Evaluation of slit sampler in quantitative studies of bacterial aerosols.

Quantitative studies were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the slit sampler in collecting airborne Serratia marcescens and Bacillus subtilis var. niger, and to compare it with the collecting efficiency of the all-glass impinger AGI-30. The slit sampler was approximately 50% less efficient than the AGI-30. This ratio remained the same whether liquid or dry cultures were disseminated when the sample was taken at 2 min of aerosol cloud life. At 30 min of aerosol cloud life, this ratio was approximately 30% for B. subtilis var. niger. S. marcescens recoveries by the slit sampler were, however, only 17% lower than the AGI-30 at 30 min of cloud age, indicating a possible interaction involving the more labile vegetative cells, aerosol age, and method of collection.