The use of ozone for controlling european house dust mite, dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart)

Abstract

Hypersensitivity allergies are mostly caused by house dust mite (HDM), Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Trouessart). Common control methods for HDM include disposal of bedding sets and fabrics, vacuuming, washing, using plant extracts and applying chemicals. Hence, the application of ozone is a new alternative way to control HDM. The objectives of this experiment were to determine the efficacy of ozone as an HDM killer and to evaluate the allergic levels that remained after the application of ozone. The fumigation method was performed in a laboratory using ozone at the concentrations of 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg l-1 in glass chambers (1 m3) at 1, 2 and 3 h fumigation intervals. The mortality percentages of HDM were observed at 24 h after the treatment. The allergic levels appearing in supernatants were analyzed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Ozone fumigations of 30 mg l-1 concentration for 3 h completely killed HDM. In addition, ozone fumigations of ≥ 40 mg l-1 for 3 h reduced the amount of allergen by >50%, which was a significantly higher reduction than seen at 20-30 mg l-1 (35.8-45.8%). The study suggests the ozone fumigation at 30 mg l-1 concentration treated for at least 3 h, 40 mg l-1 for 2 h, or 50 mg l-1 for 1 h could be used as a new alternative method to control HDM.