LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS ON MEMBRANE-FILTER SAMPLING OF AIRBORNE MYCOTOXINS PRODUCED BY STACHYBOTRYS-ATRA CORDA

A membrane filter method for sampling of airborne stachybotrystoxins was studied in the laboratory. Toxigenic strains of Stachybotrys atra on wallpaper, grain, hay and straw were used as toxin sources in the experiments. Air samples were collected on cellulose nitrate and polycarbonate membrane filters at air flow rates of 10-20 l min-1. After the filter sampling, the air was passed through methanol. The results showed that stachybotrystoxins (trichothecenes) were concentrated in airborne fungal propagules, and thus can be collected on filters. Polycarbonate filters with a pore size of 0.2 mum collected the highest percentage of toxic samples. The laboratory experiments indicated that polycarbonate filter sampling for the collection of airborne mycotoxins is a promising method for extension to field measurements.