Many fungi can develop on building materials in indoor environments if moisture is high enough. Among species that are frequently observed, some are known to be potent mycotoxin producers. This presence of toxinogenic fungi in indoor environments raises the question of the possible production and accumulation of mycotoxins in indoors, subsequent exposure of occupants to these toxic compounds by inhalation after aerosolization but also exposure to workers involved in remediation procedures. This study investigated the toxinogenesis of Penicillium brevicompactum and Aspergillus versicolor during their growth on wallpaper, fir and painted fiberglass wallpaper. We further studied, thanks to a specific device, the possible subsequent emission of produced mycotoxins from wallpaper. Finally, we evaluated the efficiency of a common remediation procedure based on bleach to remove both fungi and mycotoxins from contaminated materials. We demonstrated that both mycophenolic acid and sterigmatocystin could be produced by P. brevicompactum and A. versicolor respectively on the different materials tested and that part of the toxins could be aerosolized. Finally, we demonstrated that bleach was able to remove only part of the fungi that are present on the tested materials and has no significant effect on mycotoxin persistence.
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