by Playfuls Staff |
21st March 2007
U.S. scientists suggest current methods of identifying dangerous airborne pathogens might wrongly suggest [more] there is no threat when, in reality, there is.
Ohio State University researchers and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University have found commonly used sampling methods detect only a small fraction of what is actually in the air.
And what they detect is often so damaged due to the collection method that it is "nearly impossible to determine if a pathogen has the potential to infect," said OSU Associate Professor Timothy Buckley, the study's senior author.
"From a health standpoint, the current gold standard is to determine if a pathogen can be grown in the lab," said Johns Hopkins postdoctoral researcher Ana Rule, who led the study. "In reality, its viability may be a more accurate assessment of its potential threat to human health."
The research appears online in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
© 2007 UPI
