Abstract
A new canister based method is presented for detecting Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (MVOC’s) in air. MVOC’s have been determined to be an indicator of mold growth because their presence is associated with actively growing mold. MVOC’s have been sampled using sorbent tubes but limited sample flow rates require the tube samples to be collected over one or more hours. Canisters can be filled in just a few seconds, providing a faster means of screening an indoor environment for mold.

Canisters have not previously been shown to allow recovery of the entire list of approximately 20 MVOC’s that have been determined to be important as mold growth indicators. New developments in Silonite coated (fused silica) canisters and automated heated inlet systems has extended the molecular weight range of canisters to include these heavier compounds. By heating the canister prior to concentrating the sample, compounds that have condensed on the canister wall will go back into the vapor phase as they were when originally sampled. Sampling procedures will be covered, and data will be presented showing reproducibility of the analysis, as well as calibration and detectability. Instrumentation will be discussed outlining the parameters needed to perform the analysis of 20 common MVOC’s in heated, fused silica lined canisters.


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Canister Sampling of MVOC’s for Rapid Mold Screening App NoteDownload
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Create DateAugust 24, 2015
Last UpdatedSeptember 25, 2018