Commission on Air Pollution Prevention of VDI and DIN - Standards Committee KRdL
Joint-committee "Bioaerosols and biological agents"
- Dangerous beauty: Aspergillus flavus generates toxic aflatoxins (photo: I. Tesseraux, LUBW)
Chairmanship: Prof. Dr.med. Thomas Eikmann, University Hospital, Gießen
The Technical Divisions III "Environmental Quality" and IV "Environmental Measurement Techniques" are commonly in charge of the joint-committee "Bioaerosols and biological agents".
The measurement of particles and gaseous chemical compounds in ambient air has been carried out for many years and is regulated by the German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and the associated implementing ordinances including the Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control (TA Luft).
The purpose of these measurements is to protect humans, animals and plants, soil, the atmosphere as well as cultural objects and other material goods from harmful effects on the environment and – to the extent plants subject to licensing are involved – to prevent the occurrence of any such harmful effects on the environment. The statutory requirements for the limitation of microbial emissions have so far not been detailed and are of a general nature only. The Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control (TA Luft) specifies for certain facilities, that "the possibilities to reduce emissions of germs and endotoxins by state of the art techniques shall be examined. Additionally numerous Technical Rules have been established in the field of occupational health and safety (Technical Rules for Biological Agents (TRBA)) and environmental protection. Continuative information can be obtained from the publication series by Commission on Air Pollution Prevention (Kommission Reinhaltung der Luft (KRdL)) Volume 30, Volume 35 and Volume 39.
The subject area ”Bioaerosols and biological agents“ is divided into several guideline series due to its complexity.
Guideline series VDI 4250 describes the impact of microbial air pollution on humans.
The guideline series VDI 4251 defines the conditions to be taken into account in ambient air measurement planning and dispersion modelling for the assessment of microbial air pollutants.
In guideline series VDI 4252 different bioaerosol sampling methods are described and the requirements for the realization of the ambient air measurement are laid down.
The guideline series VDI 4253 lays down the conditions for cultivation and detection of bioaerosols as well as for the analysis of viruses and is based on the sampling method described in VDI 4252 and VDI 4257.
The guideline series VDI 4254 is concerned with the analysis of air pollution of microbial origin such as MVOC (microbial volatile organic compounds), endotoxins, mycotoxins and glucanes.
The guideline series VDI 4255 presents different sources of emission of microbial air pollution and describes methods for the reduction of these emissions.
Guideline series VDI 4256 defines the statistical characteristics required for the description and comparability of the methods.
Guideline series VDI 4257 describes the planning, the procedure and the different methods for emission measurements of microbial air pollutants.
Guideline series VDI 4258 describes the preparation of testing bioaerosols for the validation of measurement methods.
For technical information please contact:
Dr. Isabelle Franzen-Reuter
Tel.: +49 (0)211 6214-268
E-Mail: franzen-reuter@vdi.de
Dr. Ljuba Woppowa
Tel.: +49 (0)211 6214-451
E-Mail: woppowa@vdi.de
