Original scientific paper
Assessment of exposure to the Penicillium glabrum complex in cork industry using complementing methods
Carla Viegas
orcid.org/0000-0002-1545-6479
; Environment and Health RG, Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Raquel Sabino
; Mycology Laboratory, National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal
Daniel Botelho
; Environment and Health RG, Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Mateus dos Santos
; Environment and Health RG, Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Anita Quintal Gomes
; Institute of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Abstract
Cork oak is the second most dominant forest species in Portugal and makes this country the world leader in cork export. Occupational exposure to Chrysonilia sitophila and the Penicillium glabrum complex in cork industry is common, and the latter fungus is associated with suberosis. However, as conventional methods seem to underestimate its presence in occupational environments, the aim of our study was to see whether information obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a molecular-based method, can complement conventional findings and give a better insight into occupational exposure of cork industry workers. We assessed fungal contamination with the P. glabrum complex in three cork manufacturing plants in the outskirts of Lisbon using both conventional and molecular methods. Conventional culturing failed to detect the fungus at six sampling sites in which PCR did detect it. This confirms our assumption that the use of complementing methods can provide information for a more accurate assessment of occupational exposure to the P. glabrum complex in cork industry.
Keywords
fungal exposure; molecular methods; PCR; Portugal; suberosis
Hrčak ID:
145620
URI
Publication date:
24.9.2015.
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