Rapid monitoring of biological particulate
matter (Bio-PM, bioaerosols)
requires an enrichment technique for concentrating the Bio-PM dispersed
in the air into a small volume of liquid. In this study, an electrostatic
air sampler is employed to capture aerosolized test bacteria in a
carrier liquid (aerosol-to-hydrosol (ATH) enrichment). Simultaneously,
the captured bacteria are carried into a fluid channel for hydrosol-to-hydrosol
(HTH) enrichment with Concanavalin A coated magnetic particles (CMPs).
The ATH enrichment capacity of the air sampler was evaluated with
an aerosol particle counter for the following test bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Then, the HTH enrichment
capacity for the ATH-collected sample was evaluated using the colony-counting
method, scanning electron microscopy based image analysis, fluorescence
microscopy, electrical current measurements, and real-time quantitative
polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The ATH and HTH enrichment capacities
for the given operation conditions were up to 80 000 and 14.9,
respectively, resulting in a total enrichment capacity of up to 1.192
× 106. Given that air-to-liquid enrichment required
to prepare detectable bacterial samples for real-time qPCR in field
environments is of the order of at least 106, our method
can be used to prepare a detectable sample from low-concentration
airborne bacteria in the field and significantly reduce the time required
for Bio-PM monitoring because of its enrichment capacity.