Design and characterization of a fungal bioaerosol generator using multi-orifice air jets and a rotating substrate

Abstract

Fungal bioaerosols, which are major constituents of ambient airborne microorganisms, are well known for their adverse health effects. However, thus far, the effective control of fungal bioaerosols has rarely been studied. A major reason for this is a lack of stable and reliable methods of generating fungal bioaerosols that can simulate real environmental dispersal. As a first step towards developing an efficient means of controlling fungal bioaerosols, we designed and evaluated a new fungal bioaerosol generator. The multi-orifice air jets and the rotating substrate inside the generator were used to uniformly scan a fungal culture Petri plate and to maintain uniformity of the production rate of fungal bioaerosols. We conducted the experimental tests on Aspergillus versicolor and Cladosponium cladosporioides. The particle size distribution and the total particle number concentration of generated fungal bioaerosols were measured using a particle size distribution analyzer and a condensation particle counter. The effects of the air flow rate and the rotating speed of the substrate on the generation of fungal bioaerosols were investigated. The results demonstrate that the fungal bioaerosol generator can produce mono-dispersed fungal bioaerosols under various experimental conditions and that it is possible to control the rates of production of fungal bioaerosols by adjusting the flow rate through the fungal generator and the rotating speed of the substrate. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.