Year: 2009

This test determines the presence of airborne culturable mesophilic actinomycetes and expresses the result in Colony Forming Units per Cubic Metre of air (CFU/m³). Actinomycetes are a large and diverse group of Gram-positive bacteria that have growth habits similar to fungi in that they produce branching networks of filaments. Mesophilic actinomycetes occur in a wide […]

This is an add-on test that provides further characterization of cultured bacterial contaminants according to Gram stain reaction and cell morphology. This test may be indicated when heterotrophic plate count (HPC) tests yield positive results. In this event, the laboratory will contact you and determine if you would like to add this level of characterization. […]

This test measures total culturable bacteria contained in an air sample by culturing a measured amount of the sample on Tryptic Soy Agar and incubating at 35 °C for a minimum of 48 hr prior to analysis. At the end of the incubation period, bacterial colonies are counted and reported as Colony Forming Units per […]

A number of environmental sampling methods exist that allow samples to be taken directly on culture media. The most common methods are viable air samplers such as RCS and Andersen samples as well as contact surface slides. If proprietary sampling media are used, ensure that the expiry date is current. In accordance with our internal […]

Swab samples for mycological analysis must be taken using dry swabs re-packaged in transport tubes without transport medium. The types of swabs used by physicians for clinical specimens should not be used for the collection of environmental fungal samples. For the collection of bacterial swab samples, we recommend the use of Amies gel transport medium […]