Logo image
Back
Comparison of methods for quantification of surface contamination with microbial spores in an office building
Thesis   Open access

Comparison of methods for quantification of surface contamination with microbial spores in an office building

Kyle Griffith
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Jun 2011
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-4117
pdf
Griffith_Kyle_20112.77 MBDownloadView
PDF Open Access Open Access (License Unspecified)

Abstract

Bacterial spores Office buildings--Health risk assessment Civil Engineering
Potential health risks associated with contamination of surfaces with biological agents have created a need for improved understanding of surface sampling aimed at quantitative assessment of contamination. We examined Bacillus atrophaeus (formerly Bacillus subtilis) spore concentration from three separate field tests (n=652) in a model office in order to quantify the recoveries of different microbial spore sampling methods. In our analysis, we controlled for variability among locations within the building (relative to the release point) and different test events. Spore concentrations collected from settling plates served as the reference collection method for a linear regression analysis. The wipe, swab, vacuum sock, and reference material coupon (RMC) collection methods taken from porous and non-porous surfaces were evaluated. The results suggest that use of the wipe collection method on non-porous surfaces resulted in the highest recoveries of spores relative to the settling plate (percent recovery = 50.4%, 95% CI = 31.8% - 79.7%). Lower recoveries were obtained for the RMC 28.7% (95% CI = 16.2% - 51.0%), swab (non-porous) 2.5% (95% CI = 1.1% - 6.0%), vacuum sock 1.0% (95% CI = 0.6% - 1.5%). A major limitation of this work is an unbalanced study design among collection methods, but this limitation is counter-weighed by the large sample size and use of data from a realistic model office building test environment. Key Words Anthrax, surface sampling, microbial spore recovery, sample collection methods

Metrics

49 File views/ downloads
35 Record Views

Details

Logo image