Pre-contamination of new gypsum wallboard with potentially harmful fungal species

摘要

Gypsum wallboard is a popular building material, but is also very frequently overgrown by after severe and/or undetected water damage. The purpose of this study was to determine whether and other fungi frequently isolated from wet gypsum wallboard are already present in the panels directly from the factory. Surface-disinfected gypsum disks were wetted with sterile water, sealed, and incubated for 70 days. The results showed that Neosartorya hiratsukae (≡ ) was the most dominant fungus on the gypsum wallboard followed by and . Our results suggest that these three fungal species are already embedded in the materials, presumably in the paper/carton layer surrounding the gypsum core, before the panels reach the retailers/building site.