Abstract
Examining the concentration and types of airborne bacteria in waste paper and cardboard sorting plants (WPCSP) is an urgent matter to inform policy makers about the health impacts on exposed workers. Herein, we collected 20 samples at 9 points of a WPCSP every 6 winter days, and found that the most abundant airborne bacteria were positively and negatively correlated to relative humidity and temperature, respectively. The most abundant airborne bacteria (in units of CFU m−3) were: Staphylococcus sp. (72.4) > Micrococcus sp. (52.2) > Bacillus sp. (30.3) > Enterococcus sp. (24.0) > Serratia marcescens (20.1) > E. coli (19.1) > Pseudomonas sp. (16.0) > Nocardia sp. (1.9). The lifetime average daily dose (LADD) for the inhalation and dermal routes for the intake of airborne bacteria ranged from 3.7 × 10−3 ≤ LADDInhalation ≤ 2.07 × 101 CFU (kg d)−1 and 4.75 × 10−6 ≤ LADDDermal ≤ 1.64 × 10−5 CFU (kg d)−1, respectively. Based on a sensitivity analysis (SA), the concentration of airborne bacteria (C) and the exposure duration (ED) had the most effect on the LADDInhalation and LADDDermal for all sampling locations. Although the Hazard Quotient of airborne bacteria was HQ < 1, an acceptable level, the indoor/outdoor ratio (1.5 ≤ I/O ≤ 6.6) of airborne bacteria typically exceeded the threshold value (I/O > 2), indicating worker’s exposure to an infected environment. Therefore, in the absence of sufficient natural ventilation the indoor ambient conditions of the WPCSP studied should be controlled by supplying mechanical ventilation.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-2022
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113272
Funding Information
This work was funded by Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran (Grant no.: 99-1-99-47894). Hereby, Dr. Ramin Nabizadeh sincerely acknowledge Tehran University of Medical Sciences for financial support.
Repository Citation
Baghani, Abbas Norouzian; Golbaz, Somayeh; Ebrahimzadeh, Gholamreza; Guzman, Marcelo I.; Delikhoon, Mahdieh; Rastani, Mehdi Jamshidi; Barkhordari, Abdullah; and Nabizadeh, Ramin, "Characteristics and Assessing Biological Risks of Airborne Bacteria in Waste Sorting Plant" (2022). Chemistry Faculty Publications. 193.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/chemistry_facpub/193
Graphical abstract
1-s2.0-S0147651322001129-mmc1.docx (1710 kB)
Supplementary material
Included in
Chemistry Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Environmental Public Health Commons, Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Commons
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, v. 232, 113272.
© 2022 The Authors
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).