Design and evaluation of a new device for fungal spore aerosolization for laboratory applications
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| Title | Design and evaluation of a new device for fungal spore aerosolization for laboratory applications |
|---|---|
| Author | Scheermeyer, Elly; Agranovski, Igor E |
| Journal Name | Journal of Aerosol Science |
| Year Published | 2009 |
| Place of publication | United Kingdom |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Abstract | Fungi havesignificanthealtheffectsvaryingfromseriousallergicreactionsfrominhalationto toxic effectsandevenfatalinfections.Indoorandoutdoorsamplingmayidentifypotentially contaminated environments,butsamplingtechniquesneedrefiningtosetrisklevelsregarding occupational exposureortoassessandanalysesuddenoutbreaksoffungi.Aslittleisknown of thesporulationanddispersaldynamicsoffungi,wehaveexperimentedwithaerosolizing fungal sporesfromculturesgrowninstandard9cmPetridishesfor3–10husinganewdevice that incorporatesvibration.Weevaluatedtheeffectoftheairflowandfrequencyonaquan- tity andpatternofsporesaerosolized.Frequencyhadpositive,negativeornoeffect.Positive quantitative effectswerenotedin Aspergillus versicolor at 50Hz,in Aspergillus niger at 400Hz and at100–400Hzin Rhizopus. Aerosolizationof Aspergillus species droppedsignificantlyin the first20minandthenstabilisedfor2.5–3h.Afterthistimeperiod,thegenerationprocess became highlyunstablewithlargequantitiesofsmallparticlesproduced.Itcouldbeexplained by appearanceofcracksonthenutrientsurfaceduetodesiccationwithcorrespondingrelease of particlesofnutrienttotheaircarrier.For Rhizopus, theinitialsteepdecreaseinparticle generation forthefirst20minoftheprocesswasfollowedbyquitestablesporeproductionfor the following10hofprocessoperation.Therewerenocracksobservedonthenutrientsurface for theentire10hoperationofthedevice.Theairflowalsoaffectstheefficiencyofthespore release. Itwasfoundthatincreaseintheairflowwasassociatedwithmoreefficientsporulation from thenutrientdish.Ontheotherhand,thesizedistributioncurveoftheairbornespores produced athigherairflowswascorrespondinglyslightlyshiftedtowardslargersizes,which is relatedtolessefficientlooseningofsporesandcorrespondingincreaseinconcentrationof clumps consistingofmorethanonespore.Also,itwasfoundthatincubationoffungalcultures for extendedperiods(2–6weeks)ledtowardsproductionoflargernumbersofairbornefungal spores. |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Published | Yes |
| Alternative URI | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaerosci.2009.06.003 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue Number | 10 |
| Page from | 879 |
| Page to | 889 |
| ISSN | 0021-8502 |
| Date Accessioned | 2010-04-21 |
| Date Available | 2010-06-24T05:22:20Z |
| Language | en_AU |
| Research Centre | Atmospheric Environment Research Centre |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology |
| Subject | Chemical Engineering |
| URI | http://hdl.handle.net/10072/30657 |
| Publication Type | Journal Articles (Refereed Article) |
| Publication Type Code | c1 |
Please use this identifier to cite this record: http://hdl.handle.net/10072/30657
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