Mar 05, 2026
FunHome Sampling Protocol
- Jane Oja1,
- Farah Shafiq1,
- Vladimir Mikryukov1,
- Olesya Dulia1,
- Leho Tedersoo1
- 1University of Tartu
- Jane
External link: https://sisu.ut.ee/funhome/how-can-you-participate/
Protocol Citation: Jane Oja, Farah Shafiq, Vladimir Mikryukov, Olesya Dulia, Leho Tedersoo 2026. FunHome Sampling Protocol. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.bp2l6eo7kgqe/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: March 04, 2026
Last Modified: March 05, 2026
Protocol Integer ID: 248496
Keywords: indoor microbes, arthropods, house dust , built environment microbiome, citizen science, indoor dust community, household dust, environment microbial community, dust, microbial community, including fungi, diverse microscopic organism, many biological components such as pollen, organism, pollen, bacteria, samples comparable across home, lives indoor, common allergen, arthropod, fragments of arthropod, funhome, environment, citizen science project, suitable substrates for mite, soil, many biological component, skin flake, particle, indoor, complex mixture of particle, home characteristic, funhome sampling protocol people, funhome sampling protocol people around the world
Funders Acknowledgements:
The Estonian Research Council
Grant ID: grant PSG784
Abstract
People around the world spend a large proportion of their lives indoors—at home, in
schools, and in workplaces (Klepeis et al., 2001). As urban areas expand (Bosch et al.,
2024) and climate change alters temperature and humidity regimes worldwide (IPCC,
2021), understanding built-environment microbial communities and their functions is
increasingly important in a rapidly changing world.
Household dust is a complex mixture of particles, including fibres, skin flakes, soil
tracked indoors, and many biological components such as pollen, fragments of
arthropods, and diverse microscopic organisms (Gustafsson et al., 2018). These nutrient-
rich materials can provide suitable substrates for mites and moulds (Solarz et al., 2021;
Hurraß et al., 2024), many of which are common allergens. While indoor dust
communities have been studied in some regions (Barberán et al., 2015), comparable
information from many parts of the world remains limited (Amend et al., 2010).
FunHome is a citizen science project launched in 2018. It aims to identify organisms
living in household dust (including fungi, bacteria, and arthropods) and to assess how
home characteristics and lifestyle factors shape their distribution. To make samples
comparable across homes and countries, dust is collected using a standardized swab
method from four defined locations within each building. All samples are analysed in a
single central laboratory at the University of Tartu (Estonia) to ensure consistent
processing, and results are communicated to participants online after major analysis
steps.
Materials
Overall requirements
Sampling materials
• 4 sterile cotton swabs (or similar sterile swabs). Ideally, each swab has its own
o If tubes are not available, use small resealable (minigrip) bags or small
paper envelopes—one per swab.
• Permanent marker for labeling.
• 1 larger resealable bag or 1 larger envelope to hold all four swabs from one home.
• Required metadata for the FunHome samples (attached questionnaire 
funhome-questionnaire.doc39KB ) :
funhome-questionnaire.doc39KB ) :- Date of collection (format: YYYY-MM-DD).
- Full address (or at minimum: city, region, country if privacy is needed) or geographical coordinates.
- Approximate age of the building and whether it has been renovated.
- Heating system used during winter.
- Ventilation type (mechanical or natural).
- Time since last cleaning, if known (especially relevant for the floor-corner sample).
- Number of residents.
- Domestic animals (yes/no; which).
- Houseplants (yes/no; how many).
- Condensation on windows during winter (yes/no).
- Mould problems in the bathroom (yes/no).
- Recent water leaks/plumbing issues within the last 3 months (yes/no).
- Suspected allergies to dust components (yes/no).
- Contact information of the contributor (email / phone / social media handle).
Troubleshooting
Safety warnings
Contamination control and safety
To reduce contamination and improve comparability:
• Use only sterile swabs and avoid touching the swab tip.
• Use one swab for each location; never reuse swabs.
• Keep swabs closed/packaged until the moment of sampling.
• Write labels before sampling to minimize handling time.
• If a swab touches an unintended surface, discard it and use a new one.
• Optional control (recommended if using non-standard materials such as cotton
buds/Q-tips): Include one unused swab as a “blank control” and label it.
Before start
Avoid sampling right after cleaning (vacuuming, dusting, wet wiping). If possible, sample on a day when the home has not been cleaned recently.
Prepare labels in advance and keep swabs sealed until the moment of sampling to minimize handling and contamination.
Use one sterile swab per location and keep swabs dry (do not moisten before or after sampling).
How to collect each swab sample
Choose a home to sample (preferably your own). If possible, avoid sampling
immediately after cleaning.
For each location, prepare a new sterile swab in an individual package (see Materials). Label the swab’s packages before sampling.
Labeling samples
Label each swab clearly so the laboratory can match samples to the correct home (full
address or geographical coordinates) and sampling location inside home. Use the same location codes
as in the questionnaire: 1) the upper surface of house’s exterior door = front door trim
(door leading to outside of house) and 2) the upper surface of interior door trim (door
separating living rooms in the flat), 3) the upper surface of bathroom door trim, and 4)
inner corner of the floor in a living room.
Wash and dry your hands.
Do not moisten the swab (keep it dry).
Using a gentle scrape, swab approximately 50 cm (about 20 inches) of the target
surface (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Example sampling location (door rim, locations 1–3).
Immediately place the swab into its tube. If you do not have a tube, place it into a clean
minigrip bag or a small paper envelope.
Keep all four swabs separate (do not store multiple swabs in the same small
bag/envelope).
Complete the FunHome questionnaire for each sampled home (see Materials). You may either (1) email
the completed questionnaire to the project contact ([email protected]), or (2) print it and include it in the
same envelope/package with the samples.
Keep each swab sealed separately (in its holder tube, a minigrip bag, or a paper
envelope). Place all four sealed swabs from the same home together in a larger envelope
or resealable plastic bag, along with the printed questionnaire if you are mailing it.
Protocol references
Amend, A.S., Seifert, K.A., Samson, R. and Bruns, T.D. (2010). Indoor fungal
composition is geographically patterned and more diverse in temperate zones than in the
tropics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(31), 13748–13753.
Barberán, A., Ladau, J., Leff, J.W., Pollard, K.S., Menninger, H.L., Dunn, R.R. and
Fierer, N. (2015). Continental-scale distributions of dust-associated bacteria and fungi.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(18), 5756–5761.
Bosch, T.C., Wigley, M., Colomina, B., Bohannan, B., Meggers, F., Amato, K.R., … and
Melby, M.K. (2024). The potential importance of the built-environment microbiome and
its impact on human health. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(20),
e2313971121.
Gustafsson, Å., Krais, A.M., Gorzsás, A., Lundh, T. and Gerde, P. (2018). Isolation and
characterization of a respirable particle fraction from residential house-dust.
Environmental Research, 161, 284–290.
Hurraß, J., Teubel, R., Fischer, G., Heinzow, B. and Wiesmüller, G.A. (2024). What
effect do mycotoxins, cell wall components, enzymes and other mold components and
metabolites have on our health? Allergo Journal International, 33(4), 124–132.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2023). Climate Change 2021 – The
Physical Science Basis: Working Group I Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.
Klepeis, N.E., Nelson, W.C., Ott, W.R., Robinson, J.P., Tsang, A.M., Switzer, P., … and
Engelmann, W.H. (2001). The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a
resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants. Journal of Exposure Science
& Environmental Epidemiology, 11(3), 231–252.
Solarz, K., Obuchowicz, A., Asman, M., Nowak, W., Witecka, J., Pietrzak, J., Marek, M.,
Łonak, A., Stadnicka, I. and Hajduga-Staśko, B. (2021). Abundance of domestic mites in
dwellings of children and adolescents with asthma in relation to environmental factors
and allergy symptoms. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 18453.