Patent ID: 8127593

Claim:
A method for detecting fungal contamination of indoor surroundings according to the invention, which comprises the following stages: a. withdrawing a sample of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor surroundings, b. detecting the presence or the absence of certain predetermined VOCs resulting from fungal metabolism, the predetermined VOCs comprising at least one VOC of each of the three following categories of VOCs: (1) the VOCs which are given off independently of the fungal species and of its substrate and which are given off only by fungal species; (2) the VOCs which are given off independently of the fungal species and of the substrate but which can also have other biological origins; (3) the VOCs which are given off according to the fungal species and/or substrate; c. assigning for each predetermined VOC, a first figure if the VOC is present or a second figure if the VOC is absent, and calculating a chemical index for fungal contamination according respectively to all of the first figures for the presence and all of the second figures for the absence of the predetermined VOCs resulting from fungal metabolism.