Microbes are constantly on the move. They travel through liquids, suspend in air, and settle onto surfaces—where they can be picked up and transferred by anything that comes into contact with them. To achieve a truly comprehensive biomonitoring strategy, it’s essential to sample all three environments: air, surfaces, and liquids.
The Role of Biomonitoring and Bio-Surveillance
Biomonitoring and bio-surveillance are critical for assessing hygiene and contamination in various settings. Whether monitoring consumer product production, evaluating cleaning efficacy, or conducting epidemiological studies, these processes involve collecting and analyzing air, surface, and liquid samples for microbial presence.
Beyond contamination control, these methods are widely used for:
- Disease surveillance – Detecting circulating pathogens such as antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and respiratory viruses.
- Forensics applications – Tracing biological agents or human DNA for security and investigative purposes.
- Metagenomics research – Sampling and sequencing environmental DNA (eDNA) to support drug discovery, monitor endangered or invasive species, and advance other scientific research.
Advancing Biomonitoring with InnovaPrep
InnovaPrep's FluidPrep™ and AirPrep™ tools enable comprehensive environmental sampling. The Concentrating Pipette™ serves as a powerful bridge, rapidly concentrating air samples eluted from AirPrep samplers or liquid from large-area surface wipes—dramatically improving assay sensitivity.
Application Examples:
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Air Sampling – AirPrep Samplers use dry electret media to capture airborne particles, which are then eluted into a 6 mL liquid buffer. When concentrated using the Concentrating Pipette, the volume is reduced to ~250 μL in seconds, achieving a 1,070X concentration factor. This approach also lends to pooling samples from multiple air samplers into a single sample for concentration.
See reference: Combined Aerosol Collection and Liquid Concentration for Improved Viral Surveillance
- Large-Area Surface Sampling – The NASA-developed method utilizes sterile polyester wipes to sample surfaces up to one square meter. After placing the wipe in 200 mL of buffer, the fluid is extracted and concentrated in minutes to ~250 μL using the Concentrating Pipette. This method achieves an 800X concentration factor, further enhanced by an efficiency rate of 50-90%.
See references: Surface Sampling Research Highlights and Application Note
- Two-stage Large Volume Liquid Concentration - For multi-liter volume water or liquid samples, a two-stage approach can be used with the EasyElute™ Large Volume Concentration Kit for volumes as much as 100 L eluted with the kit to ~70 mL. This can be further concentrated in minutes, using the Concentrating Pipette to ~250 mL for exponential concentration.
See reference: Calculating Your Potential Concentration Factor
Elevate Your Biomonitoring Strategy
By integrating FluidPrep™, AirPrep™, and the Concentrating Pipette™, laboratories, industries, and research institutions can significantly enhance microbial detection and environmental surveillance. Whether for contamination control, pathogen tracking, or cutting-edge research, precise and efficient sampling leads to better data and informed decision-making.
