Bioaerosol Exposure and Its Risk Assessment

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality and Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (18 February 2024) | Viewed by 2973

Special Issue Editor


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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has raised widespread concern about the importance of biological aerosols. These are atmospheric aerosol particles of biological origin, which mainly contain bacteria, fungi, viruses, pollen, and cell debris. Bioaerosols can significantly affect ecosystems, climate change, air quality, and human health.

The human health consequences of exposure to biological aerosol particles may represent the final stage of the related cause-effect sequence. These particles can have many adverse health effects, ranging from allergic reactions to infections, toxic reactions, and other non-specific symptoms e.g. ‘sick building syndrome’ (SBS) or ‘mucous membrane syndrome’ (MMS).

The topic of this Special Issue may be useful in establishing appropriate standards and limit values for bioaerosols and could be exploited in the future to minimize human health hazards.

I believe that the timely publication of the results and implications of biological air pollutants studies will stimulate cross-fertilization of knowledge among scientists and engineers in many different branches, will provide a key for future exploration, and let the formulation of recommendations to ensure a healthier life environment.

This Special Issue offers an opportunity to publish articles on the characteristics of microbiological air quality, the methods used to remove biological air pollutants, and the health effects associated with exposure to bioaerosols.

Prof. Dr. Ewa Brągoszewska
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biological air pollutants
  • bioaerosols
  • air quality
  • human health
  • bioaerosol sampling
  • epidemiology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 815 KiB  
Article
Effects of Speleotherapy on Aerobiota: A Case Study from the Sežana Hospital Cave, Slovenia
by Rok Tomazin, Andreja Kukec, Viktor Švigelj, Janez Mulec and Tadeja Matos
Atmosphere 2024, 15(5), 518; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15050518 - 24 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1185
Abstract
Speleotherapy is one of the non-pharmacological methods for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with chronic respiratory diseases, especially those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. On the one hand, one of the alleged main advantages of speleotherapeutic caves is the [...] Read more.
Speleotherapy is one of the non-pharmacological methods for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with chronic respiratory diseases, especially those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. On the one hand, one of the alleged main advantages of speleotherapeutic caves is the low microbial load in the air and the absence of other aeroallergens, but on the other hand, due to the lack of comprehensive air monitoring, there is little information on the pristine and human-influenced aerobiota in such environments. The aim of this study was to assess the anthropogenic effects of speleotherapy on the air microbiota and to investigate its potential impact on human health in Sežana Hospital Cave (Slovenia). From May 2020 to January 2023, air samples were collected in the cave before and after speleotherapeutic activities using two different volumetric air sampling methods—impaction and impingement—to isolate airborne microbiota. Along with sampling, environmental data were measured (CO2, humidity, wind, and temperature) to explore the anthropogenic effects on the aerobiota. While the presence of patients increased microbial concentrations by at least 83.3%, other parameters exhibited a lower impact or were attributed to seasonal changes. The structure and dynamics of the airborne microbiota are similar to those in show caves, indicating anthropization of the cave. Locally, concentrations of culturable microorganisms above 1000 CFU/m3 were detected, which could have negative or unpredictable effects on the autochthonous microbiota and possibly on human health. A mixture of bacteria and fungi typically associated with human microbiota was found in the air and identified by MALDI-TOF MS with a 90.9% identification success rate. Micrococcus luteus, Kocuria rosea, Staphylococcus hominis, and Staphylococcus capitis were identified as reliable indicators of cave anthropization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioaerosol Exposure and Its Risk Assessment)
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12 pages, 4996 KiB  
Article
Indoor Air Purifiers in the Fight against Airborne Pathogens: The Advantage of Circumferential Outflow Diffusers
by Yevgen Nazarenko, Chitra Narayanan and Parisa A. Ariya
Atmosphere 2023, 14(10), 1520; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14101520 - 30 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1181
Abstract
Airborne particles containing pathogens such as bacteria (e.g., M. tuberculosis) or virions (e.g., influenza or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) can cause infections. It has been speculated that the outflow from indoor air purifiers with a directional outlet could entrain [...] Read more.
Airborne particles containing pathogens such as bacteria (e.g., M. tuberculosis) or virions (e.g., influenza or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) can cause infections. It has been speculated that the outflow from indoor air purifiers with a directional outlet could entrain and spread pathogen-containing aerosol particles. To date, only the case of indoor air purifiers with a directional outflow has been considered, and here we investigate an indoor air purifier with a circumferential outflow diffuser—an alternative design solution that is already commercially available. We measured the airflow velocity at two different angles to the surface of the circumferential outflow diffuser and two blower speeds. We visualized in scattered light the deflection of a vertical mist spray cone from a sneeze-simulating nebulizer parallel to the side of the air purifier. We found a significant difference in airflow velocities for different angles to the circumferential outflow diffuser: 0.01–0.02 m/s for 0° vs. 0.01–0.65 m/s for 45° at 1 m distance. We observed no significant deflection of the sneeze-simulating spray cone at the minimum blower speed and a 5 cm deflection at the maximum speed. The deflection of the sneeze-simulating spray mist particles by the tested indoor air purifier with the circumferential outflow, under the experimental conditions, is low relative to the recommended safer distances between people in indoor spaces. We conclude that indoor air purifiers with circumferential outflow diffusers have a lower potential to spread infectious aerosols in indoor spaces compared to devices with unidirectional outflow. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioaerosol Exposure and Its Risk Assessment)
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