Fungal contamination of carpet industry in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh (India)

The working environment in carpet industry was assessed for fungal contamination in Gwalior (India). The sampling was carried out in five carpet units that were selected randomly. The Petri plates containing potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium was exposed for a period of 15 min near the workplace (exposed) and outside environment (control). They were covered again with aluminium foil before transporting them to the laboratory for further analysis. It was found that various types of fungal species viz., Aspergillus niger, A. parasitics, Fusarium sp., Alternaria sp., Penicillium sp., Trichoderma sp., Curvularia sp., Cladosporium sp., and yeast were present at the work place, which may cause various types of diseases among the weavers. Therefore, we recommended good housekeeping and workplace design, which is necessary for control of fungal contamination at the work place, that may not only reduce the disease among workers but may also increase productivity and efficiency of the workers.