Be careful if you never did sampling before. Very importantly, if you are sampling using air cassettes (which are awefully expensive), follow each manufacturer's instruction!!! BioIdea is not liable for any mistake you make.
The following are some guidlines for doing sampling suggested by BioIdea if Manufacturers' instructions are not available.
Make sure the air-flow direction through cassettes or E6 Microbial Impactor (Anderson Impactor) is correct! Overloading air cassettes will render reading impossible, wasting expensive air cassettes. Overloading molds or bacteria onto medium plates in Anderson Impactor will make reading inaccurate.
A. Sample your air with Air-Cassette (below, Diagram A )
For those following air-cassettes, with a vacuum pump of flow-rate of 15 L/Min, sample relatively clean indoor air for 10 min, dirty air for 2-3 min, very dirty air in such as demolition site, moldy basement etc, for only one minute!
M11 Air-O-Cell, (Zefon);
M12 Bio-Cell (GrafTech);
M13 VersaTrap (SKC);
M14 Cyclex-D (EMS);
For using EMS' Micro5 cassette, it is recommended to use low flow-rate pump or adjust to low flow rate (5 L/Min) . For clean air, sample for 5 Min using 5 L/Min pump; sample only 100 sec if using 15 L/Min pump. For dirty air, proportaionally reduce time.
M15 Micro5 (EMS);
For "M19 Customer defined cassette", please check manufacturer's recommendation, the above principles still apply:
M19 Customer defined cassette
BioIdea has several types of air cassettes (Spore Traps) to supply, and vacuum pump, flowmeter, cassette adaptor, timer to rent.
B. Sample your air with EMS E6 Microbial Impactor (below, Diagram B)For M31, using E6 Microbial Impactor (Andersen Impactor) see bottom for detailed methodology.
BioIdea has fungal medium plates to supply.
BioIdea has high volume pump, EMS6 Impactor, flowmeter, timer, tubing to rent.
C. Sample surface with mold for Dirct-Exam (below, Diagram C)
Direct Exam of surface material will be testing viable AND nonviable microbes altogether, but a quick and accurate semiquantitave method. There are 3 types: Tape, Swab and Bulk Material.
Tape-Lifting (Tape Lift) is easy and the least expensive mothod. Use clear tape only, never use frosted tape. Stick tape samples inside a Zip-Loc bag.
Using sterile swab (Swab Sample) is another easy method, roll over the mold patch area, and retract the swab into its original casing or into a Zip-Loc bag. BioIdea has Sterile Swab to supply.
Use clean or sterile cotton-tipped or sponge-tipped applicator. Wet swabs are acceptable but not recommended since they tend to dilute mold concentration and induce viable mold spores to germinate, changing the status of the original fungal flora, besides, wet swabs have potential to propagate bacteria in a swab sample, making them unreadable.
Chip off a piece of surface material (Bulk Material) and put into a Zip-Loc bag, which also could be used for Direct-Exam.
D. Sample your water for Drinking Water Testing (Diagram not shown)
Find absolute clean bottles, such commercially availabe sterile bolltes, or boiling-treated bottles, bleach-clean-and-rinsed bottles are OK. BioIdea has Sterile Water Bottle to supply.
For tap water, let it run a few minutes, then fill >100 ml volume. For well-water, or ground water, sample the typical part of it with a volume >100 ml.
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B. Sample your air with EMS6 Anderson Impactor
EMS6 Microbial Impactor or Anderson Impactor is used for detecting viable molds or bacteria in your indoor air. Use the same principle as in most air cassettes (Not Micro5) for sampling for Anderson Impactor.
The vendor EMS has the following recommended methodology for using the EMS6 Andersen Impactor:
EMS6 Microbial Impactor SAMPLING METHODOLOGY
1. Hands should be cleaned with an anti-microbial agent prior to setting up, sampling and at any time where cross-contamination may have occurred.
2. Connect one end of the flexible tubing to the vacuum pump and the other end to the ems E6® Sampler via the brass outlet nozzle.
3. Calibrate the vacuum pump to 28.3 LPM using a calibration instrument.
4. Use a sterile gauze pad after calibration to wipe all surfaces with isopropyl alcohol or other appropriate sampler cleaner.
5. With the ems E6® Sampler sanitized, remove the inlet cone and jet classification stage and place an opened agar plate (with appropriate media) into the base of the sampler and immediately replace the stages and secure with the three spring clamps making sure there is a good seal between the base and the jet classification stage.
6. Turn the vacuum pump on for two (2) to five (5) minutes (depending on type of sample to be collected, call EMS for help if needed). Air will be drawn through the inlet cone into the jet classification stage where it is accelerated through 400 x .25mm holes and impacted onto the agar plate underneath. The exhausted air is then passed through the brass outlet nozzle on the base into the flexible tubing to the vacuum pump.
7. At the conclusion of the sampling, unhook the spring clamps and remove the agar plate. Place the lid on the agar plate immediately and label the plate on the bottom with the appropriate identification. Seal the plate in a zip-lock bag and keep cool.
8. Before taking any other samples, be sure that your hands and sampling equipment have been sanitized to prevent cross-contamination.
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