Variability of Air Sampling Results Using Air-O-Cell Cassettes

Details

• Personal Author:
  Haworth CM
• Description:
  No current federal or state standards for mold exposure exist, partly due to the lack of accurate methods for assessing fungal exposure. Exposure to airborne fungal spores can result in several symptoms such as allergic rhinitis, coughing, and fatigue. Non-industrial occupational settings are common and fungal exposures may occur in these environments. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the meaningfulness of fungal spore trap results from samples collected in both a corporate office and a university classroom. Air-O-Cell cassettes with a Zefon Bio-Pump were used to collect one outdoor and three indoor samples at each location on three separate days. The indoor samples were collected consecutively. All samples were submitted to an American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)-accredited laboratory for analyses, and total spore counts were compared across locations, sampling dates, and sampling times. Most numerous and most common genera for each location were also compared. The results of this study indicate that spore trap sampling using Air-O-Cell cassettes do not produce highly variable results; rather, results were fairly consistent across locations, dates, times, and most common genera. This is contrary to the literature, which indicates spore trap sampling produces highly variable results. Only one sampling date was significantly different from the others. Future studies that employ other fungal air sampling methods, such as viable air sampling, are recommended to allow for further comparisons and determination of the influence of longer sampling times and lower flow rates. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Fungi Mycoses Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air Sampling Equipment Author Keywords: Exposure Fungal Exposure Fungal Sampling Methodology Molds Mycology Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Sampling Methods Spore Trap Sampling
• Publisher:
  University of South Florida
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Thesis
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-71
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068695
• Citation:
  Tampa, FL: University of South Florida, 2023 Jun; :1-71
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  Sunshine Education and Research Center, University of South Florida
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Variability of air sampling results using Air-O-Cell cassettes
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6f9e6482aad00a7c9a0fa04599cf51993b011d850b2c42677781e8345305d41d4154dc3232d3a1632a241073cd94b7ae9ad230d2618c8503642afed56121ef38
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207285/cdc_207285_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.43 MB ]