About me
Studying the toxicological relationship between indoor mold and household cleaning products
Location: 84
Mentor: Dr. Sudheer Salana
Mold is one of the most pervasive biological pollutants in indoor spaces. Although the toxicity of mold is well documented, the effect of mold on modifying the toxicity of other indoor pollutants like those emitted from household products including cleaning agents is still unknown. Knowledge of such interactions is crucial because of the increasing use of cleaning agents, many of which contain harmful chemical ingredients. Here, the toxicological relationship between mold spores and one group of cleaning agents called air fresheners was evaluated. First, we assessed the cytotoxicity induced in A549 cells (human lung cells) by various concentrations of aqueous solutions of Aspergillus fumigatus, one of the most commonly found species of indoor mold, and two popular air freshener brands, Febreze and Glade. Then the cytotoxicity of a combination of non-toxic concentrations of mold spores (3 x 10^4 spores/mL) and different dilutions of both air fresheners, was measured. Finally, the effect of both air fresheners on the viability of mold was evaluated. Preliminary results indicate an increase in cytotoxicity due to the addition of mold was only significant for Febreze (p 0.05 two-tailed T-test). Furthermore, it was observed that the presence of low concentrations of air freshener did not have any cytotoxic effects on mold, though at higher concentrations, the viability of mold was significantly affected. Further investigations into other cellular responses will be conducted to gather a better understanding of the toxicological relationship between mold and air fresheners.
