From air to airway: Dynamics and risk of inhalable bacteria in municipal solid waste treatment systems

Fang, Ru; Chen, Tian; Han, Zhibang; Ji, Wenhui; Bai, Yudan; Zheng, Zhipeng; Su, Yinglong; Jin, Ling; Xie, Bing; Wu, Dong

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132407

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Seasonal effects on air microbial concentrations and diversity at waste-sorting centers and other indoor environments have previously been reported by other authors [9,30,57]. Very variable concentrations for bacteria and fungi were reported in two WSPs over four seasons [61].…”

Section: Seasonal Effectsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…Particulate matter (PM) is released into the atmosphere due to waste-sorting activities, and the PM 10 (diameter < 10 µm) and PM 2.5 fractions (<2.5 µm) are of particular concern as these particles are small enough to penetrate the thoracic region of the respiratory system and adversely affect respiratory and cardiovascular health [29][30][31]. These particles can carry microorganisms and transfer potential pathogens from the waste material to the airways of on-site workers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These particles can carry microorganisms and transfer potential pathogens from the waste material to the airways of on-site workers. They can also be disseminated over larger areas, affecting nearby populations [25,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Culturable Bioaerosols Assessment in a Waste-Sorting Plant and UV-C Decontamination

Manuel,

Samardjieva

2024

Sustainability

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Waste-Sorting Plant (WSP) workers are exposed to bioaerosols containing a large variety of bacterial and fungal species, posing a critical health risk that needs to be assessed and mitigated. The present study aimed to evaluate the indoor air quality in a Portuguese WSP and the air decontamination efficiency with UV-C. The concentrations of bacteria and fungi and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), CO2, relative humidity, and temperature were determined at different hours in manual sorting areas (cabin and ramp) in autumn and winter in 2022 and in administrative offices and canteen in the autumn of 2023. The PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations in the air increased with the daily waste-sorting activities, especially inside the cabin, averaging 22 and 42 μg/m3, respectively, while the CO2 concentration was in the range of 343–578 ppm in both sampling sites. The bacterial species were mainly environmental (mesophilic bacteria) rather than human sources. In the waste-sorting areas, the concentration of bacteria was often found to exceed outdoor values by more than 1000 CFU/m3 on average. Additionally, the concentration of fungi indoors was consistently higher than outdoor values, in many cases exceeding 500 CFU/m3. These findings suggest that workers in these areas are frequently exposed to high levels of microbes. The indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) contamination ratios revealed that the air quality inside the administrative offices and the canteen had high pollutant concentrations during some time periods. The worst scenarios were observed in the canteen and offices with high occupancy in the afternoon. UV-C lamps at 253.7 nm and with 5.0 W irradiation power were used in the sorting cabin to test the indoor air and surface decontamination, and the results showed a high bacterial removal efficacy of over 87.6% after one hour of exposure to UV-C. The present study raises the question of whether 37 °C is the optimal incubation temperature for WSP samples since the microorganisms’ habitat before the sampling had a much lower temperature. As the waste-sorting industry expands, these findings show that the air quality of WSPs remains concerning and requires a holistic approach, integrating the working conditions of all personnel and the implementation and monitoring of mitigation measures.

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Section: Seasonal Effectsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Culturable Bioaerosols Assessment in a Waste-Sorting Plant and UV-C Decontamination

Manuel,

Samardjieva

2024

Sustainability

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“…We further found that Enterobacteriaceae increased at 16:00–20:00 before CNY and at 20:00–6:00 during CNY. One possible reason was the increase of domestic sewage and garbage, which have been indicated as important factors influencing the relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae in the atmosphere [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. The class of Dothideomycetes was dominant in the airborne fungal communities, which was consistent with the results of an earlier study [ 39 ] reporting a dominant position of Dothideomycetes in dry depositions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinct responses of airborne abundant and rare microbial communities to atmospheric changes associated with Chinese New Year

Li,

Hong,

Gao

et al. 2023

iMeta

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Airborne microorganisms, including pathogens, would change with surrounding environments and become issues of global concern due to their threats to human health. Microbial communities typically contain a few abundant but many rare species. However, how the airborne abundant and rare microbial communities respond to environmental changes is still unclear, especially at hour scale. Here, we used a sequencing approach based on bacterial 16S rRNA genes and fungal ITS2 regions to investigate the high time‐resolved dynamics of airborne bacteria and fungi and to explore the responses of abundant and rare microbes to the atmospheric changes. Our results showed that air pollutants and microbial communities were significantly affected by human activities related to the Chinese New Year (CNY). Before CNY, significant hour‐scale changes in both abundant and rare subcommunities were observed, while only abundant bacterial subcommunity changed with hour time series during CNY. Air pollutants and meteorological parameters explained 61.5%−74.2% variations of abundant community but only 13.3%−21.6% variations of rare communities. These results suggested that abundant species were more sensitive to environmental changes than rare taxa. Stochastic processes predominated in the assembly of abundant communities, but deterministic processes determined the assembly of rare communities. Potential bacterial pathogens during CNY were the highest, suggesting an increased health risk of airborne microbes during CNY. Overall, our findings highlighted the “holiday effect” of CNY on airborne microbes and expanded the current understanding of the ecological mechanisms and health risks of microbes in a changing atmosphere.

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Impacts of ammoniacal odour removal bioagent on air bacterial community

Zhang,

Hu,

Peng

et al. 2024

Adv. Biotechnol.

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While biotechnologies offer eco-friendly solutions for eliminating air contaminants, there is a scarcity of research examining the impacts of microbial purification of air pollutants on the structure and function of air microbial communities. In this study, we explored a Lactobacillus paracasei B1 (LAB) agent for removing ammoniacal odour. The impacts of LAB on air bacterial community were revealed. by analyzing the air samples before (BT) and after (AT) LAB bioagent treatment. Remarkably, the LAB bioagent significantly reduced the air ammonia concentration by 96.8%. This reduction was associated with a notable decline in bacterial diversity and a significant shift in community composition. The relative abundance of Staphylococcus, a common pathogen, plummeted from 1.91% to 0.03%. Moreover, other potential pathogens decreased by over 87%, signifying the bioagent's impactful role in diminishing health risks. The dominance of OTU-4 (Lactobacillus) highlighted its crucial role not only in competitive interactions but also potentially in shaping the metabolic pathways or community dynamics within the treated air microbial ecosystem. This shift towards deterministic assembly processes post-treatment, as highlighted by the normalized stochasticity ratio (NST), sheds light on the underlying mechanisms dictating the microbial community's response to bioagent interventions. The bioagent-purified air microbial community showed a strong preference for variable selection (88.9%), likely due to the acidity generated by the LAB. In conclusion, our findings emphasized the positive impact of LAB bioagent in enhancing air quality, which associated with the changes in microbial community.

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From air to airway: Dynamics and risk of inhalable bacteria in municipal solid waste treatment systems

Cited by 6 publications

References 49 publications

Culturable Bioaerosols Assessment in a Waste-Sorting Plant and UV-C Decontamination

Culturable Bioaerosols Assessment in a Waste-Sorting Plant and UV-C Decontamination

Distinct responses of airborne abundant and rare microbial communities to atmospheric changes associated with Chinese New Year

Impacts of ammoniacal odour removal bioagent on air bacterial community

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