Abstract

Indoor air quality is a major occupational health and safety issue. Some studies have gone so far as to say that almost half the symptoms associated with poor indoor air quality are attributable to exposure to mold.

A previous research activity identified 20 microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOC) emitted by molds that are harmful to health and that could be used as biomarkers of mold exposure in the workplace.

The primary objective of this study is to develop an analytical method to measure these volatile organic compounds in the blood matrix, urine, exhalate and ambient air. A second objective is to measure the blood/air and urine/air partition coefficients for these MVOCs, which are very informative toxicokinetic parameters.