Evaluation of exposure–response relationships for health effects of microbial bioaerosols – A systematic review

Walser, Sandra M.; Gerstner, Doris; Brenner, Bernhard; Bünger, Jürgen; Eikmann, Thomas; Janssen, Bárbara; Kolb, Stefanie; Kolk, Annette; Nowak, Dennis; Raulf, Monika; Sagunski, H.; Sedlmaier, Nadja; Suchenwirth, R; Wiesmüller, Gerhard Andreas; Wollin, Klaus‐Michael; Tesseraux, Irene; Herr, Caroline

doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2015.07.004

Cited by 172 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…One reason for this could be that infection should be correlated with the dose rather than the concentration. Although dose-response relationships still have not been established for most biological agents, the bioaerosols expert network concluded recently that the measurement of bioaerosols should be performed according to a protocol representative of exposure patterns and duration, which means-in fact-the dose [7,54]. This is not an entirely new idea.…”

Section: Nursery School Exposure Dose (Nsed)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bacterial and Fungal Aerosols in Rural Nursery Schools in Southern Poland

2016

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This study aimed to characterize airborne bacteria and fungi populations present in rural nursery schools in the Upper Silesia region of Poland during winter and spring seasons through quantification and identification procedures. Bacterial and fungal concentration levels and size distributions were obtained by the use of a six-stage Andersen cascade impactor. Results showed a wide range of indoor bioaerosols levels. The maximum level of viable bacterial aerosols indoors was about 2600 CFU·m −3 , two to three times higher than the outdoor level. Fungi levels were lower, from 82 to 1549 CFU·m −3 , with indoor concentrations comparable to or lower than outdoor concentrations. The most prevalent bacteria found indoors were Gram-positive cocci (>65%). Using the obtained data, the nursery school exposure dose (NSED) of bioaerosols was estimated for both the children and personnel of nursery schools. The highest dose for younger children was estimated to range: 327-706 CFU·kg −1 for bacterial aerosols and 31-225 CFU·kg −1 for fungal aerosols. These results suggest an elevated risk of adverse health effects on younger children. These findings may contribute to the promotion and implementation of preventative public health programs and the formulation of recommendations aimed at providing healthier school environments.

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Section: Nursery School Exposure Dose (Nsed)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bioaerosols are, to a great extent, of natural origin (e.g., rotting leaves, mold growth in damp areas) and are therefore ubiquitous in natural environments [7]. It has been reported that approximately 24% of total atmospheric particles and 5%-10% of total suspended particulates are bioaerosols [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial and Fungal Aerosols in Rural Nursery Schools in Southern Poland

2016

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“…Bioaerosols generated from airborne particles of biological origin include fungi, bacteria, viruses, and fragments of the foregoing or their metabolic products (e.g., endotoxins, mycotoxins) (Chow et al, 2015;Walser et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2016;Lal et al, 2017). Environmental health studies have indicated that constant exposure to bioaerosols containing high concentrations of bacteria can lead to respiratory diseases including allergies, infections, and other adverse health effect (Bünger et al, 2007;Lu et al, 2016;Mirhoseini et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and Characteristic of Antibacterial Facemasks with Chinese Herbal Microcapsules

Wang

Kang

You

et al. 2017

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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Along with the current increases in human activities, air pollution, especially that generated from bioaerosols, has begun to receive more extensive attention. Among the bioaerosols, bacteria and fungi can result in organisms that are pathogenic to animals and humans. Therefore, a biological protective respirator with an antibacterial function would be a significant method by which to prevent epidemic spread of respiratory infectious diseases and protect human health. In this study, a type of facemask with an antibacterial function was prepared. The structure of the respirator included a respirator body and an inner filter layer that was assembled with herbal microcapsules. A kind of Chinese herb microcapsule developed through a cross-linking reaction method was successfully prepared to serve as an important component of the respirator. Scutellaria baicalensis (SB), a typical Chinese medicine, was employed to prepare the Chinese herb microcapsule. Three kinds of filter cloth (cotton, polyester fiber, and non-woven fabric, respectively) were employed to assemble with Chinese herb microcapsule. Meanwhile, the antibacterial performance and adhesion of the Chinese herb microcapsule for E. coli and S. aureus were investigated. The measurement results revealed that (i) the antibacterial efficiency of the Chinese herb microcapsule and the respirator filter was above approximately 99.999 and 96.000%, respectively; (ii) the adhesion of the herb microcapsules was still excellent after the filter was washed 100 times; (iii) the as-prepared antibacterial filter modified by an O 2 plasma-surface (PSM-O 2 ) treatment exhibited excellent antibacterial performance. Finally, a chamber simulation utilizing an Anderson first order sampler was designed to simulate the effect of wearing the antibacterial filter in a real environment. Overall, the respirator exhibited excellent biological protection properties compared with general masks, which will satisfy a vast number of application prospects.

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“…For a more accurate risk assessment, there is the need for studies analysing dose–response relationships between bioaerosol exposures and health effects 39. Although exposure data at different working areas of the involved composting plants exist, no dose–response estimations could be performed for the following reasons: measured microbial loads were highly variable; most workers were involved in nearly all working tasks; and the variation in the use of respiratory protection masks over time probably confounds exposure response associations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%