Volatile organic compounds kill the white-nose syndrome fungus, , in hibernaculum sediment.

, the fungal pathogen that causes white-nose syndrome, has killed millions of bats across eastern North America and continues to threaten new bat populations. The spread and persistence of has likely been worsened by the ability of this fungus to grow as a saprotroph in the hibernaculum environment. Reducing the environmental growth of may improve bat survival. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are attractive candidates to target environmental s, as they can permeate through textured environments that may be difficult to thoroughly contact with other control mechanisms. We tested in hibernaculum sediment the performance of VOCs that were previously shown to inhibit growth in agar cultures and examined the inhibition kinetics and specificity of these compounds. Three VOCs, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, and 1-pentanol, were fungicidal towards in hibernaculum sediment, fast-acting, and had greater effects against than other species. Our results suggest that use of these VOCs may be considered further as an effective management strategy to reduce the environmental exposure of bats to in hibernacula.