A comparison between Andersen (ACFM) and Reuter Centrifugal Sampler (RCS-plus) for indoor sampling of airborne molds

This paper shows first results regarding thecollection efficiency and suitability of theAndersen-6-stage cascade impactor (ACFM,Graseby Andersen) and the Reuter CentrifugalSampler (RCS-plus, Biotest Diagnostics Corp.,Denville, NJ) in measuring concentrations ofindoor airborne viable mold spores. The ACFMshowed significantly higher numbers of colonyforming units than the RCS-plus. For exposureassessment the lower sampling efficiency of theRCS-plus in comparison to the ACFM is not soimportant, as no sampler is able to record theactual concentration of airbornemicroorganisms. For fungal exposure assessmentit is more important to compare indoor andoutdoor mold spore concentration and theindoors and outdoors occuring species. The ACFMdoes not overload as quickly as the RCS-plus,so there is not so much overgrowing andinhibition of colonies and it is easier tomaintain pure cultures. The advantages of theRCS plus are the simpler handling and, the optionof changing flow-rate. Even though each sampler hasits set of advantages and disadvantages, bothcan serve a useful function in airborne fungalspore sampling.