MOIST BUILDINGS AND RHEUMATOID DISEASES

摘要

At Indoor Air 2002 we reported that in moist and mouldy buildings people suffer from rheumatoid complaints. Material analyses have suggested that bacteria may be causative agents. To investigate whether substances in moist materials can affect human cartilage, extracts from moist building materials were made. These extracts were analysed for microorganisms, endotoxins, and mycotoxins. Exposure of chondrocyte cultures to extracts in vitro showed that the extracts were damaging the cartilage cultures. In all three extracts high quantities of endotoxins (LPS) were detected. Experiments after deactivation of LPS with Polymyxin B showed that LPS are the causative agents for the tissue damage at in-vitro-experiments.