Profile and Morphology of Fungal Aerosols Characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM)

Overview

Journal Aerosol Sci Technol

Date 2016 Feb 9

PMID 26855468

Citations 7

Authors

Komlavi Anani Afanou

Anne Straumfors

Asbjorn Skogstad

Ida Skaar

Linda Hjeljord

Oivind Skare

Brett James Green

Arne Tronsmo

Wijnand Eduard

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Fungal aerosols consist of spores and fragments with diverse array of morphologies; however, the size, shape, and origin of the constituents require further characterization. In this study, we characterize the profile of aerosols generated from , and grown for 8 weeks on gypsum boards. Fungal particles were aerosolized at 12 and 20 L min using the Fungal Spore Source Strength Tester (FSSST) and the Stami particle generator (SPG). Collected particles were analyzed with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). We observed spore particle fraction consisting of single spores and spore aggregates in four size categories, and a fragment fraction that contained submicronic fragments and three size categories of larger fragments. Single spores dominated the aerosols from (median: 53%), while the submicronic fragment fraction was the highest in the aerosols collected from (median: 34%) and (median: 31%). Morphological characteristics showed near spherical particles that were only single spores, oblong particles that comprise some spore aggregates and fragments (<3.5 m), and fiber-like particles that regroup chained spore aggregates and fragments (>3.5 m). Further, the near spherical particles dominated the aerosols from (median: 53%), while oblong particles were dominant in the aerosols from (68%) and (55%). Fiber-like particles represented 21% and 24% of the aerosols from and , respectively. This study shows that fungal particles of various size, shape, and origin are aerosolized, and supports the need to include a broader range of particle types in fungal exposure assessment.

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