FUNGAL LOAD

In the past, compact discs (also known as CDs) were the unchallenged leaders of the digital era, completely changing the way we stored and accessed information. CDs, which were created by Sony and Philips in the early 1980s, swiftly overtook cassette tapes as the most popular format for music delivery. This research project aims to study the impact of temperature and humidity at different ranges on the diversity and population of fungal species colonies dominating stored CD plates. For this research experiment, a total of Thirty-six (36) were purchased, out of which twelve CDs were opened, another twelve were closed by singularly sealing each CD in a regular CD storage nylon pack, and the last set of CDs was burnt (a process of storing information of various types, raw data documents to videos. Thermometers and hygrometers were used to track temperature and relative humidity, and for four weeks, conventional protocols were followed for fungal count and identification. According to the results, there is a weekly variation in temperature, but it usually stays between 30 and 37 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, relative humidity rose regularly in the various locations under study. Fungal counts of all CD plates studied increased with an increase in humidity with time. Fungal isolated from the studied CD plates were Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus arrhizus, Mucor mucedo, Cladosporium spp., Penicillium sp. Conclusively, relative humidity had a positive correlation with the fungal load of the studies CD plate, while temperature had little effect on fungal counts.