Exploring the Pillow Ecosystem: Fungal Load in Pillows

[Ivan Seeking]

...Each pillow was found to contain a substantial fungal load, with four to 16 different species being identified per sample and even higher numbers found in synthetic pillows. The microscopic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus was particularly evident in synthetic pillows, and fungi as diverse as bread and vine moulds and those usually found on damp walls and in showers were also found.

Professor Ashley Woodcock who led the research said: "We know that pillows are inhabited by the house dust mite which eats fungi, and one theory is that the fungi are in turn using the house dust mites' faeces as a major source of nitrogen and nutrition (along with human skin scales). There could therefore be a 'miniature ecosystem' at work inside our pillows."

...Dr Geoffrey Scott, Chairman of the Fungal Research Trust which funded the study, said: "These new findings are potentially of major significance to people with allergic diseases of the lungs and damaged immune systems - especially those being sent home from hospital." [continued]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051015093046.htm

I couldn't spot a source, but CNN reported that one study of 15 year old pillow found that it was 80% dust mite, by weight.

 

[matthyaouw]

That's it, I'm sleeping on the floor! :grumpy:

 

[cronxeh]

They should do the analysis of the sock ecosystem

 

[Moonbear]

I'm confused about what source they are referencing. I'm sitting here looking at the journal Allergy, where the article says this work was published. In the online publications (the ones published ahead of the print version), there is an article with A. Woodcock as an author, but it's not about pillows:
High-efficiency vacuum cleaners increase personal mite allergen exposure, but only slightly
R. B. Gore, B. Durrell, S. Bishop, L. Curbishley, A. Woodcock, A. Custovic

Online publication date: 15-Sep-2005
doi: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2005.00946.x

Then, in the November 2005 issue (the most recent print issue), there's one about Aspergillis, and the October 2005 issue has an article about dust mites, but neither has Woodcock as even a co-author, let alone head of the study, and neither seems related to the topic at hand.

The only thing I can find on this issue that has Woodcock as an author is a 2003 article in the New England Journal of Medicine, not Allergy.

NEJM 349 (3):225-236; 2003 Control of Exposure to Mite Allergen and Allergen-Impermeable Bed Covers for Adults with Asthma
Ashley Woodcock, M.D., Louise Forster, Ph.D., Edward Matthews, B.A., Jeannett Martin, M.A., Louise Letley, R.G.N., Madge Vickers, Ph.D., John Britton, M.D., David Strachan, M.D., Peter Howarth, M.D., Daniel Altmann, D.Phil.

So, I have no idea what publication they refer to.

 

[Ouabache]

Another online reference that originates from University of Manchester UK, has same text as Ivan Seeking's.

How about washing the pillows? If you put bleach (sodium hypochlorate) in the wash, it would kill the fungi. I imagine the dust mites wouldn't like it much either.. Personally I would toss the pillow and buy new ones every couple years.

Here is a related article Ashley Woodcock coauthored in http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/all. Perhaps the one they referenced has not made it online yet.

Allergy
Volume 54 Issue 4 Page 407 - April 1999
doi:10.1034/j.1398-9995.1999.00066.x
Mite allergens in feather and synthetic pillows
C Hallam, A Custovic, B Simpson, N Houghton, A Simpson, A Woodcock

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1034/j.1398-9995.1999.00066.x?prevSearch=allfield%3A%28%22A.+Woodcock%22%29

 

[Math Is Hard]

I used to buy those special bags to zip up my pillows in, but they weren't very comfortable. Now I just buy new pillows every year or so. I'm very, very allergic to dust mite poop and any kind of mold. My allergies are so bad sometimes they are like asthma attacks.

 

[Moonbear]

Another online reference that originates from University of Manchester UK, has same text as Ivan Seeking's.

How about washing the pillows? If you put bleach (sodium hypochlorate) in the wash, it would kill the fungi. I imagine the dust mites wouldn't like it much either.. Personally I would toss the pillow and buy new ones every couple years.

That's generally my solution. After a few years, they lose all their fluffiness anyway.

Here is a related article Ashley Woodcock coauthored in http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/all. Perhaps the one they referenced has not made it online yet.

Except the press release said it was released "today" and the article is dated Oct 14. That's why I checked both the online ahead of print articles (those are the ones that have been accepted for future issues) along with both the November issue listed as the most recent issue and the October issue in case they were going by the date on the issue. I'm wondering if they've gotten the facts mixed up regarding what Woodcock found in the recent article vs their earlier findings.

 

[Monique]

Am I glad I have special mite-proof pillow cases and bed/matress covers.. they are also very comfortable, why didn't you like yours MIH?

 

[Evo]

Ack, I'm buying new pillows and covers.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I wonder how the pillow ecosystem of droolers differs from that of non-droolers.

 

[z-component]

...one study of 15 year old pillow found that it was 80% dust mite, by weight.

Speaking of such a statistic, I read that 0.01% of a human's body mass is made up of parasites.
Imagine over one and a half pounds of parasite goodness!

 

[Evo]

I wonder how the pillow ecosystem of droolers differs from that of non-droolers.

I'm a drooler.

 

[Ophiolite]

That's it, I'm sleeping on the floor! :grumpy:

You haven't seen the recent research on the carpet biosphere then?

 

[Evo]

Here it is.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Am I glad I have special mite-proof pillow cases and bed/matress covers.. they are also very comfortable, why didn't you like yours MIH?

I probably didn't get a good brand. They were too plasticky and crinkly even under the pillow case. Maybe there are better ones available now.