Increasing use of air conditioners (AC) in modern lifestyles has been related with breathing problems, dryness, irritation and other symptoms. Dust mites were isolated from AC filters that were causing allergic diseases.

Almost 95 dust samples were collected from AC filters from guest houses, hospitals, offices, schools and homes in Chandigarh, India. The maximum concentration of dust mites was detected from offices (7/g), hospitals (9/g), guest houses (3/g), households (6/g) and schools (0/g). Based on the morphology of dust mites that were observed under a light microscope, Dermatophagoides and Acarus species were found to be the most common.

Indoor air quality was also observed to determine the relation with dust mites which are present in AC filters. The respiratory health status of indoor facility users was also evaluated by using a standard questionnaire study tool. It was observed that among the total respondents, 55.3% of males and only 44.7% of females had an allergy. The allergy among the male respondents was significantly more (p < 0.05) as compared to the female respondents. Few of the respondents reported a family history of asthma (12.8%), rhinitis (31.9%), recurrent urticaria (6.4%), and conjunctivitis (6.4%).

Strangely, 23.4% of study participants had reported that they get disturbed by the use of AC. House dust was found to be the most common triggering factor in increasing the symptoms of allergy. Therefore, it is recommended that air conditioner filters should be regularly cleaned to prevent the build up of dust mites and associated allergens on filter dust.

Source: Sharma K, Ravindra K, Mor S, Kaur-Sidhu M, Sehgal R. Detection and identification of dust mite allergens in the air conditioning filters in Chandigarh, India. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019;26(23):24262-24271. doi:10.1007/s11356-019-05574-4