COMPARISON AND OPTIMIZATION OF FILTER ELUTION METHODS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF AIRBORNE ALLERGEN

Abstract
We have examined the influence of filter type and elution method on the levels measured for an important occupational aeroallergen, rat urine. Three filter types [glass fibre (GF/A), and two forms of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFEG and PTFES)] and three elution methods [syringe elution ([syr]), sonication ([sonic]) and test tube ([u]) elution] were studied. There were no significant differences in the rat urinary aeroallergen (RUA) concentrations recovered from GF/A and PTFEG when eluted in syringes or by sonication (GF/A only) in 0.1 M NH4HCO3 buffer. The allergen yield from GF/A and PTFEG increased nine- and three-fold, respectively (PPS[xyz] and PTFEG[syr], or from paired PTFES[syr] and PTFEG[syr] We recommend that 0.5% v/v Tween 20 is added to elution buffers. PTFES[u]was found to be the simplest, most sensitive and reproducible method (40–70% variability) for aeroallergen elution.

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