Investigating the influence of relative humidity, air velocity and amplification on the emission rates of fungal spores.

Although a significant amount of work has been done to elucidate the conditions under which fungi will grow on the surfaces of materials, little information is available that quantitatively relates surface concentrations to airborne concentration and, ultimately, exposure. This paper discusses the impact of relative humidity (RJI), air velocity, and surface growth on the emission rates of fungal spores from the surface of contaminated material. Although the results show a complex interaction of factors, we have determined, for this limited data set, that emission rates are inversely proportional to RH, but directly related to air flow rate and surface loading.