The physical environments and microbiological contamination in three different fitness centres and the participants’ expectations: Measurement and analysis

Onchang, Rattapon; Panyakapo, Mallika

doi:10.1177/1420326x14543209

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Several studies have reported frequent or occasional daytime temperatures over the recommended values of 20‐27˚C 113‐115 making the sport environment uncomfortable and fatiguing. For example, Onchang and Panyakapo 116 reported the temperature and humidity range of 20.9‐36.6˚C and 49.7%‐99.8%, respectively, in three fitness centers. In two of those centers, the mean temperature value was over 30˚C.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human exposure to air contaminants in sports environments

2020

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Physical activity is one of the most basic human functions and a significant basis of health. The World Health Organization (WHO) 1 recommends that adults, including older adults, undertake at least 2.5 hours of moderately intense aerobic activity per week. With an increasing number of sports enthusiasts worldwide, the number of indoor sports facilities and the number of workers in those facilities have also increased dramatically in the past decades. However, unlike residential areas and other types of public spaces, such as schools and offices, there is relatively little published research about air quality and exposure to different pollutants in various indoor sports facilities, 2,3 where a growing number of people exercise, work full or part time, or attend athletic events. 4,5 Although many studies of athletes' exposure to ambient air contaminants have been published, 6-10 little work is known about the exposure to air pollutants in different indoor sports facilities. Available publications have been focused on ice arenas, with the most investigated pollutants being carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), and particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5 , referring to

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human exposure to air contaminants in sports environments

2020

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“…According to the World Health Organization adults need at least 150 min of moderate physical activity per week (WHO 2016). The benefits of regular exercise include improved physical and mental shape (Onchang and Panyakapo 2014). People who attend fitness centers feel happier and healthier and boast increased energy level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial diversity of bioaerosol inside sports facilities and antibiotic resistance of isolated Staphylococcus spp.

2019

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In the modern world, healthy habits and physical and mental fitness are more important than ever. A growing number of people participate in sports to improve their overall health. However, the conditions in which people exercise are seldom examined. It is obvious that the air in buildings, including sports facilities, can be contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms, causing infections and allergies. Our study was aimed at assessing microbial air quality inside several sports facilities (fitness room, martial arts room, swimming pool, sports hall, gym) and at a sports field. Another objective was to evaluate the antibiotic resistance of isolated Staphylococcus strains. Air samples were collected with MAS-100 sampler, using selective substrates. Antibiotic resistance of mannitol-positive staphylococci was assessed using a disk diffusion method in accordance with EUCAST recommendations. The results indicated large fluctuations in average concentrations of heterotrophic bacteria, ranging from 38 CFU m -3 (swimming pool) to 1036 CFU m -3 (sports hall). Generally, bacteria were more abundant inside the buildings, while fungi in the sports field (658 CFU m -3 on average). In all facilities, airborne fungal communities were dominated by the genus Cladosporium, followed by Penicillium, Fusarium and Acremonium. Alternaria and Aureobasidium constituted only a small percentage of isolated molds. We recorded only low concentrations of mannitol-positive staphylococci (on average ranging from 1 CFU m -3 at the swimming pool and sports field to 9 CFU m -3 in the martial arts room). Of all isolated Staphylococcus strains, 73% were resistant to benzopenicillin, while more than 90% were sensitive to gentamycin, levofloxacin and rifampicin.

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“…The rather limited data on PM comes from two main types of sport environments: non-educational sport facilities (such as fitness centres and sport halls) and educational settings (such as elementary/primary school gymnasiums or sport facilities from universities). Majority of the studies were conducted in the latter (Alves et al, 2013(Alves et al, , 2014Brani s et al, 2009Brani s et al, , 2011Brani s and Safr anek, 2011;Buonanno et al, 2012a;Castro et al, 2015 ;Fonseca et., 2014;Kic, 2016;Szoboszlai et al, 2011;Ward et al, 2013;Zitnik et al, 2016), mostly due to the better possibility to control the respective environments during the experiment, whereas only few previous studies have assessed indoor PM in the non-educational sport facilities (Filipe et al, 2013;Saraga et al, 2014;Weinbruch et al, 2012)o rfitness centres (Almeida et al, 2016;Ramos et al, 2014;Onchang and Panyakapo, 2016 ); none of the studies addressed UFPs levels. Furthermore, fitness centres have different purposes from those of school (or university) gymnasiums and competing-sport halls, and thus very speci fic characteristics (in terms of layout and construction materials, occupants, type of activities, daily patterns or even frequency of operation; Revel and Arnesano, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indoor particulate pollution in fitness centres with emphasis on ultrafine particles

Slezáková

Peixoto

Oliveira

et al. 2018

Environmental Pollution

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Fitness centres (FC) represent a unique indoor microenvironment. Exercising on regular basis provides countless health benefits and improves overall well-being, but if these facilities have poor indoor air quality, the respective exercisers might be subjected to some adverse risks. Considering the limited existent data, this work aimed to evaluate particulate pollution (PM PM, and ultrafine particles - UFP) in indoor air of FC and to estimate the respective risks for occupants (both staff and exercising subjects). Sampling was conducted during 40 consecutive days of May-June 2014 in general fitness areas, studios and classrooms (for group activities) of four different fitness centres (FC1-FC4) situated within Oporto metropolitan area, Portugal. The results showed that across the four FC, PM ranged between 5 and 1080 μg m with median concentrations (15-43 μg m) fulfilling the limit (50 μg m) of Portuguese legislation in all FC. PM (medians 5-37 μg m; range 5-777 μg m) exceeded thresholds of 25 μg m at some FC, indicating potential risks for the respective occupants; naturally ventilated FC exhibited significantly higher PM ranges (p < 0.05). Similarly, UFPs (range 0.5-88.6 × 10 # cm) median concentrations were higher (2-3 times) at FC without controlled ventilation systems. UFP were approximately twice higher (p < 0.05) during the occupied periods (mean of 9.7 × 10vs. 4.8 × 10 # cm) with larger temporal variations of UFP levels observed in general fitness areas than in classrooms and studios. Cardio activities (conducted in studios and classrooms) led to approximately twice the UFPs intakes than other types of exercising. These results indicate that even short-term physical activity (or more specifically its intensity) might strongly influence the daily inhalation dose. Finally, women exhibited 1.2 times higher UFPs intake than men thus suggesting the need for future gender-specific studies assessing UFP exposure.

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The physical environments and microbiological contamination in three different fitness centres and the participants’ expectations: Measurement and analysis

Cited by 9 publications

References 30 publications

Human exposure to air contaminants in sports environments

Human exposure to air contaminants in sports environments

Microbial diversity of bioaerosol inside sports facilities and antibiotic resistance of isolated Staphylococcus spp.

Indoor particulate pollution in fitness centres with emphasis on ultrafine particles

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