Air sampling of mold spores by slit impactors: yield comparison

The performance of simple slit impactors for air sampling of mold contamination was compared under field conditions. Samples were collected side-by-side, outdoors in quadruplicates with Burkhard (ambient sampler) and Allergenco MK3 spore traps and with two identical Allergenco slit cassettes operated at diverse flow rates of 5 and 15 L/min, respectively. The number and types of mold spores in each sample were quantified by microscopy. Results showed all four single-stage slit impactors produced similar spore yields. Moreover, paired slit cassettes produced similar outcomes despite a three-fold difference in their sampling rate. No measurable difference in the amount or mix of mold spores per m(3)of air was detected. The implications for assessment of human exposures and interpretation of indoor/outdoor fungal burden are discussed. These findings demonstrate that slit cassettes capture most small spores, effectively and without bias, when operated at a range of flow rates including the lower flow rates used for personal sampling. Our findings indicate sampling data for mold spores correlate for different single stage impactor collection methodologies and that data quality is not deteriorated by operating conditions deviating from manufacturers' norms allowing such sampling results to be used for scientific, legal, investigative, or property insurance purposes. The same conclusion may not be applied to other particle sampling instruments and mulit-stage impactors used for ambient particulate sampling, which represent an entirely different scenario. This knowledge may help facilitate comparison between scientific studies where methodological differences exist.