ORIGINAL PAPER
Methods of sampling airborne fungi in working environments of waste treatment facilities
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1
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
(Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Department of Applied Ecology)
2
Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
(Faculty of Science, Department of Botany)
3
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Průhonice, Czech Republic
(Institute of Botany)
Corresponding author
Kristýna Černá
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Department of Applied Ecology, Kamýcká 129,
165 21 Prague 6 – Suchdol, Czech Republic
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2016;29(3):493-502
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ABSTRACT
Objectives: The objective of the present study was to evaluate and compare the efficiency of a filter based sampling method
and a high volume sampling method for sampling airborne culturable fungi present in waste sorting facilities. Material and Methods: Membrane filters method was compared with surface air system method. The selected sampling methods were
modified and tested in 2 plastic waste sorting facilities. Results: The total number of colony-forming units (CFU)/m3 of airborne
fungi was dependent on the type of sampling device, on the time of sampling, which was carried out every hour from
the beginning of the work shift, and on the type of cultivation medium (p < 0.001). Detected concentrations of airborne
fungi ranged 2×102–1.7×106 CFU/m3 when using the membrane filters (MF) method, and 3×102–6.4×104 CFU/m3 when
using the surface air system (SAS) method. Conclusions: Both methods showed comparable sensitivity to the fluctuations
of the concentrations of airborne fungi during the work shifts. The SAS method is adequate for a fast indicative determination
of concentration of airborne fungi. The MF method is suitable for thorough assessment of working environment
contamination by airborne fungi. Therefore we recommend the MF method for the implementation of a uniform standard
methodology of airborne fungi sampling in working environments of waste treatment facilities.