Use of Portable Microbial Samplers for Estimating Inhalation Exposure to Viable Biological Agents

Details

• Personal Author:
  Mainelis G ; Yao M
• Description:
  Portable microbial samplers are being increasingly used to determine the presence of microbial agents in the air; however, their performance characteristics when sampling airborne biological agents are largely unknown. In addition, it is unknown whether these samplers could be used to assess microbial inhalation exposure according to the particle sampling conventions. This research analyzed collection efficiencies of MAS-100, Microflow, SMA MicroPortable, Millipore Air Tester, SAS Super 180, BioCulture, and RCS High Flow portable microbial samplers when sampling six bacterial and fungal species ranging from 0.61 to 3.14 microm in aerodynamic diameter. The efficiencies with which airborne microorganisms were deposited on samplers' collection medium were compared to the particle inhalation and lung deposition convention curves. When sampling fungi, RCS High Flow and SAS Super 180 deposited 80%-90% of airborne spores on agar - highest among investigated samplers. Other samplers showed collection efficiencies of 10%-60%. When collecting bacteria, RCS High Flow and MAS-100 collected 20%-30%, whereas other samplers collected less than 10% of these bioparticles. Comparison of samplers' collection efficiencies with particle inhalation convention curves showed that RCS High Flow and SAS Super 180 could be used to assess inhalation exposure to particles larger than 2.5 microm, such as fungal spores. Performance of RCS High Flow sampler was also reflective of the particle lung deposition pattern when sampling both bacteria and fungi. MAS-100 and SAS Super 180 matched the total deposition curve fairly well when collecting bacterial and fungi species, respectively. For other tested samplers, we observed substantial discrepancies between their performances and particle deposition efficiencies in the lung. The results show that feasibility of applying portable microbial samplers for exposure assessment depends on a particular sampler model and microbial species. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Air Pollution, Indoor Bacteria Dust Environmental Monitoring Fungi Microbiology Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Safety

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-quality Air-samples Air-sampling Air-sampling-equipment Airborne-particles Bacterial-dusts Exposure-assessment Exposure-methods Fungal-infections Inhalation-studies Microbial-test-systems Particle-aerodynamics Particulate-dust Particulate-sampling-methods Sampling Sampling-methods

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• ISSN:
  1559-0631
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New Jersey ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  31-38
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032125
• Citation:
  J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2007 Jan; 17(1):31-38
• Contact Point Address:
  Assistant Professor G. Mainelis, Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8551
• Email:
  mainelis@envsci.rutgers.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20080831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5b1c025631672f13f201c463c024d93ae882d3e9a284021532106bdf5eaa3f4d9e722fb853edeab3c370813d4f8430c2281cbfeade8477bfff064c5e59633c14
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186175/cdc_186175_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 303.75 KB ]