145. Ensuring Accuracy in Indoor Air Quality Investigations Involving Microbial Contamination; How to Interpret Air Sampling Data

Author(s):  
G.D. Boothe
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-216
Author(s):  
Reda Abdel-Zaher Abdel-Aziz ◽  
Samir Mahmoud Radwan

The presence of microorganisms in indoor air represents a dangerous issue with a major impact in the field of health protection and environmental engineering. Low indoor air quality is a major trouble in government schools because of the massive density of students per classroom, inadequate supply of air from outside, as well as weak construction and poor maintenance of school buildings. Evaluation of microbial contamination within the indoor air is important to assess health dangers and establish requirements for tracking indoor air quality. Evaluation of microbial contamination is of notable significance in intensively populated centers as government schools. A study was carried out among a hundred and twenty randomly classrooms of twenty government primary schools of Riyadh city in the academic year 2018/2019. For the determination of microbial pollution, passive air sampling settle plate technique was utilized by exposing a Petri dish of appropriate agar media for one hour. Results showed that the counts of bacteria and fungi were higher in government schools in low socioeconomic districts as compared to those of high socioeconomic districts. The indoor analyses reveal that the concentration of bacteria was higher than counts of fungi. In general, Gram positive microorganisms were the dominant organisms. Gram positive bacteria, Bacillus, Micrococci and Staphylococci were the predominant bacterial strains in the schools under study. Attention has to be paid for controlling the physical factors that assist the growth and reproduction of microbes in indoor air of classrooms to keep the students and teachers healthy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 77 (24) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hizrri, A. ◽  
Khadijah, H. ◽  
Noor Faizul Hadry, N. ◽  
Norhidayah, A. ◽  
Mohd Shukri, M. A.

Library contains huge collection of books that can undergo biodeterioration process after period of time. Due to this  biological reaction, the existence of airborne particulate matters and microbes in the air of the library can be disturbed and elevated, thus can cause health implications to occupants. Therefore, it is an urge to assess and understand the correlation between physical indoor air quality (IAQ) characteristics, airborne pollutants and microbial contaminants in different library settings and locations. This study was carried out at three different libraries, which are Library A (Gambang as suburban area), Library B (Kuantan as urban area) and Library C (Pekan as rural area). The physical IAQ characteristics and particulate matter (PM) monitoring were assessed by using IAQ Meter and DustMate respectively. Surface Air System IAQ (SAS IAQ) was used to collect the airborne microbes. The microbial contamination was further assessed and identified in the laboratory by using API 20E and API 20 Strep while SPSS was used to analyze the relationship of physical IAQ characteristics, airborne pollutants and airborne microbes contaminants. The scientific method protocol and standard reference limits were compared based on Industrial Code of Practise on Indoor Air Quality, 2010 (ICOP, 2010) regulated by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). Respirable PM in Library A and CFU counts in Library A and C exceeded the standard limit with the value of 0.30 mg/m3, 2744 CFU/m3 and 1833 CFU/m3 respectively. Significant differences (p <0.05) between the selected libraries were observed among relative humidity (p=0.001), inhalable PM (p=0.001), thoracic PM (p=0.001), respirable PM (p=0.01), CO2 reading (p=0.001) and CFU counts (p=0.01). This study demonstrated Library C has poor air quality as the reading for CO2 and CFU counts are very high compared with the other two libraries. The bacterial identification findings indicated that Gram positive bacteria were abundant compared to Gram negative bacteria. Aerococcus viridans is the most dominant type of bacteria isolated in all the libraries.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (07/08) ◽  
pp. 106-107
Author(s):  
Marc Lichtenthäler

Viele Studien belegen, dass durch eine hohe Indoor Air Quality die Produktivität gesteigert, Fehlzeiten abgebaut und Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen vermieden werden können. Neben Behandlungs-, OP- und Pflegebereichen eines Klinikums sollten deshalb auch Bereiche mit gut aufbereiteter Raumluft bedacht werden, in denen sich ausschließlich Mitarbeiter aufhalten.


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