AAAR 36th Annual Conference October 16 - October 20, 2017 Raleigh Convention Center Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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Evaluation of a Self-Contained Personal Electrostatic Bioaerosol Sampler (PEBS) for Bioaerosol Collection
TAEWON HAN, Nirmala Thomas, Gediminas Mainelis, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Abstract Number: 190 Working Group: Bioaerosols
Abstract We recently developed a new personal electrostatic bioaerosol sampler (PEBS) for determining exposures to airborne microorganisms. The PEBS was shown to effectively collect airborne biological particles while producing very low ozone concentrations. Here we analyzed the performance of this sampler with two airborne microorganisms - Bacillus atrophaeus bacterial cells and Penicillium chrysogenum fungal spores - as a function of sampling flow rates (e.g., 10 and 20 L/min) and sampling time (e.g., 10, 60, and 240 min). The PEBS was also tested against the BioSampler and the Button Aerosol Sampler (both SKC Inc., Eighty Four, PA) when sampling bioaerosols outdoors for 240 min at a standard flow rate of each sampler (10, 12.5, and 4 L/min, respectively). The bioaerosols drawn into the PEBS were deposited on a collection metal plate coated with a superhydrophobic substance and were then removed by 5 mL of liquid medium (water or phosphate-buffered saline). The sampler’s physical collection efficiency, viability and culturability of collected microorganisms were determined using microscopy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), flow cytometry (Live/Dead test), and culture techniques.
The collection efficiency of PEBS was approximately 80% when sampling B. atrophaeus bacteria and P. chrysogenum fungal spores at 10 L/min for 10 min and at ~104/Liter airborne concentrations. The sampler also showed similar and steady collection efficiency (on average 83%) during 4-hour sampling period and produced low ozone concentration (< 10 ppb). Further, cell viability and culturability of the PEBS was expressed as Relative Luminescence Units (ATP method), a ratio of Live/Dead cells (flow cytometry), and Colony Forming Units, and compared against that of the two reference samplers when sampling for 10 and 240 min. The average ratios of Live/Dead cells of PEBS when collecting the microorganisms were similar or better compared to those of BioSampler and Button Aerosol Sampler.