Floor materials, such as vinyl composition tile and porcelain tile, allow Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and spores of Aspergillus niger fungus to survive, according to a study published in American Journal of Infection Control.
Researchers examined floor materials that were inoculated with a known concentration of S aureus and spores of A niger. They measured survivability after two days, one week, two weeks and four weeks.
The study shows S aureus saw positive growth by the second day for both the vinyl composition tile and porcelain tile . It declined slightly by day seven, but remained positive until day 28. However, researchers did not detecet S aureus on carpets by end of the first week, according to the study.
A niger spores survived on vinyl composition tile, porcelain tile and wood until day 28. However, the spores could not be detected on residential broadloom carpet and rubber-backed commercial carpet after the second day.