Microbial contamination can cause food spoilage and disease, causing huge problems for food, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. This pollution causes a net loss of billions of dollars in the world every year. Bacterial microbes are too small in the environment to be seen with the naked eye. Although not all microorganisms are harmful, such as yeast in the environment can help flour to ferment naturally, microorganisms can also break down animal and plant residues.

Microorganisms can live and even multiply in compressed air systems. If the compressed air is contaminated and travels through the system to the final product, the results can be very expensive. Regular compressed air testing for microorganisms helps to ensure your air quality, and it is best to carry out clean room testing projects to further analyze the source of pollution in the clean room.

The purpose of this article is to inform what microorganisms are, what they look like, and to help manufacturers know how to test for microbial contamination in compressed air systems.

Microorganisms are ubiquitous and occur naturally in nearly every location on Earth. Over billions of years of evolution, microbes have evolved into just about every place imaginable. Bacteria, yeast and mold can survive and grow in compressed air systems if the system, water, particles or oil contaminate them. Anaerobes grow in the absence of oxygen whereas facultative anaerobes can survive with or without oxygen.

Tracking analysis also summarizes and identifies microorganisms found on compressed air systems and manufacturing plant surfaces such as Listeria, E. coli, Salmonella and even Candida using a variety of selective and differentiated media. Selective media can allow some microorganisms to grow and suppress others, while different media contain different compounds that visually distinguish the presence of specific cultures.

One in six people in the world fall ill each year from contaminated food and beverages, costing billions of dollars each year due to foodborne illness. Contamination in compressed air systems can pose a hazard to end products in food, pharmaceutical, and medical device manufacturing facilities.

Being active rather than reactive is necessary and low cost. Active compressed air testing enables companies to take remedial action to protect consumers and end products. Implement third-party testing industry standards to provide customers with a variety of testing services, and provide reliable and accurate analysis through compressed air and surface microbial testing.