Background levels of micro-organisms in the busy urban environment of transport hubs

Patel, Katan; Bailey, Claire; Harding, Anne-Helen; Biggin, M; Crook, B.

doi:10.1111/jam.14063

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The raised bioaerosol particles can easily spread in the air, and the absorbed microorganisms have the ability to colonise distant niches. A similar observation in a railway station was described by Patel et al (2018). They proved the seasonal trends of bacterial numbers, which increased from spring through to winter, while fungal numbers peaked in autumn.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Despite the large numbers of microorganisms likely to be present in the environment in highly populated public places, significant harm from this exposure is rare. The epidemiological studies of microbial contaminants in the air are rarely carried out [20][21][22][23][24][25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They proved the seasonal trends of bacterial numbers, which increased from spring through to winter, while fungal numbers peaked in autumn. The complex influence of factors (passenger numbers, station layout, dust) on contamination levels were suggested [25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The microbiological condition of public air in the city during autumn and winter

Adamus-Białek¹,

Filipiak²,

Wawszczak³

et al. 2019

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Introduction: Microorganisms live in most environments, and one of the most common is air. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi occur as bioaerosols, which allows them to spread. Airborne bacteria are potentially pathogenic, especially in areas densely populated by people. Aim of the research: To analyse the microbiological air pollution in different public places-busy streets, a city park, a cinema, and a pharmacy, in Kielce, during autumn and winter. Material and methods: The total number of bacteria was estimated based on the sedimentation method. The microbiological condition of air was compared to the standardised Polish norm. Additionally, the macroscopic (bacterial colony) and microscopic (Gram-stained bacterial cells) methods were used for bacterial differentiation. Results: Most of the air samples did not exhibit contamination, although the detected cases of significant microbiological pollution do pose a threat to public health. The air on the streets revealed the highest microbial contamination, and the lowest levels of microbes were found in the park. The influence of temperature and population density on the bacterial prevalence in the air has been proven. Despite low air temperatures, the amount of bacteria in most cases was close to the average pollution level. It was also observed that in the pharmacy, the glass separating customers and staff did not reduce the number of bacteria on either side. Conclusions: Special attention should be paid to places that can significantly influence the spread of pathogens due to large population (e.g. a cinema) or the presence of sick people (e.g. a pharmacy). Air should be monitored in such places. Streszczenie Wprowadzenie: Mikroorganizmy stwierdza się w prawie każdym środowisku, szczególnie powszechnie w powietrzu. Bakterie, wirusy i grzyby występują w postaci bioaerozoli, co pozwala im się przemieszczać. Bakterie przenoszone przez powietrze mogą należeć do patogennych grup, zwłaszcza w miejscach często uczęszczanych przez ludzi. Cel pracy: Analiza mikrobiologicznego zanieczyszczenia powietrza w różnych miejscach publicznych, takich jak ruchliwe ulice, park miejski, kino i apteka. Materiał i metody: Ogólną liczbę bakterii określono metodą sedymentacji. Stan mikrobiologiczny powietrza porównano z normą polską. Dodatkowo do różnicowania bakterii zastosowano metody makroskopowe (obserwacja kolonii bakterii) i mikroskopowe (obserwacja komórek bakterii wybarwionych metodą Grama). Wyniki: W większości próbek powietrza nie stwierdzono zanieczyszczenia, chociaż wykryte przypadki znacznego zanieczyszczenia mikrobiologicznego stanowią zagrożenie dla zdrowia publicznego. W powietrzu na ulicach odnotowano najwyższy poziom zanieczyszczenia mikrobiologicznego, najmniej drobnoustrojów występowało w parku. Dodatkowo wykazano wpływ temperatury i zaludnienia na występowanie bakterii w powietrzu. Mimo niskich temperatur powietrza liczba bakterii w większości przypadków była bliska średniego poziomu. Zaobserwowano również, że w aptece szyba dzieląca klientów i personel nie wpływa na zmni...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The microbiological condition of public air in the city during autumn and winter

Adamus-Białek¹,

Filipiak²,

Wawszczak³

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, two BE studies of seasonal microbiome variation, one in Finnish office buildings [26] and another at a children’s daycare center in Virginia, USA [27], found no significant seasonal trends. Patel et al [28] cultivated bacteria from dust collected at railway stations in England and Scotland and found seasonal trends in bacterial abundance, and Heo et al [14] found concentrations of culturable bacteria in underground subway air to vary across seasonal transitions; however, culture-independent methods have not been utilized to evaluate seasonal microbial diversity in subways or similar environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The subway microbiome: seasonal dynamics and direct comparison of air and surface bacterial communities

et al. 2019

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BackgroundMass transit environments, such as subways, are uniquely important for transmission of microbes among humans and built environments, and for their ability to spread pathogens and impact large numbers of people. In order to gain a deeper understanding of microbiome dynamics in subways, we must identify variables that affect microbial composition and those microorganisms that are unique to specific habitats.MethodsWe performed high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing of air and surface samples from 16 subway stations in Oslo, Norway, across all four seasons. Distinguishing features across seasons and between air and surface were identified using random forest classification analyses, followed by in-depth diversity analyses.ResultsThere were significant differences between the air and surface bacterial communities, and across seasons. Highly abundant groups were generally ubiquitous; however, a large number of taxa with low prevalence and abundance were exclusively present in only one sample matrix or one season. Among the highly abundant families and genera, we found that some were uniquely so in air samples. In surface samples, all highly abundant groups were also well represented in air samples. This is congruent with a pattern observed for the entire dataset, namely that air samples had significantly higher within-sample diversity. We also observed a seasonal pattern: diversity was higher during spring and summer. Temperature had a strong effect on diversity in air but not on surface diversity. Among-sample diversity was also significantly associated with air/surface, season, and temperature.ConclusionsThe results presented here provide the first direct comparison of air and surface bacterial microbiomes, and the first assessment of seasonal variation in subways using culture-independent methods. While there were strong similarities between air and surface and across seasons, we found both diversity and the abundances of certain taxa to differ. This constitutes a significant step towards understanding the composition and dynamics of bacterial communities in subways, a highly important environment in our increasingly urbanized and interconnect world.

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“…Deciphering the microbiome compositions in transportation systems remains a key issue for urban development and city sustainability. In this respect, studies have reported microbial biodiversity in train stations (Dong and Yao, 2010;Patel et al, 2018) or subway systems (Dybwad et al, 2012;Dybwad et al, 2014;Leung et al, 2014;Afshinnekoo et al, 2015;Hsu et al, 2016;Fan et al, 2017). However, the street network system, which receives and conveys oil and other engine fluids that spill from transportation, dust and atmospheric pollutants, along with human litter and waste, has surprisingly received much less attention (Janke et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of interdomain taxonomic patterns in urban street mats

Hervé

Lopez

2020

Environmental Microbiology

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Summary Streets are constantly crossed by billions of vehicles and pedestrians. Their gutters, which convey stormwater and contribute to waste management, and are important for human health and well‐being, probably play a number of ecological roles. Street surfaces may also represent an important part of city surface areas. To better characterize the ecology of this yet poorly explored compartment, we used filtration and DNA metabarcoding to address microbial community composition and assembly across the city of Paris, France. Diverse bacterial and eukaryotic taxonomic groups were identified, including members involved in key biogeochemical processes, along with a number of parasites and putative pathogens of human, animals and plants. We showed that the beta diversity patterns between bacterial and eukaryotic communities were correlated, suggesting interdomain associations. Beta diversity analyses revealed the significance of biotic factors (cohesion metrics) in shaping gutter microbial community assembly and, to a lesser extent, the contribution of abiotic factors (pH and conductivity). Co‐occurrences analysis confirmed contrasting non‐random patterns both within and between domains of life, specifically when comparing diatoms and fungi. Our results highlight microbial coexistence patterns in streets and reinforce the need to further explore biodiversity in urban ground transportation infrastructures.

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Background levels of micro-organisms in the busy urban environment of transport hubs

Abstract: A baseline of typical human exposure to micro-organisms in public transport hubs was established through the generation of a comprehensive database.

Cited by 15 publications

References 24 publications

The microbiological condition of public air in the city during autumn and winter

The microbiological condition of public air in the city during autumn and winter

The subway microbiome: seasonal dynamics and direct comparison of air and surface bacterial communities

Analysis of interdomain taxonomic patterns in urban street mats

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