ANYL 48 |
| Methyl benzoate and ergosterol have been investigated as metabolic biomarkers to determine and assess mold growth on indoor building materials. Gypsum board and ceiling tiles were used as examples of common indoor materials. Both real and spiked surrogate samples were analyzed. Comparison of techniques were undertaken which included: a standard ergosterol saponification method workup and subsequent analyses by HPLC, an in situ derivatization method with for ergosterol analysis followed by a direct SPME combined with GC/MS, and a rapid automated method for methyl benzoate using direct SPME combined with GC/MS. Optimized extraction conditions were carried out manually and under automated conditions. The amount of fungal biomass and the emitted concentration of methyl benzoate found was compared to the amount of ergosterol obtained from the same fungal species. A possible relationship is given to relate concentrations of methyl benzoate to ergosterol. Results suggest that the SPME method with easy sample preparation can be used for quantitation, and similar results are obtained with those found when compared to saponification techniques. The amount of fungal biomass and the emitted concentration of methyl benzoate found was compared to the amount of ergosterol obtained from the same fungal species. Methyl benzoate analysis method shows promise and that the methyl benzoate biomarker can easily be identified at low detection limits (LOD= 0.2 ppb), good linearity (0.9998) and its extraction and detection can be accomplished cleanly and reproducibly by current extraction techniques without workup losses particularly associated with the saponification methods. Key words: ergosterol, methyl benzoate, biomarkers for indoor molds, solid phase microextraction |
|
General Posters
7:00 PM-9:00 PM, Sunday, August 19, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster
Division of Analytical Chemistry |