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Building Mycology Other titles from E & FN Spon Homes and Health How housing and health interact B.Ineichen Paperback (0-419-17100-2), 208 pages Healthy Housing: a practical guide R.Ranson Paperback (0-419-15400-0), 304 pages Unhealthy Housing Research, remedies and reform R.Burridge and D.Ormandy Hardback (0-419-15410-8), 480 pages Wood Preservation Second edition B.A.Richardson Hardback (0-419-17490-7), 240 pages Wood: Decay, pests and protection R.Eaton and M.Hale Hardback (0-412-53120-8), 560 pages For more information about these and other titles please contact: The Promotion Department, E & FN Spon, 2–6 Boundary Row, London SE1 8HN Telephone 071–522– 9966 Building Mycology Management of decay and health in buildings Edited by JAGJIT SINGH BSc, MSc, PhD, CBIOL, MIBIOL, AIWSc, FIRTS Associate Director Oscar Faber Consulting Engineers St Albans, UK E & FN SPON An Imprint of Chapman & Hall London • Glasgow • Weinheim • New York • Tokyo • Melbourne • Madras Published by E & FN Spon, an imprint of Chapman & Hall, 2–6 Boundary Row, London SE1 8HN, UK Chapman & Hall, 2–6 Boundary Row, London SEI 8HN, UK Blackie Academic & Professional, Wester Cleddens Road, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow G64 2NZ, UK Chapman & Hall GmbH, Pappelallee 3, 69469 Weinheim, Germany Chapman & Hall USA, One Penn Plaza, 41st Floor, New York NY 10119, USA Chapman & Hall Japan, ITP-Japan, Kyowa Building, 3F, 2–2–1 Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102, Japan Chapman & Hall Australia, Thomas Nelson Australia, 102 Dodds Street, South Melbourne, Victoria 3205, Australia Chapman & Hall India, R.Seshadri, 32 Second Main Road, CIT East, Madras 600 035, India First edition 1994 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.” © 1994 Chapman & Hall ISBN 0-203-97473-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-419-19020-1 (Print Edition) Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the London address printed on this page. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Catalog Card Number Dedicated to my grandmother, parents, Pala, Rhianna and Dylan. Contents List of contributors viii Foreword xi Preface xiv Acknowledgements xvi 1 The built environment and the development of fungi 1 Jagjit Singh 2 Introduction, ecology, taxonomy and economic importance of fungi in 19 buildings Jagjit Singh 3 Nature and extent of deterioration in buildings due to fungi 30 Jagjit Singh 4 The physiology and morphology of fungal decay in buildings 53 Sarah Watkinson 5 Indoor aerobiology and health 72 John Lacey 6 Fungal disfigurement of interior finishes 116 Olaf C.G.Adan and Robert A.Samson 7 Inspection, monitoring and environmental control of timber decay 144 Huw Lloyd and Jagjit Singh 8 Detection and biocontrol of wood decay organisms 170 John W.Palfreyman and Alan Bruce 9 Chemical control of fungal decay in buildings 192 E.Austin Hilditch 10 Biodeterioration of wall paintings: the Indian experience 218 Kundan Lal Garg and Shashi Dhawan 11 Indoor mycology: the North American experience 235 Paul Comtois and Beatriz Escamilla Garcia 12 Fungal problems in buildings: the Danish experience 254 Anne Pia Koch 13 The effect of filamentous fungi on stone monuments: the Spanish 269 experience Gonzalo Gomez-Alarcon and M.Angeles de la Torre Index 285 Contributors Olaf C.G.Adan TNO Building and Construction Research PO Box 49 Delft 2600 AH THE NETHERLANDS Alan Bruce Scottish Institute for Wood Technology University of Abertay Bell Street Dundee DD1 1HG UK Paul Comtois Respiratory Health Network of Centres of Excellence Laboratoire d’Aérobiologie Universite dé Montréal Montreal H3C 3J7 CANADA M.Angeles de la Torre Centro de Investigaciones Bíologìcas Velazquez, 144 28006 Madrid SPAIN Shashi Dhawan Biodeterioration Division National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property Sector E/3 Aliganj Scheme Lucknow 226020 INDIA Beatriz Escamilla Garcia Laboratoire d’Aérobiologie Université dé Montréal Montreal H3C 3J7 CANADA Kundan Lal Garg Biodeterioration Division National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property Sector E/3 Aliganj Scheme Lucknow 226020 INDIA Gonzalo Gomez-Alarcon Centro de Investigaciones Bíologìcas Velazquez, 144 28006 Madrid Madrid SPAIN E.Austin Hilditch Glencree Berkley Road Frome Somerset UK Geoffrey Hutton Senior Partner Hutton & Rostron Neltey House Gomshall Surrey GU5 9QA UK John Lacey Rothampstead Experimental Station Harpenden Herts AL5 2JQ UK Huw Lloyd Hutton & Rostron Environmental Investigations Ltd Netley House Gomshall Surrey GU5 9QA UK Anne Pia Koch Danish Technological Institute Gregersensvej PO Box 141 DK-2630 Taastrup DENMARK John W.Palfreyman Scottish Institute for Wood Technology University of Abertay Bell Street Dundee DD1 1HG UK Robert A.Samson Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures PO Box 273 3740 Ag Baarn THE NETHERLANDS Jagjit Singh Associate Director Oscar Faber Consulting Engineers Ltd Marlborough House Upper Marlborough Road St Albans AL1 3UT UK Sarah Watkinson Department of Plant Sciences University of Oxford South Parks Road Oxford OX1 3RB UK Foreword Biodeterioration of various kinds is a major cause of building decay. An estimate of the cost of repairing damage due to fungal decay in the United Kingdom alone is in excess of £400 million, and the decay organisms and the environmental conditions supporting them are a hazard to health as are many of the remedial chemical treatments used. The problem is not a new one and it was certainly familiar to ancestors of the most ancient times who well understood the importance of dry atmospheres and ventilation as controls and the danger of mycotoxins in food. Much of this understanding is inherent in traditional building techniques. Building mycology is defined as that branch of mycology which deals with the study of fungi associated with buildings and their environments, which has a direct or indirect effect on the performance of building materials and structure and the health of occupants. These aspects of building performance and health interactions require the multidisciplinary understanding which gave rise to the annual Building Pathology conferences organized by Hutton & Rostron, Oscar Faber Applied Research and BRE and the compilation of this book. Vernacular construction using natural, often organic, materials has survived for hundreds of years, despite somewhat cursory attention, and it has often only succumbed to gross neglect or destruction on economic grounds. Often it appears that the introduction of new materials and adaptation of buildings to new uses or lifestyles have been instrumental in causing decay; particularly when these involve the sealing of surfaces, the introduction of membranes, increased heating and reduced ventilation. These changes also lead to ill health of the occupants and similar conditions in modern buildings seem to be implicated in illness. Water in all its forms pervades the earth and permeates our buildings. It cannot be defeated. Moisture and some organic source of carbon and nitrogen are essential for fungal growth. Defining the limits of the former and care in the use of the latter is basic to the understanding of fungal development, and these will be found to be common factors in the aspects of building mycology dealt with in the following chapters. Fungi are an important part of the living world normally perceived in their more dramatic forms such as the fruit bodies of dry rot in buildings and ergotism in populations consuming affected grain. Fungi are pervasive in the world and in all those circumstances favouring their growth they can be of vital concern to the physical and economic welfare of people. Nowhere is this more important than in buildings occupied for work and storage, and in particular in homes. Moulds and fungi damage construction materials, often beyond repair; taint food, spoil clothing, books, prints and works of art; affect furniture and equipment. Spores produced by moulds and fungi may be associated with asthma and respiratory illness, and mycotoxins excreted by them can cause a variety of medical conditions, including death, if ingested. These problems have always been known, and precautions have been taken in food storage, building construction and housekeeping to control the consequences. Essential amongst these precautions are the management of the moisture content of materials, ventilation of construction and living spaces, and routine cleanliness. More recently reliance has been placed on the use of impervious materials, air-conditioning and chemical treatments in