Mold growth at UiTM Puncak Alam health sciences laboratories: identifying indoor environmental factors / Nur Alia Jony

Indoor mold growth is always associated with room's temperature, relative humidity, and the ventilation rate of the room. Most of the interior surfaces in the laboratories of Faculty of Health Sciences, UiTM Puncak Alam have mold problems. The exposure to mold growth in building may cause adverse health effects to human such as asthma symptoms, coughing, and upper respiratory track symptoms. The aim of this study was to identify the indoor environmental factors that may contribute to the presence of visible molds growth in the laboratories. The indoor temperature and relative humidity were measured in the morning and afternoon using Heat Stress Meter. Visual observation was conducted to investigate the indoor environmental factors that may contribute to the growth of molds. The mold samples were taken according to swabbing technique. Chi-square test revealed that there was no significant association between the presence of visible molds with the room's temperature (p>0.05). However, there was a significant relationship between the presence of visible molds and the relative humidity in the rooms (p<0.05). The relative humidity in the laboratories that have mold problem were higher as compared to the laboratories without mold. These laboratories showed signs of dampness in the room, such as the water stains were obviously appeared on the ceiling of the rooms. The water leakage on the ceiling was triggered the growth of molds on the internal surface of the buildings. The genus of molds found was Aspergillus/Penicillium species. Some of the species under these genera were categorized as pathogenic which might cause adverse health effects to humans. Further studies are needed to identify the species of molds in order to confirm the pathogenicity for each species.