SAMPLING AND ASSAY OF BIOAEROSOLS IN THE WORK-ENVIRONMENT

Workers may be exposed to a range of bioaerosols in their work environ ment which present hazards of infection, allergy and toxicosis. To ass ess hazard and risk, workplace exposure to biological agents must be m easured. Sampling strategies and methods must be relevant to workplace conditions to ensure samples are representative. For example, selecti on of an analytical method to measure airborne microorganisms depends on the information required and the numbers and types of microorganism s of interest. Methods for detecting large numbers of allergenic micro organisms are likely to differ from those for infectious or toxic orga nisms. Molecular techniques may complement current methods and provide alternatives to culturing. Crown (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.