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Welcome to microBEnet News
September 2013

MicroBEnet Blogs

A brief summary of the recent topics posted on microBE.net

Each issue we give a brief summary of the topics discussed in our blog over the last month. Be sure to check it out here.

This was a relatively quiet month for the blog. We started off the month with a great guest post by Amy Pruden; "Probiotics for Plumbing?"

We had another post about Project MERCCURI, a progress report on our undergraduate aquarium project, and two posts about the BRIK database which collates literature related to building science (here and here)

We also talked about a new paper by Bill Nazaroff and we wrapped up with a post about the overuse of Triclosan and how it ends up in aquatic systems.

Resource of the Month

Each month we use this space to highlight a particular resource on microBEnet. For this issue we would like highlight our new collection of Google Scholar profiles for researchers working on the microbiology of the built environment. This list is far, far from complete so please send us any suggestions or additions! And if you don't have a Google Scholar profile you should really consider it. It is easy and a great way to make sure people can find your research.

Latest in Mendeley Collection

To see the complete collection, visit the microBEnet Mendely Group.

Monitoring of environmental parameters and pollution by fungal spores in the national gallery of cosenza: a case of study

Addressing the microbiological problems of cultural property and archive documents after earthquake and tsunami

Do Lichens Protect or Damage Stonework?

Four principles for achieving good indoor air quality

Analysis of children's rooms in terms of microbiological air quality

Culturable fungi associated with urban stone surfaces in Mexico City

Species Diversity of House Dust Mites in Beijing, China

Stability of airborne microbes in the Louvre Museum over time.

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Featured Article

Four principles for good indoor air: minimize indoor emissions, keep dry, ventilate, protect against outdoor pollution.

by Jonathan Eisen

Bill Nazaroff has a seemingly simple - but quite detailed and very useful article worth reading for anyone interested in indoor air / indoor environments. It was published September 13 in Indoor Air: Four principles for achieving good indoor air quality.

In the paper Nazaroff first discusses how "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." (this is a quote from Einstein). And he gives a few examples of the utility of simplicity.

Then he asks whether his community "those concerned with indoor environmental quality and health" are at an advanced enough stage to articulate any types of simple rules or sets of principles relating to indoor air quality. He is not sure but offers what he calls a trial set of four ideas in twelve words:

Four Principles

Minimize indoor emissions.
Keep it dry.
Ventilate well.
Protect against outdoor pollution.

He then discusses each of these ideas and wraps up by discussing that he realizes these issues are perhaps more complex that he has laid out and emphasizes the need to not oversimplify. Anyway - I really like the paper - lots of detail behind some simple messages.