57.04 8.12
SO2 (ppb) 2.87 2.66 1.28 1.09 9.88 1.42
SD-standard deviation; Min-minimum; Max-maximum; IQR-inter-quartile range
Table 2 Spearman’s correlation coefficients between the concentrations of major ambient fungal spores and environmental parameters in 2015.
Variables Ascospores Aspergillus/Penicillium Arthrinium Basidiospores Cladosporium Smuts Total spores
Temperature (°C) 0.748*** 0.737*** 0.339*** 0.784*** 0.423*** 0.701*** 0.789***
Td (°C) 0.789*** 0.726*** 0.285*** 0.787*** 0.371*** 0.680*** 0.799***
RH (%) 0.049 -0.183** -0.298*** -0.066 -0.218*** -0.183* -0.068
WS (m/s) -0.483*** -0.429*** -0.320*** -0.523*** -0.493*** -0.411*** -0.554***
Rainfall (mm) 0.142* -0.069 -0.254*** -0.095 -0.273*** -0.133* -0.028
Solar radiation (MJ/m2) 0.430*** 0.506*** 0.338*** 0.529*** 0.462*** 0.488*** 0.534***
CO (ppm) 0.186** 0.135* 0.283*** 0.218*** 0.390*** 0.157** 0.263***
NO2 (ppb) 0.090 0.015 0.145* 0.132* 0.268*** 0.020 0.150**
O3(ppb) -0.251*** -0.189*** -0.175** -0.222*** -0.174** -0.188** -0.259***
PM2.5 (μg/ m3) -0.093 -0.086 0.208*** -0.051 0.330*** 0.053 -0.007
PM2.5-10 (μg/ m3) 0.014 0.201*** 0.242*** 0.137* 0.218*** 0.226*** 0.128*
SO2 (ppb) 0.143* 0.216*** 0.253*** 0.291*** 0.440*** 0.273*** 0.277***
*p<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001
Note: Temp-temperature ; Td-dew point temperature ; RH-relative humidity ; WS-wind speed ; O3-ozone ; CO-carbon monoxide；SO2-sulfur dioxide；NO2
-nitrogen dioxide
Table 3 Multiple regression for major fungal spores and 0- , 1- and 2-day-lag 0-day-lag WS*** -0.072 (-0.104, -0.040)
0-day-lag Solar radiation*** 0.007 (0.002, 0.011) 0-day-lag CO*** 0.322 (0.107, 0.538) Ascospores
0-day-lag Td*** 0.068 (0.062, 0.075) 0.680 0-day-lag WS*** -0.088 (-0.115, -0.060)
Aspergillus/Penicillium
0-day-lag Temp*** 0.041 (0.029, 0.054) 0.582 0-day-lag WS*** -0.072 (-0.105, -0.039)
2-day-lag Td*** 0.023 (0.011, 0.036) 0-day-lag PM2.5-10*** 0.009 (0.004, 0.014) Arthrinium
0-day-lag Temp*** 0.024 (0.015, 0.033) 0.309 0-day-lag RH*** -0.022 (-0.029, -0.016)
0-day-lag CO*** 0.916 (0.622, 1.210) 1-day-lag O3*** -0.015 (-0.021, -0.008) Basidiospores
0-day-lag Td*** 0.122 (0.113, 0.131) 0.752 1-day-lag WS*** -0.091 (-0.129, -0.052)
2-day-lag RH*** 0.016 (0.010, 0.021) 0-day-lag NO2*** 0.024 (0.016, 0.032) 0-day-lag O3*** 0.017 (0.011, 0.023) Cladosporium
0-day-lag WS*** -0.154 (-0.194, -0.113) 0.332 0-day-lag Solar radiation*** 0.020 (0.013, 0.026)
0-day-lag PM2.5-10*** 0.012 (0.006, 0.018) Smuts
0-day-lag Temp*** 0.067 (0.059, 0.078) 0.579 0-day-lag WS*** -0.076 (-0.112, -0.040)
2-day-lag Rainfall*** -0.002 (-0.004, -0.001) 0-day-lag PM2.5-10*** 0.011 (0.006, 0.017)
**P<0.01; ***P<0.001
Note: Temp-temperature ; Td-dew point temperature ; RH-relative humidity ;
WS-wind speed ; O3-ozone ; CO-carbon monoxide；SO2-sulfur dioxide；NO2-nitrogen
dioxide
Figure 1. Temporal trend for daily concentration of total spores (spore m-3) in Taipei during 2015.
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000
2015/1/8 2015/2/8 2015/3/8 2015/4/8 2015/5/8 2015/6/8 2015/7/8 2015/8/8 2015/9/8 2015/10/8 2015/11/8 2015/12/8 Fungal spores conc. (spore m-3)
Day
Total spores
Figure 1a. Temporal trend for monthly concentration of Ascospores, Aspergillus/Penicillium, Basidiospores, Cladosporium (spore m-3) in Taipei
Figure 1b. Temporal trend for monthly concentration of Smuts, Arthrinium, Nigrospora, Periconia (spore m-3) in Taipei during 2015.
-50
Figure 1c. Temporal trend for monthly concentration of Curvularia, Bortrytis, Torula (spore m-3) in Taipei during 2015.
-5
Figure 2. Monthly averages of meteorological parameters (Temperature, Dew point temperature, Wind speed, Relative humidity) in Taipei
Figure 3. Monthly averages of meteorological parameters (Solar radiation, Rainfall) in Taipei during 2015.
0 10 20 30 40
mm
Month
Rainfall
0 5 10 15 20 25
MJ/m2
Month
Solar radiation
Figure 4. Monthly averages of air pollutants (CO, NO2, O3, SO2, PM2.5, PM2.5-10) in