Abstract
A culture-based colony counting method is the most widely used analytical technique for monitoring bioaerosols in both indoor and outdoor environments. However, this method requires several days for colony formation. In this study, our goal was fast monitoring (Sampling: 3 min, Detection: < 1 min) of indoor bioaerosol concentrations with ATP bioluminescence assay using a bioaerosol sampler. For this purpose, a novel hand-held electrostatic rod-type sampler (110 mm wide, 115 mm long, and 200 mm tall) was developed and used with a commercial luminometer, which employs the Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence method. The sampler consisted of a wire-rod type charger and a cylindrical collector, and was operated with an applied voltage of 4.5 kV and a sampling flow rate of 150.7 lpm. Its performance was tested using Staphylococcus epidermidis which was aerosolized with an atomizer. Bioaerosol concentrations were measured using ATP bioluminescence method with our sampler and compared with the culture-based method using Andersen cascade impactor under controlled laboratory conditions. Indoor bioaerosol concentrations were also measured using both methods in various indoor environments. A linear correlation was obtained between both methods in lab-tests and field-tests. Our proposed sampler with ATP bioluminescence method may be effective for fast monitoring of indoor bioaerosol concentrations.
Highlights
Bioaerosol monitoring is useful for controlling air quality, assessing exposure in health risk evaluation studies, identifying emission sources, and estimating the performance of air cleaning devices
As the applied voltage of the charger increased beyond the corona starting voltage of 3kV, the corona current gradually increased
The average charges of S. epidermidis bioaerosols for different flow rates at an applied voltage of 4.5 kV are shown in Fig Bb in S3 Information
Summary
Bioaerosol monitoring is useful for controlling air quality, assessing exposure in health risk evaluation studies, identifying emission sources, and estimating the performance of air cleaning devices. A culture-based colony counting method is the most widely used analytical technique for monitoring bioaerosols in both indoor and outdoor environments [5,6,7]. This method requires several days for colony formation, which is PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0125251. A Methodology for Fast Monitoring of Indoor Bioaerosol additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials
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