Occupational exposure to anaerobic bacteria in a waste sorting plant

Cyprowski, Marcin; Ławniczek-Wałczyk, Anna; Stobnicka-Kupiec, Agata; Górny, Rafał L.

doi:10.1080/10962247.2021.1934185

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The authors concluded that no occupational risk exists at this level of contamination [50]. Another study concerning a waste sorting facility reported an average concentration of total bacteria of 4347 CFU/m 3 (SD = 2439), considered excessive and resulting in a recommendation of an extensive use of Personal Protective Equipment [51]. A third interesting recent evaulation of the working condition in wastewater treatments plants in Denmark reported that 14% and 34% of the personal exposure were exceeded for endotoxin (>50 EU/m 3 ) and bacteria (>500 CFU/m 3 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Occupational Exposure to Biological Agents in a Typical Restaurant Setting: Is a Photocatalytic Air Purifier Helpful?

Ratti,

Ceriotti,

Bibi

et al. 2023

Safety

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According to many national legislations, biological agents represent an occupational hazard that must be managed in order to ensure safety at workplace. Bioaerosols have been associated to many pathological conditions but, despite many efforts, precise threshold limit values (TLV) are still undefined. We planned and conducted an environmental study concerning a typical restaurant that aimed to evaluate: (1) the occupational exposure to bacterial and fungal bioaerosol; (2) the efficacy of a photocatalytic air purifier device in mitigating such exposure. This observational study evaluated two dining rooms (Area 1 and Area 2) of a restaurant which can be considered typical during two consecutive weeks. Based on a national protocol, we monitored total bacterial and mycotic loads searching for two typologies of bacteria, psychrophilic bacteria (environmental contamination) along with mesophilic bacteria (human or animal origin source), and two types of fungi, mold and yeast. Baseline total bacterial load was 346.8 CFU/m3 for Area 1 and 412.9 CFU/m3 for Area 2. When the sanitizing device was operative, the total bacterial load decreased to 202.7 CFU/m3 (−41.50%—p value: <0.01) for Area 1 and to 342.2 CFU/m3 (−17.10%—p value: 0.06) for Area 2. Considering the fungal load, the mean baseline value was 189.7 CFU/m3 for Area 1 and 141.1 CFU/m3 for Area 2. When the device was kept on, the total fungal load was 108.0 CFU/m3 (−43.10%—p value: 0.055) for Area 1 and 205.0 CFU/m3 (+45.30%—p value: 0.268) for Area 2. Our findings supported the conclusion that, concerning the occupational risk derived from biological agents, a typical restaurant should be considered relatively safe. In order to mitigate or limit any possible increase of such risk, a photocatalytic device may be helpful, but not against the pollution caused by mold or yeasts. Our research also reaffirmed the need of further research assessing the kind of relationship between diseases and exposure levels, before considering the need of setting precise threshold limit values.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Occupational Exposure to Biological Agents in a Typical Restaurant Setting: Is a Photocatalytic Air Purifier Helpful?

Ratti,

Ceriotti,

Bibi

et al. 2023

Safety

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“…However, recent reports indicate that the treatment of municipal waste is accompanied by a strong emission of anaerobic bacteria. Thus far, their presence has been confirmed in waste-sorting plants [ 1 , 26 ], in a composting plant [ 27 ], and in landfills [ 37 ]. In our study, their percentage contribution to the total bacteria pool was about 18%, which was several times less than, for example, in a waste-sorting plant [ 26 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus far, their presence has been confirmed in waste-sorting plants [ 1 , 26 ], in a composting plant [ 27 ], and in landfills [ 37 ]. In our study, their percentage contribution to the total bacteria pool was about 18%, which was several times less than, for example, in a waste-sorting plant [ 26 ]. Interestingly, no bacteria from this group were found in the office premises, while 10 species belonging to 8 genera were identified at work sites in the incineration plant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For bioaerosol sampling, the impactor was loaded with Petri plates containing the following media (all manufactured by bioMérieux, Marcy L’Etoile, France), according to Atlas [ 25 ]: tryptic soy agar (TSA) with 5% additive of sheep blood for aerobic bacteria and Schaedler agar with 5% additive of sheep blood for anaerobic bacteria. Regarding the previous authors’ experience in occupational settings concerning municipal waste [ 26 , 27 ], the use of mentioned growth media were appropriate in this pilot study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Across-Shift Changes in Viable Nasal Bacteria among Waste-Incineration Plant Workers—A Pilot Study

Cyprowski

Ławniczek-Wałczyk

Stobnicka-Kupiec

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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The aim of this pilot study was to assess the time-related changes in viable nasal bacteria concentrations among waste-incineration plant (WIP) workers compared to a group of office building (OB) workers outside the plant. In total, 20 volunteers participated in the study, including 14 WIP and 6 OB workers. WIP workers were divided into two sub-groups: supervisory staff (SVS) and maintenance and repair workers (MRW). Nasal swabs were collected before and after the morning work shift. Airborne bacteria were sampled with a six-stage impactor to assess the bioaerosol size distribution. The analysis showed that a significant, almost three-fold increase in nasal bacterial concentration was found only among WIP workers, and this referred mainly to anaerobic species. The load of anaerobic bacteria at the beginning of work was 12,988 CFU/mL, and after work shift 36,979 CFU/mL (p < 0.01). Significant increases in microbial concentrations was found only in the MRW subgroup, among non-smoking workers only. The results showed increased bacterial concentration in WIP nasal samples for as many as 12 bacterial species, including, e.g., Streptococcus constellatus, Peptostreptococcus spp., E. coli, and P. mirabilis. These preliminary data confirmed that the nasal swab method was helpful for assessment of the workers’ real-time exposure to airborne bacteria.

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“…Previously published studies have brought significant knowledge regarding the exposure of workers in WSPs. Thus, ambient concentrations and individual exposures to airborne dust, microorganisms (bacteria, fungi), microbial compounds (endotoxins, (1,3)β-D-glucans), and metabolites (mycotoxins) found in WSPs have been documented to improve diagnosis [6][7][8][9][10]. Knowledge about the taxa composition of microbial communities in bioaerosols from WSPs has been improved through studies using methods based on the identification of cultivated isolates [11][12][13] and based on high throughput sequencing (HTS) [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioaerosol Exposure during Sorting of Municipal Solid, Commercial and Industrial Waste: Concentration Levels, Size Distribution, and Biodiversity of Airborne Fungal

Duquenne,

Simon,

Coulais

et al. 2024

Atmosphere

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A study was carried out in a waste sorting plant (WSP) located in France, treating dry recyclable household waste (DRHW) as well as dry recyclable commercial and industrial waste (DRCIW). Stationary and personal inhalable samples were collected in the WSP in order to investigate bioaerosols (sampling on a filter; 2 L/min and 10 L/min) and airborne dust (CIP; 10 L/min). The aim of the study was to assess the extent to which the measurement of concentration, species composition, and particle size distribution contributes to a better assessment of the biological risks associated with exposure. The results confirmed that waste and waste sorting activities are sources of airborne fungi. Indeed, ambient concentrations ranged from 7.3 × 103 to 8.5 × 105 colony-forming units (CFU)/m3 for culturable fungi and up to 4 mg/m3 for dust. Personal exposure to inhalable dust was found up to 3 mg/m3 for dust and ranged from 8.6 × 103 to 1.5 × 106 CFU/m3 for fungi. Airborne fungal communities were found to be dominated by the Penicillium genera in both bioaerosols and settled dust samples, followed by the Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Wallemia, Mucor, and Rhizopus genera. Fungi were carried by particles of aerodynamic diameters, mainly between around 2.0 and 10.0 µm. The findings dealing with size distribution and biodiversity of bioaerosols suggest that employees are exposed to complex bioaerosols during their work and help to make a finer diagnosis of the risks involved, which is often difficult in the absence of any occupational exposure limit (OEL) value for bioaerosols in general.

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Occupational exposure to anaerobic bacteria in a waste sorting plant

Cited by 6 publications

References 41 publications

Occupational Exposure to Biological Agents in a Typical Restaurant Setting: Is a Photocatalytic Air Purifier Helpful?

Occupational Exposure to Biological Agents in a Typical Restaurant Setting: Is a Photocatalytic Air Purifier Helpful?

Across-Shift Changes in Viable Nasal Bacteria among Waste-Incineration Plant Workers—A Pilot Study

Bioaerosol Exposure during Sorting of Municipal Solid, Commercial and Industrial Waste: Concentration Levels, Size Distribution, and Biodiversity of Airborne Fungal

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