Airborne Culturable Fungi in the Indoor and Outdoor Environments of Shrines in Chennai, India

The diversity and concentrations of airborne fungi in the environments of 58 temples across a metropolitan city (Chennai) in India were investigated. Air samples from indoors (within 2 m of the Sanctum sanctorum) and outdoors (at least 10 m away from the Sanctum sanctorum) were collected using the Reuter Centrifugal Sampler (RCS). Of the 90 species isolated, 7 belonged to Zygomycota, 5 to Ascomycota and the remaining 78 to Mitosporic fungi. A total of 3470 colonies were isolated from the indoor environment, which was 13.73% higher than the total recorded outdoors (3051 colonies). An average of 747.7 and 657.5 CFU/m³ of air was recorded in the indoor and outdoor environments, respectively. The predominant species identified in both environments were Aspergillus flavus, A. niger and Cladosporium cladosporioides. While most of the fungal species isolated are considered allergens and pathogens, they can also deteriorate the architecture of shrines. This study indicates the need to implement control measures to minimize the risks of exposure to bioaerosols in public spaces such as shrines.