What Is Legionella?
Legionella is a genus of gram-negative bacteria that includes species such as L. pneumophila which can cause legionellosis (all illnesses caused by Legionella) including a pneumonia-type illness called Legionnaires' disease and a mild flu-like illness called Pontiac fever.
This disease usually affects only immuno-compromised people, the very young or elderly, those who drink and smoke excessively and is more likely to affect males over the age of 55.
Legionella in water and Legionnaires disease
So where does it come from?
Legionella bacteria gain access to the lungs via water droplets in aerosols that are created in any water source such as a bathing lake, a domestic shower head, a cooling tower, water features etc.
As you breathe them in they get deeper into the lungs where conditions are humid and warm which is perfect for them to multiply.
The infection leads to inflammation of the lungs and the body produces mucus, in order to remove both this and the bacteria results in the main symptom of a cough but also fever, headache, chills, stomach upsets, also muscle pains are common, among others.
Should I use a Legionella testing kit?
There are a number of commercially available Legionella testing kits and whilst they may have some value in certain circumstances, they do not compare with laboratory testing which gives a much higher Limit of Detection e.g. 100 cfu/L.
Additionally Legionella Testing kits can only tell you if L.pneumophila Sg 1 is present and typically only use a small volume of water for the test, this is not in line with L8 which requires a numerical value for the number of Legionella bacteria to be reported in a 1000ml volume.
Accredited Legionella testing from Eurofins
Eurofins Water Hygiene testing's UKAS No. 9658 accredited testing is leading the way for affordable Legionella testing in the UK, our Heathrow facility offers Legionella testing in London, the greater London area and the south of England, our Laboratory in Wolverhampton covers Legionella testing in the Midlands including Birmingham, Nottingham and Wales, our Laboratory in Grimsby supports the Legionella testing in the North of England Including Manchester and Leeds and our Laboratory in Livingston covers Legionella testing in Scotland including Edinburgh and Glasgow.
ISO 11731 Water Quality Enumeration of Legionella
Eurofins offers accredited Legionella testing using methods based on the ISO 11731:2017 - Water quality — Enumeration of Legionella.
Legionella Testing by Maldi
We offer UKAS accredited legionella identification testing using the Maldi-TOF (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry) method for the individual Legionella species other than L.pneumophila Sg 1-14.
Legionella Sampling
Bottles; Eurofins provide the standard 1000ml bottles dosed with sodium thiosulphate as well as alternative 500ml bottles.
Thiobags; we also offer Thiobags an innovative sample holder which come in several sizes and are perfect for small, awkward basins, showers etc. Compared to bottles, Thiobags save space and use less plastic than traditional sampling methods reducing our environmental impact.
Legionella Control Association (LCA)
Eurofins Water Hygiene testing is a member of the Legionella Control Association.
Legionella Risk Assessment
Eurofins does not undertake any Legionella Risk Assessments for clients however we would recommend that these are carried out for each premises that you are responsible for.
UK-Wide Drop-off Facilities
Eurofins UK clients benefit from our extensive and free to use sample drop off network with over 50 drop-off locations. Follow the links below for more details.
For more information, please Contact us or call us on 0845 604 6740
