Potentially allergenic airborne particles in the vicinity of a yeast and penicillin production plant.

Potential health risks of exposure to emissions of a yeast and penicillin production plant were investigated by measuring viable particles and protein contents of particles in ambient air. The results showed a clear decrease of the downwind number of yeast colony-forming units with increasing distance from the source. Upwind the number of yeast colony-forming units was zero. Identification showed that nearly all yeast were of the species Saccharomices cerevisiae. Such a trend could not be found for the total number of colony-forming units (yeasts, molds, and bacteria) although the upwind concentration was slightly lower than the downwind concentration. The downwind protein concentration was significantly elevated compared to the upwind concentration.