Influence of everyday activities and presence of people in common indoor environments on exposure to airborne fungi

Jürgensen, Claudia Würtz; Madsen, Anne Mette

doi:10.3934/environsci.2016.1.77

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 74 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For food-related activities, such as breakfast preparation, other cooking, and applesauce making, potential sources of biological particles include direct shedding from the occupants, resuspension from clothing and flooring, biological particles aerosolized from tap water and boiling water (via bubble-bursting), and emissions from processing food. 15,21,22,42,43 Breakfast preparation followed a relatively consistent pattern each day, as described in the SI, and resulted in similar FBAP emissions for the 2 campaigns. Although emissions during summer were slightly higher, the seasonal differences were not statistically significant for FBAP particles.…”

Section: Fbap Emissions For Human Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…[14][15][16][17] Human occupants can influence airborne biological particle levels in residences via respiratory emissions (ie, sneezing), shedding of bacteria-laden skin flakes, movement-induced resuspension from clothing, upholstery materials, mattress, and flooring, and other ordinary household activities, such as showering, handling fabrics, sweeping floors, and vacuuming. 14,16,[18][19][20][21][22][23] Activities such as these result in strong enhancements of bioaerosol concentrations, often over short periods. Considering the potential for rapidly changing indoor bioaerosol concentrations, sampling methods with high time resolution can make important contributions to the state of knowledge regarding bioaerosol exposures in residential environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fluorescent biological aerosol particles: Concentrations, emissions, and exposures in a northern California residence

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Residences represent an important site for bioaerosol exposure. We studied bioaerosol concentrations, emissions, and exposures in a single-family residence in northern California with 2 occupants using real-time instrumentation during 2 monitoring campaigns (8 weeks during August-October 2016 and 5 weeks during January-March 2017). Time- and size-resolved fluorescent biological aerosol particles (FBAP) and total airborne particles were measured in real time in the kitchen using an ultraviolet aerodynamic particle sizer (UVAPS). Time-resolved occupancy status, household activity data, air-change rates, and spatial distribution of size-resolved particles were also determined throughout the house. Occupant activities strongly influenced indoor FBAP levels. Indoor FBAP concentrations were an order of magnitude higher when the house was occupied than when the house was vacant. Applying an integral material-balance approach, geometric mean of total FBAP emissions from human activities observed to perturb indoor levels were in the range of 10-50 million particles per event. During the summer and winter campaigns, occupants spent an average of 10 and 8.5 hours per day, respectively, awake and at home. During these hours, the geometric mean daily-averaged FBAP exposure concentration (1-10 μm diameter) was similar for each subject at 40 particles/L for summer and 29 particles/L for winter.

show abstract

Section: Fbap Emissions For Human Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluorescent biological aerosol particles: Concentrations, emissions, and exposures in a northern California residence

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This discrepancy regarding the correlation between particulate matter and bioburden in different occupational environments, with active and passive methods employed for the assessment of air bioaerosols, can be justified by the effect of other environmental variables, such as workers and customers who may carry a great diversity of microorganisms [60], as well as the developed activities and work practices that may also affect fungal and bacterial load [13,51,52,55,61]. Moreover, we cannot neglect the fact that viable bioaerosol particles constitute a small percentage of the total concentration of the bioburden [62] and, therefore, a bias about the microorganism load recovered from the EDC, as in other sampling methods, should be considered as a justification for the lack of correlation or negative correlation among EDC weight and fungal counts on MEA and Gram-negative bacteria, respectively. The same explanation can also be given for the significant negative correlation between particle counts (0.3 µm) and the fungal counts on MEA and between all particle sizes, except particles PM 5 µm, and Gram-negative bacteria assessed through the EDC, although in this case the correlation was not significant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrostatic Dust Cloth: A Passive Screening Method to Assess Occupational Exposure to Organic Dust in Bakeries

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Organic dust is widespread in the environment including occupational settings, such as bakeries. Recently, a new collection device-the electrostatic dust cloth (EDC)-has been described for the assessment of occupational exposures. The aim of this study was to investigate the suitability of EDC for identifying the distribution patterns and exposure concentrations of particulate matter and microbial contaminants such as fungi and bacteria in bakeries. Twelve bakeries were selected, and dust was allowed to settle for 13 to 16 days on EDCs (a total of 33 samples). Particle counts and size distribution (0.3 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 2.5 µm, 5 µm and 10 µm) were measured with direct-reading equipment. Higher EDC mass was significantly correlated (p values < 0.05) with higher fungal load on dichloran glycerol (DG18) and with particle size distribution in the 0.3 µm, 0.5 µm, 1.0 µm and 10.0 µm range. Fungal levels on malt extract agar (MEA) ranged from 0 to 2886 CFU/m 2 EDC in the warehouse setting, 0 to 500 CFU/m 2 EDC in the production setting, and 0 to 3135 CFU/m 2 EDC in the store. Penicillium sp. (42.56%) was the most frequent fungi. Total bacterial load ranged from 0 to 18,859 CFU/m 2 EDC in the warehouse, 0 to 71,656 CFU/m 2 EDC in production, and 0 to 21,746 CFU/m 2 EDC in the store. EDC assessment provided a longer-term integrated sample of organic dust, useful for identifying critical worksites in which particulate matter and bio-burden exposures are elevated. These findings suggest that EDC can be applied as a screening method for particulate matter-exposure assessment and as a complementary method to quantify exposures in occupational environments.

show abstract

“…As such, the assessment and control of microbial contamination in health care facilities is currently a mandatory and vital part of the strategies to prevent and control hospital-acquired infections [7,8]. Aiming at addressing this challenging assessment, several studies have already reported the upmost importance of applying passive sampling methods [9][10][11][12][13]. These methods allow characterization of the contamination from a larger period of time (weeks to several months) [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioburden Assessment by Passive Methods on a Clinical Pathology Service in One Central Hospital from Lisbon: What Can it Tell Us Regarding Patients and Staff Exposure?

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The assessment and control of microbial contamination in health care facilities is presently a mandatory and vital part of strategies to prevent and control hospital-acquired infections. This study aims to assess the bioburden with two passive sampling methods (30 ventilations grids swabs and 16 electrostatic dust collectors (EDCs)) at Clinical Pathology Services. The fungal burden was characterized through molecular tools, antifungal resistance, and the mycotoxins and cytotoxicity profile. Total bacteria presented the highest prevalence in both matrixes, whereas Gram-bacteria presented the lowest. Swabs presented a higher prevalence (27.6%) for fungal burden. Chrysonilia sitophila presented the highest prevalence in swabs, whereas for EDCs, C. sitophila and Mucor sp. were the most prevalent. Concerning Aspergillus genera on swabs, section Flavi was the one with the highest prevalence (58.02%), whereas, for EDCs, section Versicolores was the only section observed (100%). Aspergillus section Fumigati was detected in 10 swabs and 7 EDC samples and Aspergillus section Versicolores was detected in one EDC sample. Fungal growth on azole-supplemented media was observed in eight EDC samples. No mycotoxins were detected in any of the samples. A low cytotoxic effect was observed in two sites upon incubation of collected samples with A549 and SK cells and in two other sites upon incubation of collected samples with SK cells only. A medium cytotoxic effect was observed with one EDC sample upon incubation with A549 cells. This study reinforces the need of determination of the azole resistance profile for fungal species and allowed a preliminary risk characterization regarding the cytotoxicity. An intervention including the use of a ultraviolet with wavelength between 200 nm and 280 nm (UVC)—emitting device and an increased maintenance and cleaning of the central heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems should be ensured to promote the reduction of microbial contamination.

show abstract

Influence of everyday activities and presence of people in common indoor environments on exposure to airborne fungi

Cited by 23 publications

References 74 publications

Fluorescent biological aerosol particles: Concentrations, emissions, and exposures in a northern California residence

Fluorescent biological aerosol particles: Concentrations, emissions, and exposures in a northern California residence

Electrostatic Dust Cloth: A Passive Screening Method to Assess Occupational Exposure to Organic Dust in Bakeries

Bioburden Assessment by Passive Methods on a Clinical Pathology Service in One Central Hospital from Lisbon: What Can it Tell Us Regarding Patients and Staff Exposure?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About