BARCELONA, Spain, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Replacing old mattresses and increasing a room's ventilation will reduce the level of dust mites in a bedroom, a European study finds.
Study leader Jan-Paul Zock, of the Municipal Institute of Medical Research in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues studied 3,500 samples of dust taken from mattresses found in homes in 22 different study centers throughout Europe and analyzed the different dust mite allergens.
A bed in each home was stripped of linens and a template was placed on the area of the bed where the participant usually slept, and that area was vacuumed to collect the dust samples.
Dust mite allergens were detectable in a majority of the samples, but large differences in allergen levels occurred between study centers.
Important risk factors for high allergen levels included an older mattress, a lower floor level of the bedroom, limited ventilation of bedroom and the level of dampness in the bedroom. Zock and colleagues concluded mite allergen exposure may be reduced by replacing mattresses regularly and increasing ventilation in the bedroom, particularly in winter.
The findings are published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
