The Influence of Carpeting, Human Activity and Number of Beds on Airborne Fungi Concentration in Hotel Bedrooms

• Main Authors: Patricio Zapata-Morín, Raúl Reyna-Martinez, Nydia Orue, Rogelio de J. Treviño-Rangel, Mariana Elizondo-Zertuche, Juan Adame-Rodríguez, Yair Becerra-Siller, Verónica Sánchez-Ovalle, Efrén Robledo-Leal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: indoor air quality; fungal spores; hotel bedrooms; CFU concentration
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/15/6773

In urban environments, people spend about 90% of their time indoors, where strong indicators of air-borne contaminants have been found. Currently, there are no reports on the fungal presence and distribution in the air of hotel bedrooms. In this study, we assessed the presence of airborne fungi in bedrooms from three hotels and correlated with room characteristics. We sampled 100 L (L) of air from hotels in Nuevo León, Mexico, then fungi colony forming units (CFU) were measured and identification was made based on morphological features. Variables considered were the presence of carpet, number of beds, cleaning status for the room and floor number. <i>Penicillium</i>, <i>Cladosporium</i> and <i>Aspergillus</i> exhibited the highest CFU concentration and frequency. A slight tendency was observed towards lower fungi concentrations when rooms had been cleaned before sampling. Statistical differences were found between rooms with carpet vs. no carpet, and one vs. two beds. Furthermore, a correlation between floor number and fungi concentration was observed with correspondence to the hotels’ room assignment protocol. These findings offer new variables to take into consideration when designing and implementing preventive or corrective sanitization procedures to improve their efficiency and could be relevant for hotel bedrooms as well as any other type of room.