ASTM International Committee D22 on Air Quality formed Subcommittee D22.08 on Sampling and Analysis of Mold at its fall meeting in Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, 2004. The subcommittee was formed to meet the interest of attendees of the ASTM Boulder Conference on "Mold in the Indoor Environment: Assessment, Health and Physical Effects, and Remediation," held at the University of Colorado in Boulder, July 25-30, 2004. More than 70 attended the conference and expressed an interest in continuing the dialogue on issues discussed there. Eva Ewing, Compass Environmental, Inc., Kennesaw, Ga., will serve as chair of the D22.08. Ewing was the principle organizer of the Boulder conference.

Subcommittee D22.08 will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, April 19, at the spring meeting of ASTM Committee D22 held during the ASTM April Committee Week. The organizational meeting will address the scope of the subcommittee, which is expected to include the development of sampling, analytical, and field instrumentation methods, practices, guides, and terminology pertaining to the assessment of mold in the indoor environment.

"Currently there are no published standard methods for the sampling or analyses of fungi in the built environment," says Ewing."Consultants and laboratories are using internally developed procedures that are not universally consistent." Ewing also notes thatrepresentative and reproducible measurement of mold concentrations in the air, in dust and on surfaces are basis for furthering understanding about potential health effects, efficacy of remediation techniques and many other questions related to mold in the indoor environment.

"The standardization of sampling and analytical methods through the work of the mold subcommittee will provide the foundation for advancing the science of mold at a more rapid pace," says Ewing.

The subcommittee will coordinate its activities with ASTM committees and other organizations having an interest in monitoring mold in the indoor environment. Standards being considered for development by the subcommittee include: surface sampling techniques (swab, micro-vacuum, macro-vacuum, tape lift); air sampling techniques (culture plates, spore traps); analytical techniques (microscopy, polymerase chain reaction, fluoroemetry); and guidance documents (sampling strategy, relationship between air and dust sampling, post remediation evaluation).

Committee D22 welcomes all interested parties to join in the activities of Subcommittee D22.08. "At the April 19th meeting we not only plan to get organized, but to start work," says Ewing. "Depending on the interest of those who join the subcommittee, initial work items are likely to include standard methods for sampling with culture plates, Air-O-Cell cassettes and polycarbonate filters (air and dust); and standard methods for analysis of fungi by microscope and polymerase chain reaction techniques."

For further technical information, contact Eva Ewing, Compass Environmental, Kennesaw, Ga. (phone: 770/499-7127; emewing@aol.com). Committee D22 meets April 18-20, in Reno, Nev. For membership or meeting details, contact George Luciw, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9710; gluciw@astm.org).

Release #7094