The primary users of the standard will be labs that provide services in the fields of occupational health and indoor air quality testing. The standard will give customers confidence in the test performance, and it will create a basis for comparison of results among laboratories.

Specifically, the proposed standard will help labs to create or update their in-house methods for analyzing previously collected “tape lift” samples from a surface where mold or mold spores might have settled or colonized. The proposed test method includes:

•    What equipment is needed;
•    How to prepare the sample for observation (under direct light microscopy);
•    How to perform the analysis; and
•    What the lab should report to a customer.

Subcommittee D22.08 on Sampling and Analysis of Mold, part of ASTM International Committee D22 on Air Quality, invites all interested parties to contribute to the development of WK17177 and other proposed standards. According to ASTM member Terri Williams, an advanced microbiologist at Wisconsin Occupational Health Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, the subcommittee is developing plans to create additional standards related to fungi in indoor air quality investigations.
 
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For more news in this sector, visit www.astm.org/sn-environmental. 

Committee D22 on Air Quality Next Meeting: April 26-May 1, 2015, April committee week, Anaheim, Calif.
Media Inquiries: Nathan Osburn, tel +1.610.832.9603; nosburn@astm.org
Technical Contact: Terri L. Williams, Wisconsin Occupational Health Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., tel +1.608.224.6261; terri.williams@slh.wisc.edu
ASTM Staff Contact: Jeffrey Adkins, tel +1.610.832.9738; jadkins@astm.org