Microbiological Air Quality and Drug Resistance in Airborne Bacteria Isolated from a Waste Sorting Plant Located in Poland―A Case Study

Abstract

International interests in biological air pollutants have increased rapidly to broaden the pool of knowledge on their identification and health impacts (e.g., infectious, respiratory diseases and allergies). Antibiotic resistance and its wider implications present us with a growing healthcare crisis, and an increased understanding of antibiotic-resistant bacteria populations should enable better interpretation of bioaerosol exposure found in the air. Waste sorting plant (WSP) activities are a source of occupational bacterial exposures that are associated with many health disorders. The objectives of this study were (a) to assess bacterial air quality (BAQ) in two cabins of a WSP: preliminary manual sorting cabin (PSP) and purification manual sorting cabin (quality control) (QCSP), (b) determine the particle size distribution (PSD) of bacterial aerosol (BA) in PSP, QCSP, and in the outdoor air (OUT), and (c) determine the antibiotic resistance of isolated strains of bacteria. Bacterial strains were identified on a Biolog GEN III (Biolog, Hayward, CA, USA), and disc diffusion method for antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out according to the Kirby–Bauer Disk Diffusion Susceptibility Test Protocol. A large share of fecal bacteria, Enterococcus faecalis and Alcaligenes faecalis spp. feacalis, was found in the tested indoor air, which is a potential health hazard to the workers of the monitored WSP. Our results demonstrate the necessity to take into account fecal air pollution levels to avoid making erroneous assumptions regarding the environmental selection of antibiotic resistance. Total elimination of many anthropogenic sources is not possible, but important findings of this study can be used to develop realistic management policies methods to improve BAQ.

Diversity of Bioaerosols in Selected Rooms of Two Schools and Antibiotic Resistance of Isolated Staphylococcal Strains (Bydgoszcz, Poland): A Case Study

“…Bioaerosols are always present in the air and contain contaminant particles including pollen and microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses [21,22]. As indicators of air quality, they play a key role in air quality and health risk assessment [23][24][25][26][27]. They can reduce air quality in educational institutions [11,28].…”

“…The rapid emergence of resistant bacteria, which occurs worldwide, endangers the efficacy of antibiotics and may lead to a serious crisis in healthcare. Therefore, a need for better understanding of antibiotic-resistant bacterial populations is obvious [23]. In view of that, the monitoring of air quality in schools in order to assess bacterial acquisition of antibiotic resistance seems a necessary measure.…”

Assessment of Physicochemical, Microbiological and Toxicological Hazards at an Illegal Landfill in Central Poland

“…There is little data in the literature on microbial contamination in illegal landfills. Thus far, such analyses have been performed for many MSW management facilities, such as sewage treatment plants [23,24], composting plants and other biomass processing facilities [25,26], waste sorting plants [27,28] and legal landfills [29,30]. Psychrophilic bacteria were detected in the largest number in these samples-from 8.53 × 10 5 to 1.28 × 10 6 CFU g −1 and mesophiles-from 5.49 × 10 5 to 1.74 × 10 6 CFU g −1 .…”

Potential toxic metals in household dusts extracted in simulated body fluids and their interaction with culturable pathogens responses

“…Furthermore, previous studies have indicated that the indoor dust exposure affects the growth, bio lm formation, oxidative stress, and virulence of microorganisms [6, [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Unfortunately, these studies conducted under controlled conditions, and little is known about the physiological impact of dust exposure on the microorganisms.…”