A Comparison of Sedimentation Method and Active Sampler Analysis of Microbiological Indoor Air Quality - Case Study

Abstract

The indoor air quality is of great importance for the health of people. Appropriate selection of methods, parameters and conditions for the analysis makes it possible to obtain the results that reliably reflect the actual state of affairs. The aim of this study was to compare the results of microbiological air analysis in selected rooms of the Biotechnology Center obtained using the sedimentation method and the impaction method. During the research, the SMA (for total bacteria number) and Sabouraud media (for total fungi number) were exposed to different times in sedimentation analysis and to different air volumes in the impaction method. In the case of the sedimentation method, significant differences were found in the total number of bacteria and fungi in 3 out of 7 rooms depending on the time of exposure. In the case of the impaction method, it was 4 out of 7 rooms for bacteria and 2 out of 7 for fungi, depending on the analysed volume of air. The comparison of the methods showed that 4 out of 6 rooms had higher number of microorganisms when impactor was used.