Sampling And Identifying Of Mould In The Library Building

¹ Department of Building Surveying, Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, UiTM Perak, 32610, Perak, Malaysia
² Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Tronoh, 31750, Sri Iskandar. Perak,
³ School of the Built Environment, University of Reading Malaysia (UORM), Persiaran Graduan, Educity Kota Ilmu, Iskandar Puteri (Nusajaya), Johor
⁴ Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Mara, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor,
⁵ School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang,

^a Corresponding author: snawbs74@gmail.com

Abstract

Despite the growing concern over mould and fungi infestations on library building, little has been reported in the literature on the development of an objective tool and criteria for measuring and characterising the mould and fungi. In this paper, an objective based approach to mould and fungi growth assessment using various sampling techniques and its identification using microscopic observation are proposed. This study involved three library buildings of Higher Institution Educational in Malaysia for data collection purpose and study of mould growth. The mould sampling of three libraries was collected using Coriolis air sampler, settling plate air sampling using Malt Extract Agar (MEA), IAQ MOLD Alexeter IAQ-Pro Asp/Pen® Test and swab sampling techniques. The IAQ MOLD Alexeter IAQ-Pro Asp/Pen® Test and traditional method technique identified various mould species immediately on the site, and the microscopic observation identifies common types of the mould such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Stachybotrys’s. The sample size and particular characteristics of each library will result in the mould growth pattern and finding.