Methods of sampling airborne fungi in working environments of waste treatment facilities

Černá, Kristýna; Wittlingerová, Zdeňka; Zimová, Magdalena; Janovský, Zdeněk

doi:10.13075/ijomeh.1896.00568

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Concentrations of fungi generally increase in spring and peak in summer 88,89 , although results are diverse in the literature. Černá et al 90 had higher fungi concentrations in spring in comparison to winter, while Nadal et al 91 presented higher values of bioaerosols in summer. When analysing different environments than the ones studied in this research, Gonçalves et al 92 found higher values at the beginning of spring in São Paulo, while Emygdio et al 93 presented a higher number of total spores in spring, but different genera had a large variability regarding seasonal characterization.…”

Section: Bioaerosols Analysismentioning

confidence: 92%

Assessment of airborne particles and bioaerosols concentrations in a waste recycling environment in Brazil

Wikuats

Duarte

Prates

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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This study aims to assess the concentrations of size-fractioned particle mass (PM1.0, PM2.5, PM4.0, PM10) and number (PNC0.3, PNC0.5, PNC1.0, PNC2.5), bacteria, and fungi in a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Brazil. The measurements were performed inside the waste processing shed (P1) and in the outdoor environment (P2) during working days in winter and spring of 2017, and summer of 2019. A total of 2,400 min of PM, 1,440 min of PNC, and 216 samples of bioaerosols were collected in the morning and afternoon. P1 has the strongest air contamination with mean values of 475.5 ± 563.7 µg m−3 for PM10, 58.6 ± 36.0 cm−3 for PNC0.3, 1,088.8 ± 825.2 colony-forming units per cubic meter (CFU m−3) for bacteria, and 2,738.3 ± 1,381.3 CFU m−3 for fungi. The indoor/outdoor ratios indicated the large influence of indoor sources due to the activities performed inside P1 that promote the generation and resuspension of pollutants. Gram-positive bacteria dominated with 58.6% of indoor samples. Overall, our results show a critical indoor air quality situation in a Brazilian MRF, which may cause several health risks for waste pickers. Finally, we call attention to the lack of occupational exposure limits for bioaerosols in industrial workplaces and mainly in MRFs.

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Section: Bioaerosols Analysismentioning

confidence: 92%

Assessment of airborne particles and bioaerosols concentrations in a waste recycling environment in Brazil

Wikuats

Duarte

Prates

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…The sampling period per 1 sample was 24 min. Thus, the amount of sampled air was 120 l. Sampling and subsequent processing of samples were performed according to methods described by Černá et al [17].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, comparing the results of these studies is complicated due to the different sampling methods, sample processing applied and other sources of variation (see Černá et al [17], Eduarda and Heederik [25] for discussion of the problem). However, the concentrations of airborne fungi in this study were clearly higher (2-4 orders of magnitude) to those found in other indoor environments [26][27][28][29].…”

Section: Concentrations Of Airborne Fungimentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to airborne fungi during sorting of recyclable plastics in waste treatment facilities

Černá¹,

Wittlingerová²,

Zimová³

et al. 2017

Med Pr

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Background: In working environment of waste treatment facilities, employees are exposed to high concentrations of airborne microorganisms. Fungi constitute an essential part of them. This study aims at evaluating the diurnal variation in concentrations and species composition of the fungal contamination in 2 plastic waste sorting facilities in different seasons. Material and Methods: Air samples from the 2 sorting facilities were collected through the membrane filters method on 4 different types of cultivation media. Isolated fungi were classified to genera or species by using a light microscopy. Results: Overall, the highest concentrations of airborne fungi were recorded in summer (9.1×10 3 -9.0×10 5 colony-forming units (CFU)/m

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“…Therefore, the sampling time must be adequate to the environment in study and work tasks being developed. For example when using high volume samplers in highly contaminated areas, it is crucial to employ short sampling intervals and lower flow rates for airborne fungal sampling [64]. Nevertheless, active sampling methods, namely impaction devices, have already proved to be very useful in the characterization of occupational exposure to fungi in several studies, by presenting the most diversified fungal contamination in comparison with all sampling methods applied [28,51,61,65,66].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Occupational Exposure Assessments in Sawmills—A Review

et al. 2022

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The composition of airborne microflora in sawmills may vary to a great degree depending on the kind of timber being processed and the technology of production being used. Cases of allergy alveolitis and asthma have been reported in woodworkers who were exposed to wood dust largely infected with microorganisms. The aim of this review article is to identify studies where the microbial occupational exposure assessment was performed in sawmills and the characteristics of the contamination found, as well as to identify which sampling methods and assays were applied. This study reports the search of available data published regarding microbial occupational exposure assessment in environmental samples from sawmills, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) methodology. The most used sampling method was air sampling, impaction being the most common method. Regarding analytical procedures for microbial characterization, morphological identification of fungi and bacteria was the most frequent approach. Screening for fungal susceptibility to azoles was performed in two studies and four studies applied molecular tools. Regarding microbial contamination, high fungal levels were frequent, as well as high bacteria levels. Fungal identification evidenced Penicillium as the most frequent genera followed by Aspergillus sp. Mycotoxins were not assessed in any of the analyzed studies. Microbial occupational exposure assessment in sawmills is crucial to allow this risk characterization and management.

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Methods of sampling airborne fungi in working environments of waste treatment facilities

Cited by 5 publications

References 28 publications

Assessment of airborne particles and bioaerosols concentrations in a waste recycling environment in Brazil

Assessment of airborne particles and bioaerosols concentrations in a waste recycling environment in Brazil

Exposure to airborne fungi during sorting of recyclable plastics in waste treatment facilities

Microbial Occupational Exposure Assessments in Sawmills—A Review

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