Mold Bacteria Consulting Services
Serving Ontario and British Columbia
Is air sampling of mold necessary? Any type of mold sampling whether air or surface sampling should be based on a well defined objective. For example, if the objective is to determine whether occupants were exposed to airborne mold spores, then air sampling would be recommended. Air sampling may also help to detect hidden mold growth.
Before sampling for mold, it is important to have a well defined objective.
Sampling Air For Bacteria
Bacteria air samples are taken by impacting air onto some suitable growth media. Two of the commonly used samplers are Andersen (N6 Single Stage) and Reuter Centrifugal sampler (RCS). The Andersen sampler uses petri-dishes while the RCS uses agar strips. For environmental bacteria, a general purpose media such as Tryptic (Trypticase) Soy Agar (TSA) can be used.
Sampling Surfaces For Bacteria
Sterile cotton swabs can be used to sample for bacteria contaminating surfaces. The swabs are then sent immediately to a laboratory for culturing and identification of the bacteria to genus or species.
Sterile swabs can be used to test the level of microbial contamination on various surfaces such as air conditioning units, kitchen equipment, hospital wards, spas or any other place. Swab samples can be analysed for total viable counts (usually referred to as colony forming units) or specific indicator organisms for food spoilage or sewage contamination. Swab samples are easy to collect.
If one is sampling a dry surface, it is recommended that a wet or moistened swab is used. The swab test method has proved a popular testing method with flood damage insurance claims, where there may be sewage contamination. If swab samples are collected for culture analysis, they should be sent to the laboratory within 24 hours after collection. If the analysis of the swab samples involves enumeration of the microbial contaminants, the size of the area sampled should be provided to the lab.
Indoor airborne bacteria have not received as much publicity as the mould. Are indoor airborne bacteria of health significance?
Read more below….
Bacteria are found virtually in every environment including the hot springs, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, glaciers, swamps, and mines! Some heat-loving bacteria (hyperthermophiles) thrive best above 176 °F (80 °C) whereas the psychrophiles (cold-loving) can survive far below 0 °C.
In indoor environments bacteria are present in air and on surfaces. High levels of bacteria concentration indoors is an indication of high occupancy rate, poor ventilation, or poor building maintenance. Similar to mould, some bacteria are associated with water-damaged building materials.
Significance Of Airborne Bacteria
While bacteria do not receive as much publicity as mould when it comes to indoor air quality, they are a health hazard. Some are serious human pathogens and others especially the gram negative bacteria produce toxic compounds (endotoxins) from the outer membrane of their cell wall. Endotoxins may have a role in sick building syndrome.
Indoor airborne bacteria can loosely be categorized into bacterial pathogens and environmental bacteria associated with water-damaged building materials. Bacterial pathogens are capable of causing severe diseases in humans if inhaled, ingested or if they come into contact with the skin. The most important airborne bacterial infections in indoor environments are tuberculosis, nosocomial pneumonia, and legionellosis. These infections are primarily acquired through inhalation of the causative agents.
Environmental bacteria generally associated with mouldy building materials include Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Flavobacterium, Nocardia, Streptomyces, and Thermomonospora. Also associated with water-damaged material are the filamentous bacteria, the Actinomycetes. Some airborne bacteria such as Staphylococcus spp and Micrococcus spp are dispersed into the air from human skin, oral and nasal surfaces, and hair. These bacteria are associated with nosocomial infections in health care facilities.
Sampling For Airborne Bacteria
The commonly used sampling method for airborne bacteria is the impaction of air onto agar media using volumetric samplers such as Andersen, SAS, or RCS. Samples can also be collected by impingement into liquid media. However, for routine air quality monitoring agar based sampling is recommended. Trypticase soy agar (TSA) media is usually used when sampling for bacteria. It is important to select a medium suitable for growth of the target organism, for example when sampling for some specific bacteria such as Legionella. Sampling time depends on the sampler used but generally not more than 10 minutes. Shorter times are recommended in heavily contaminated areas. Samples are kept cool and shipped for overnight delivery to the laboratory for incubation and identification of the dominant species.
References
For more information on indoor airborne bacteria, please visit http://www.moldbacteria.com/ or call 905-290-9101.
Collecting mold and bacteria samples from air is very easy. The first thing to decide is the kind of results you want and for what purpose. This will help you to decide on the sampling equipment and the media to use. For example, if sampling for a specific bacterium or fungus, you would want to use a sampling agar media that is suitable for the growth of the target organism. The efficiency of the air sampling pumps for the collection of the target organism has also to be considered.
Sampling equipment can be expensive. However, for a company that does not collect air samples every other week, renting the equipment is a better option. Sampling media can be obtained directly from the manufacturers or their resale agents. For companies collecting only a few samples in a month, sampling media can be obtained from a good mold testing laboratory.