Air sampling for mold

General descriptions

• "Air sampling typically involves forcing a known quantity of air through a sampler that pushes the air onto a collection device, typically a Petri dish containing growth medium for fungi. This growth medium allows fungal spores to grow. Other types of samplers collect spores in a trap where they can be counted but will not germinate and grow."
• "For fungal sampling, in general, we recommend Malt Extract Agar (MEA)."
• "For direct exam and identification of airborne mold spores various types of spore trap cassettes are used. Commonly used brands include Allergenco, Air-O-Cell, Burkhard, Cyclex, and Micro-5. They are all used in conjunction with an air pump that passes a determined volume of air through the cassette. The spore trap itself consists of a thin glass slip covered with a thin film of adhesive. Any particles in the air will stick to the adhesive, which can be examined under the microscope. Direct exam allows a direct count of the spores present in the air sampled. For air sample culture the inspector uses an Andersen Sampler, which is a device for passing a determined volume of air onto a culture medium plate to allow deposit of any mold spores present. As for swab samples, the plate is then incubated for three to five days and any resulting colonies are counted and identified."
• "Spore trap samplers are capable of capturing a majority of spores and particulate matter in the air. Consequently, it is possible to accurately characterize problem environments where spores are present, but either are no longer viable, or are species that do not culture well. These are two situations where culturable sampling techniques, if used alone, may miss a potential IAQ problem. // Spore traps can also be used to quantify pollen, fiberglass, hyphal fragments, hair, skin cells, etc., present in the air."

Companies with a mail-in collect-yourself-at-home program

• Assured Bio Labs   [▶air]
• Moldlab, Ltd.   [▶surface]
• My Mold Detective   [▶air]   [▶surface]

How the samples are analyzed

Under a microscope:

• Videos:
  • Spore Trap Analysis - How Do We Measure What's In Your Air?
  • playlist
  • Dr. Cameron Jones:
    • Mould Testing With Spore Traps: How To Measure Your Indoor Air Quality
    • This devices is ESSENTIAL for assessing mould!
    • Behind the scenes look at what post remediation verification is and why it's important
    • What Is Bio-Tape & How To Use It?
  • bad video quality?
• Articles:
  • Spore Trap Counting Methods
  • FAQs About Spore Trap Air Sampling for Mold for Direct Microscopical Examination
  • Use of the Burkard Spore Trap
  • https://blog.pacelabs.com/keeping-pace-with-analytical-services/3-ways-to-analyze-mold-samples
  • https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/detailed-guide-spore-trap-analysis-laboratory-labmatch-gosbc
  • https://invam.ku.edu/enumeration-of-spores
  • Wagner, Jeff, and Janet Macher. "Automated spore measurements using microscopy, image analysis, and peak recognition of near-monodisperse aerosols." Aerosol Science and Technology 46.8 (2012): 862-873.

TODO: Maybe not directly related:

• How to mount a slide, view and measure spores