SAMPLING
(PFTE filter, 37-mm)
MEASUREMENT
(PCR)/MICROPLATE READER [2]
APPLICABILITY: This is a qualitative method which permits the detection of airborne M. tuberculosis particles. It will detect approximately 20 or greater M. tuberculosis particles. This method does not indicate how many particles were detected.
INTERFERENCES: Positive interferences, M. bovis, M. bovis BCG; negative interferences, metals, and other unknown airborne particulate matter. (Note: to detect suspected negative interferences, spike field samples which resulted in negative readings with M. tuberculosis H37Ra DNA or H37Ra particles and rerun assay. Alternately, the Roche positive control may be used instead of H37Ra.)
OTHER METHODS: The measurement technique was originally developed by Roche Diagnostic Systems for the analysis of clinical samples [2]. Various other M. tuberculosis detection methods are now available, such as Gen-Probe [3,4] and Digene [5].
NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM), Fourth Edition