Bioaerosols in the landfill environment: an overview of microbial diversity and potential health hazards

Abstract

Landfilling is one of the indispensable parts of solid waste management in various countries. Solid waste disposed of in landfill sites provides nutrients for the proliferation of pathogenic microbes which are aerosolized into the atmosphere due to the local meteorology and various waste disposal activities. Bioaerosols released from landfill sites can create health issues for employees and adjoining public. The present study offers an overview of the microbial diversity reported in the air samples collected from various landfill sites worldwide. This paper also discusses other aspects, including effect of meteorological conditions on the bioaerosol concentrations, sampling techniques, bioaerosol exposure and potential health impacts. Analysis of literature concluded that landfill air is dominated by microbial dust or various pathogenic microbes like Enterobacteriaceae , Staphylococcus aureus , Clostridium perfringens , Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Aspergillus fumigatus . The bioaerosols present in the landfill environment are of respirable sizes and can penetrate deep into lower respiratory systems and trigger respiratory symptoms and chronic pulmonary diseases. Most studies reported higher bioaerosol concentrations in spring and summer as higher temperature and relative humidity provide a favourable environment for survival and multiplication of microbes. Landfill workers involved in solid waste disposal activities are at the highest risk of exposure to these bioaerosols due to their proximity to solid waste and as they practise minimum personal safety and hygiene measures during working hours. Workers are recommended to use personal protective equipment and practise hygiene to reduce the impact of occupational exposure to bioaerosols.

Is in vitro cytokine release a suitable marker to improve the diagnosis of suspected mold-related respiratory symptoms? A proof-of-concept study

“…In addition, the health status also varies among subjects. The synergistic effects of molds with other microorganisms should also be considered, especially since the health effects triggered by microbes may vary at species level, contributing to the complex situation of fungal and bacterial exposure [ 17 ]. Punsmann et al [ 8 ] described that the in vitro response to Aspergillus fumigatus could be synergistically increased by adding small amounts of endotoxin.…”

Airborne Bacteria from Wastewater Treatment and their Antibiotic Resistance: A Meta-Analysis

“…The highest mean value for most microorganisms (mesophilic, psychrophilic, and actinobacterial bacteria) occurred in summer or fall. Investigations in municipal landfills, the highest number of bacteria was recorded in the spring and summer season (Nair, 2021).…”

“…cannot be isolated and identified(Elsamadony et al, 2021;Nair, 2021;Song et al, 2021). Due to cultivable bacteria represent only up to 20% of the total bacterial diversity, more recent studies in the literature have focused on DNA-based detection systems, which allow the examination of all microorganisms (live, dead and non-culturable)(Tian et al, 2020;Xu et al, 2020).…”

Chemical and Microbiological Air Quality in a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill and Its Surroundings, in South-Eastern Romania

“…Most landfill sites provide favorable conditions such as nutrients and moisture for degradation of waste and proliferation of microbes, some of which are pathogenic [14]. The primary source of bioaerosols in the landfill site is the deposited organic waste.…”

“…Waste discarded from residential units contains decomposed raw and cooked food waste, packaging materials, fecal matter of pets, soiled diapers and facial tissues which house a large quantity of microbes [15,16]. Similarly, commercial units like restaurants, hotels, hypermarket chains, but also slaughterhouses and food processing units discard a large amount of putrescible food waste that may harbor also pathogenic bacteria [14,[17][18][19]. These microbes along with dust particles are aerosolized during various waste management activities comprising transporting the waste to landfill sites, unloading the waste from the vehicles, spreading and levelling, sorting, compacting and covering the waste with soil [20].…”