Yao Maosheng, Mainelis Gediminas
Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8551, USA.
J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2007 Jan;17(1):31-8. doi: 10.1038/sj.jes.7500517. Epub 2006 Aug 16.
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.
便携式微生物采样器正越来越多地用于测定空气中微生物制剂的存在情况；然而，它们在对空气中生物制剂进行采样时的性能特征在很大程度上尚不清楚。此外，尚不清楚这些采样器是否可根据颗粒采样惯例用于评估微生物吸入暴露情况。本研究分析了MAS-100、Microflow、SMA MicroPortable、Millipore空气检测仪、SAS Super 180、BioCulture和RCS High Flow便携式微生物采样器在对六种空气动力学直径为0.61至3.14微米的细菌和真菌物种进行采样时的收集效率。将空气中微生物沉积在采样器收集介质上的效率与颗粒吸入和肺部沉积惯例曲线进行了比较。在对真菌进行采样时，RCS High Flow和SAS Super 180将80%-90%的空气传播孢子沉积在琼脂上——在所研究的采样器中是最高的。其他采样器的收集效率为10%-60%。在收集细菌时，RCS High Flow和MAS-100收集了20%-30%，而其他采样器收集的这些生物颗粒不到10%。将采样器的收集效率与颗粒吸入惯例曲线进行比较表明，RCS High Flow和SAS Super 180可用于评估对大于2.5微米的颗粒（如真菌孢子）的吸入暴露情况。RCS High Flow采样器在对细菌和真菌进行采样时的性能也反映了颗粒肺部沉积模式。MAS-100和SAS Super 180在分别收集细菌和真菌物种时与总沉积曲线匹配得相当好。对于其他测试的采样器，我们观察到它们的性能与肺部颗粒沉积效率之间存在很大差异。结果表明，应用便携式微生物采样器进行暴露评估的可行性取决于特定的采样器型号和微生物物种。
