大氣中真菌孢子的分布與環境因子的相關性

Abstract

背景: 暴露到真菌會造成不良的健康影響，像是呼吸道疾病、過敏性疾病和感染等等。真菌會存在於多項種環境介質中，且在生物氣膠中占有相當的部分。真菌孢子在生成、釋放、運輸和沉降的過程中，己經知道會受到氣候因子的影響。但我們對於台北都會區真菌孢子濃度的認知還是有限的。因此本研究目的是要去探討每日的真菌孢子濃度，並去評估它與環境因子的相關性。 方法: 在2015整年間，採用Burkard七天連續性孢子採樣器去監測每日的孢子濃度，採樣器架設在台北巿古亭國小的頂樓，流率為每分鐘10公升。氣象資料從中央氣象局-台北測站取得，空氣汙染物資料由環保署空氣品質監測站-古亭測站取得。除描述性統計外，真菌孢子濃度和環境因子的相關性使用多變項線性回歸分析。 結果: 我們取得了309個樣本在本次研究中。出現頻率超過70%的真菌孢子為Ascospores, Aspergillus/ Penicillium, Basidiospores, Cladosporium, Smuts及Arthrinium 。大部分的真菌孢子在夏季的濃度較高，且發現到真菌孢子會與風速呈現負相關，與溫度、露點溫度、和空氣汙染物呈現正相關。 結論: 真菌孢子濃度會受到氣象因子及空氣汙染物所影響，且在台北有著一定的分布狀況。在夏季，較高的溫度及濕度會使得孢子的濃度提高；而當大雨或強風出現時，濃度就會下降。本篇研究提供了台北真菌孢子室外基礎濃度。未來研究可用此結果，進行更進一步的健康研究。

Background: Fungal spores are important ambient pollutants which present in all kinds of environment and it contributes as a major component of ambient bio-particle. Exposure to fungal spores is resulting to the adverse health outcomes such as respiratory diseases, allergic disease and infection. Fungal spores are mainly determined by climate factors include production, release, transport and deposition patterns. Previous study had reported the temporal distributions of ambient fungal spore in Taipei area. However, fungal spores were monitored only 7-day/month during 2005-2009. Little is known about daily concentrations of ambient fungal spores. Therefore, the aim of this study is to monitor daily concentration of fungal spore and evaluate their relationship with the environmental parameters. Method: Using the Burkard seven-day volumetric spore trap to monitor the daily concentration of fungal spore during 2015 in Taipei. Sampler was set up on the rooftop of Guting elementary school. The flow rate of sampler is 10 L/min. Daily meteorological data were retrieved from Central Weather Bureau (CWB)- Taipei station. Daily air pollutants were acquired from Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration monitoring station-Guting station. Descriptive statistics of concentrations of ambient fungal spores presented the distribution and characteristic of fungi. The relationships between the concentrations of fungal spores and environmental parameters were estimated by using multiple linear regression. Results: A total of 309 samples were successfully collected during 2015. The most prevalence fungal taxa were Ascospores, Aspergillus/ Penicillium, Basidiospores, Cladosporium, followed by Smuts, Arthrinium, presenting in more than 70% of the samples. Most concentration of fungal taxa were highest in summer. Fungal spores were negatively correlated with wind speed, and positively associated with temperature, dew point temperature and air pollutants. Conclusions: We found the temporal distribution of fungal spores in Taipei. Concentration of fungal spores were affected by the meteorological parameters and air pollutants. Higher levels of fungal concentration was found in summer, likely related to higher temperature and humidity. While there were the heavy rainfall and strong wind, the concentration decreased. This study provides baseline information on concentration of ambient fungal spores in Taipei. Further study can utilize it to investigate the health outcomes associated with fungal spores.