Link between surfaces in buildings, indoor air quality under spotlight
Jenna Ditto to study indoor air quality, building material surfaces interaction
Indoor air quality can be affected by a variety of sources, including cooking, cleaning products, pets, fireplaces, fungi and mold, which have an impact on human health.
Jenna Ditto, assistant professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis aims to establish a link between indoor air quality and the chemistry of building material surfaces with a three-year, nearly $280,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Ditto and members of her lab seek to understand whether the composition of surfaces affects the growth of indoor microbes and how the metabolism of those microbes is shaped by exposure to indoor air pollutants. Her team will collaborate with Bridget Hegarty, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, who has expertise in the microbiology of indoor environments. Together, they will link building material surface chemical composition with microbial gene expression and chemical emissions from microbes to indoor air.
“We're very excited about this project because we will combine novel biological and chemical approaches to understand the role of microbes in the built environment, including RNA sequencing to investigate microbial metabolism and real-time mass spectrometry tools to study the microbes' air quality impacts,” Ditto said. “With the progression of climate change, it is critical to understand how variable environmental conditions impact microbial metabolism and diversity indoors and to investigate the effects of emissions from these microbes on indoor air quality.”
Results of this research are expected lay the groundwork for new air quality best practices that improve in indoor air quality.
“Higher levels of environmental pollutants and exposures to microbial communities frequently impact lower-income homes disproportionately, as these homes tend to be located closer to known air pollution sources that may change indoor air/surface composition,” Ditto said. “In addition, these homes may be more susceptible to microbial growth due to building age and more limited use of climate control and mechanical ventilation.”
As part of the research, Ditto plans to organize summer outreach events focused on air quality monitoring.
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