Abstract

MIRANDA-CALIXTO, Arturo; CASTELLANOS-MOGUEL, Judith  and  DIAZ-GODOY, Raúl Venancio. FUNGAL PROPAGULES AND CONTAMINANT PARTICLES PRESENT IN NOSTRILS OF VOLUNTEERS IN UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA METROPOLITANA UNIDAD XOCHIMILCO. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2020, vol.36, n.3, pp.645-656.  Epub May 04, 2021. ISSN 0188-4999.  https://doi.org/10.20937/rica.53329.

The emission of pollutants into the atmosphere of Mexico City and the metropolitan area causes air quality problems. Part of the inorganic compounds comes from natural and anthropogenic processes. However, bioaerosols such as fungi are also present, and they are capable of causing respiratory diseases. The objective of the investigation was a preliminary study for the recovery and identification of fungal propagules from samples of members of the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco community. Thirteen volunteers underwent nasal washes upon arrival at the university and after an hour, Petri dishes were placed for sedimentation by gravity in the places where they were between samplings. Part of the sample was placed in Bengal rose agar, another fraction was observed under a microscope and another was used for the analysis of elemental chemistry. As results, the most frequent fungal genera were Penicillium and Cladosporium, and Penicillium by sedimentation. Yeasts were also isolated; the species with the highest number of colonies from nasal washes were Candida guilliermondii and C. tropicalis, by sedimentation Cryptococcus humicola. Among the elements identified were traces of metals such as Ti, Zn, Cr, Fe, and Ni. Nasal washes can be used as a strategy to know the fungal microbiota in the respiratory tract, as well as part of preventive strategies in the diagnosis of respiratory diseases.

Keywords : bioaerosols; fungi; nasal lavage; elemental chemistry.