Bioaerosol emission from wastewater treatment plants

Pascual, Leonor; Pérez-Luz, Sara; Yáñez, M. A.; Santamaría, Ana; Gibert, Karina; Salgot, Miquel; Apráiz, D.; Catalán, Vicente

doi:10.1023/b:aero.0000006598.45757.7f

Cited by 77 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Similar results were reported by others. Results obtained in case of samples from different stages of municipal WWTP in Spain shown that the highest amount of heterotrophic bacteria (5.6 9 10 3 CFU/m 3 ) were noted in pretreatment section, while in other parts were significantly lower (2.2 9 10 3 CFU/m 3 in primary clarifiers and 5 9 10 2 CFU/m 3 in aeration basins) (Pascual et al 2003). For example, Karra and Katsivela (2007) found that in Greece the highest concentrations of airborne microorganisms were observed at the aerated grit removal of wastewater at the pretreatment stage (mesophilic heterotrophic bacteria: 933 ± 636 CFU/m 3 ; fungi: 380 ± 200 CFU/m 3 ) than in indoor control (bacteria: 515 ± 295 CFU/m 3 ; fungi: 160 ± 50 CFU/m 3 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Characteristics of airborne bacteria and fungi in some Polish wastewater treatment plants

Kowalski

Wolany

Pastuszka

et al. 2017

Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

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The aim of this study was to characterize both the viable airborne bacteria and fungi collected in different types of wastewater treatment plants in Poland. Bacterial and fungal aerosols in five different wastewater treatment plants in Poland were studied, including the pioneering antibiotic resistance testing of airborne bacteria. Concentration level was measured using the six-stage Andersen impactor. After incubation, bioaerosol particles captured on nutrient media on Petri dishes were quantitatively evaluated and qualitatively identified. It was found that the concentration levels of both airborne bacteria and fungi ranged from 10 2 to 10 3 colony-forming units/m 3 , in all stages of the wastewater treatment plants. The patterns of size distributions of airborne bacteria and fungi were very similar, showing dominant peaks typically in the size range between 3.3 and 4.7 lm. The majority fraction of small bacterial and fungal particles (less than 4.7 lm) in the studied areas indicates that the bioaerosol is relatively fresh, and mostly of local origin. The Gram-positive cocci and nonsporing Gram-positive rods were the dominating forms in the studied wastewater treatment plants environment. The existing differences in the concentration levels between sampling sites enabled identification of the main bioaerosol sources. The highest concentration of bacterial aerosol appeared in sections, where activated sludge postprocessing and mechanical purifying are conducted. The most frequently occurring species in the sampled bacterial aerosol were Gram-positive cocci and nonsporing Grampositive rods. Multi-antibiotic resistance testing showed that among the isolated airborne bacteria, the most antibiotic-resistant features were present among Bacillus species (especially Bacillus mycoides).

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Characteristics of airborne bacteria and fungi in some Polish wastewater treatment plants

Kowalski

Wolany

Pastuszka

et al. 2017

Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Bioaerosol can be naturally produced in decomposition of organic matter by microbes dispersed to atmosphere. Furthermore, bioaerosol emission can be produced through human activities, and one of them is waste disposal facility including biological treatment plant, MBT (mechanical biological treatment) unit process, material recovery facilities and solid waste transfer station, landfill, and WWTP [3,4,5,6,7]. The microorganism contained in bioaerosol such as bacteria and fungi are commonly found in the surrounding WWTP [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Microbial Air Quality in the Surrounding Hospital’s Wastewater Treatment Plants in Jakarta, Indonesia

Kristanto

Rosana

2017

MATEC Web Conf.

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Abstract.As hospitals require the usage of various hazardous drugs and chemicals in its daily operation, the often contaminated wastewater of health facilities needs to be processed to comply with the quality standards specified in Regulation of the Governor of DKI Jakarta No. 65/2013. However, wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) can also pollute not only water but also the ambient air of facilities. The objective of this research is to identify airborne bacteria and the concentration of fungi due to the presence of WTP and to analyse the types of bacteria that exist through Gram Staining. Microbial air samples taken using EMS E6 showed that the average concentration of bioaerosol at hospital's WWTP was about 810-1,915 CFU/m 3 for bacteria and 1,450-1,955 CFU/m 3 for fungi. Furthermore, the highest concentration of bacteria and fungi found in the surrounding equalization and aeration tanks was 1,915 CFU/m 3 and 1,955 CFU/m 3 , respectively, which far exceeded the background value of 80 CFU/m 3 for bacteria and 440 CFU/m 3 for fungi. Gram staining of the bacteria found in the air surrounding WWTP showed 94% Gram-negative with the bacteria being pathogenic. Therefore, it is pertinent that further action is taken to prevent bioaerosol from spreading around WWTP by building better ventilation surrounding the plants, indicating the technology of the treatment plant to be used, and enforcing personal safety measures on WWTP's employees.

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“…Many studies have evaluated the biological risks of aerosols by determining the concentrations of viable microorganisms, using different sampling and detection methods (Fannin et al, 1985;Carducci et al, 2000;Bauera et al, 2002;Pascual et al, 2003;Karra and Katsivela, 2007;Stellacci et al, 2010). Previous reports of municipal WWTP bioaerosols have shown that high levels of culturable airborne bacteria and fungi were present in the indoor facilities and the aeration system (Brandi et al, 2000;Sánchez-Monedero et al, 2008;Li et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduction and characterization of bioaerosols in a wastewater treatment station via ventilation

Guo

Ding

et al. 2014

Journal of Environmental Sciences

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Bioaerosols from wastewater treatment processes are a significant subgroup of atmospheric aerosols. In the present study, airborne microorganisms generated from a wastewater treatment station (WWTS) that uses an oxidation ditch process were diminished by ventilation.Conventional sampling and detection methods combined with cloning/sequencing techniques were applied to determine the groups, concentrations, size distributions, and species diversity of airborne microorganisms before and after ventilation. There were 3021 ± 537 CFU/m 3 of airborne bacteria and 926 ± 132 CFU/m 3 of airborne fungi present in the WWTS bioaerosol.Results showed that the ventilation reduced airborne microorganisms significantly compared to the air in the WWTS. Over 60% of airborne bacteria and airborne fungi could be reduced after 4 hr of air exchange. The highest removal (92.1% for airborne bacteria and 89.1% for fungi) was achieved for 0.65-1.1 μm sized particles. The bioaerosol particles over 4.7 μm were also reduced effectively. Large particles tended to be lost by gravitational settling and small particles were generally carried away, which led to the relatively easy reduction of bioaerosol particles 0.65-1.1 μm and over 4.7 μm in size. An obvious variation occurred in the structure of the bacterial communities when ventilation was applied to control the airborne microorganisms in enclosed spaces.

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Bioaerosol emission from wastewater treatment plants

Cited by 77 publications

References 21 publications

Characteristics of airborne bacteria and fungi in some Polish wastewater treatment plants

Characteristics of airborne bacteria and fungi in some Polish wastewater treatment plants

Analysis of Microbial Air Quality in the Surrounding Hospital’s Wastewater Treatment Plants in Jakarta, Indonesia

Reduction and characterization of bioaerosols in a wastewater treatment station via ventilation

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