What is Air Sampling and what is it used for?
Air sampling is a process of sampling and evaluating the microbial contamination in the air. This process is vital for quality control purposes (QC) in various industries including food & beverages, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, medical device production and healthcare. The viable microorganisms such as airborne bacterial or fungal may be present in droplets or airborne in the air that stays suspended for long periods. They pose a potential risk for cross-contamination of raw materials and finished products.
It is important to regularly monitor the air within the facilities to protect products' shelf life, performance, and integrity. In Malaysia, microbial air monitoring in mentioned above facilities is tightly regulated and established under several standards including ISO 22000 Standards, a food safety management system, and ISO 15378 Quality Management System for Medical Devices.
Types of air sampling and how does it work?
The air sampling technique can be classified into two methods, passive sampling, and active sampling. Passive sampling is performed with a settling plate, as the petri dish plate is prepared with universal nutrient agar and exposed to the open environment for a given period, incubated to allow captured visible colonies to grow. This method is non-quantitative as it is unable to detect smaller particle suspended and only detect viable biological particles that sediment out of the air and settle onto a surface over the time of exposure.
On the contrary, active air sampling is an effective, quantitative environmental monitoring. It is an accurate way to measure any contamination in the air. Active air sampling is performed by using a particle collection device (A Spin Air sampler gives users a compact and portable solution - IUL (iul-instruments.com)). A universal agar plate is used for particle collection, which is then incubated and analyzed. This air sampling machine functions by drowning the air directly to the sampling head by a fan or pump accelerated through a sieve sampler and flowing into a collection surface (petri dish plate). The culture on the petri dish is then incubated. Counting the number of visible colonies after incubation gives a direct quantitative estimate of the number of colonies forming units in the sampled air. Learn more on how to use an air sampler?
The main features of our IUL air sampling are as below:
- It improves the accuracy, precision, and resolution of air sampling, even when sampling in moderately to highly polluted environments (GMP Grade C and D cleanrooms and regular environments).
- Compact and portable, can be mounted on a tripod for proper sampling orientation.
- Regulatory compliance: Spin Air sampler complies with USP 797 & 1116 regulations. DQ, IQ, and OQ documentation are supplied with the device.
Are you looking for an air sampler in Malaysia? Browse through our collection of quality and innovative laboratory equipment, consumables, and reagents.
