scholarly journals Preventive Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Biodeteriogens Control by Aerobiological Monitoring

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 3647
Author(s):  
Luigia Ruga ◽  
Fabio Orlandi ◽  
Marco Fornaciari
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Aerobiological Monitoring ◽  
Preventive Conservation ◽  
Chemical Pollutants ◽  
Cultural Sites ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Fungal Particles

Artefact conditions need to be continuously monitored to avoid degradation effects naturally caused by time and public exploitation in order to increase the value of cultural assets. In this way, the atmospheric analysis of both biological and chemical pollutants potentially present inside conservation environments represents valid support for the adoption of preventive conservation actions by evaluating periodically the presence of risk for the same artefacts. The aim of the present study was to analyze the fungal particles, potentially biodeteriogen, through aerobiological volumetric monitoring, particularly inside valuable historical, artistic, and cultural sites. Different exposition and conservation typologies of the artefacts with different flows of visitors were considered. The applied methodologies have furnished a reliable description of biological air pollution due to the presence of fungal spores—moreover, they have allowed for the prevention of risk situations and the measurement of their evolution in order to limit degradation processes. Through aerobiological monitoring, it was possible to provide important indications for interventions of prevention, conservation and restoration of cultural heritage in indoor environments.

scholarly journals Viable and not viable spore concentrations in National Gallery of Umbria (Italy)

Aerobiologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigia Ruga ◽  
Fabio Orlandi ◽  
Marco Fornaciari
Keyword(s):  
Indoor Air ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Fungal Spore ◽  
National Gallery ◽  
Air Conditioning System ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Fungal Particles

AbstractThe conservation actions towards artworks holding a common patrimony for the community are of primary importance, but also those related to their "container" as museums, libraries or archives are to consider. Fungal spores and bacteria carried by air flows to the artwork surface can colonize it causing biodeterioration through physical and/or chemical alterations of the materials with the irreversible loss of their value. The quality control of the indoor air surrounding the historic building is essential, as well as for the protection and conservation of the artwork, also for the protection of the health of operators and visitors. The aim of this study was to monitor airborne fungal particles, through volumetric spore traps, for improving the knowledge about the conservation and protection of artworks in the museum environment analysing the principal relationships between indoor environmental conditions and potentially biodeteriogen fungal spore growth. The evidence of no significant relationships between spore concentrations and environmental conditions recorded inside the different expositive rooms testified the regular and correct maintenance of the air conditioning system inside the considered building (National Gallery of Umbria, central Italy). Moreover, in a specific museum room a significant spore concentration decreasing trend was recorded mainly due to a structural modification in the same building.

scholarly journals Air Microbiome and Pollution: Composition and Potential Effects on Human Health, Including SARS Coronavirus Infection

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Moelling ◽  
Felix Broecker
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Experimental Protocols ◽  
Allergies And Asthma

Polluted air poses a significant threat to human health. Exposure to particulate matter (PM) and harmful gases contributes to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including allergies and obstructive lung disease. Air pollution may also be linked to cancer and reduced life expectancy. Uptake of PM has been shown to cause pathological changes in the intestinal microbiota in mice and humans. Less is known about the effects of pollution-associated microbiota on human health. Several recent studies described the microbiomes of urban and rural air samples, of the stratosphere and sand particles, which can be transported over long distances, as well as the air of indoor environments. Here, we summarize the current knowledge on airborne bacterial, viral, and fungal communities and discuss their potential consequences on human health. The current data suggest that bacterial pathogens are typically too sparse and short-lived in air to pose a significant risk for infecting healthy people. However, airborne fungal spores may exacerbate allergies and asthma. Little information is available on viruses including phages, and future studies are likely to detect known and novel viruses with a yet unknown impact on human health. Furthermore, varying experimental protocols have been employed in the recent microbiome and virome studies. Therefore, standardized methodologies will be required to allow for better comparisons between studies. Air pollution has been linked to more severe outcomes of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infections. This may have contributed to severe SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks, especially those in China, Northern Italy, Iran, and New York City.

Aerobiological monitoring for fungal spores in a rehabilitation hospital in Northern Italy

Aerobiologia ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-237
Author(s):  
Antonio Meriggi ◽  
Stefano Ricci ◽  
Mariella Bruni ◽  
Renato Corsico
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Aerobiological Monitoring ◽  
Rehabilitation Hospital

Airborne Alt a 1 Dynamic and Its Relationship With the Airborne Dynamics of Alternaria Conidia and Pleosporales Spores

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Concepción De Linares ◽  
David Navarro ◽  
Rut Puigdemunt ◽  
Jordina Belmonte
Keyword(s):  
Public Health Service ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Major Allergen ◽  
Allergic Reactions ◽  
Aerobiological Monitoring ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
First Time ◽  
Prevention Of Allergy ◽  
Detection And Quantification

Fungal spores are universal atmospheric components associated to allergic reactions. Alternaria (Ascomycota) is considered the most allergenic spore taxa. Alt a 1 is the major allergen of Alternaria and is present also in other Pleosporales. In this study, standard Hirst-based sampling and analyzing methods for measuring spore daily concentrations of Alternaria, Curvularia, Drechslera-Helminthosporium, Epicoccum, Leptosphaeria, Pithomyces, Pleospora and Stemphyllium (all included in the taxon Pleosporales) have been used besides two high-volume samplers, Burkard Cyclone (2017) and MCV CAV-A/mb (2019-2020), and ELISA Kits for measuring the allergen. The detection and quantification of Alt a 1 was only possible in the samples from the MCV sampler. Although Alt a 1 was better correlated with Alternaria spores than with Pleosporales spores, the three of them showed high correlations. It is shown, for the first time, a high and significant correlation of Alt a 1 with temperature, a negative one with relative humidity and no correlation with precipitation. The aerobiological monitoring of these three elements ensures the best information for understanding the affectation to allergy sufferers but, if not possible, as a minimum public health service aiming at the detection, treatment and prevention of allergy, the study of the airborne Alternaria spores should be ensured.

Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Its Applications for Ceramic Analysis

2016 ◽  
pp. 381-398
Author(s):  
Marcia Rizzutto ◽  
Manfredo Tabacniks
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Ceramic Analysis ◽  
Pixe Analysis ◽  
Preventive Conservation ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Heritage Objects ◽  
History Of Migration ◽  
Non Destructive

Systematic research into art and cultural heritage objects in museum collections are growing daily across the world. They are generally undertaken in partnership with archaeologists, curators, historians, conservators, and restorers. The use of scientific methods to answer specific questions about objects produced by different societies reveals the materials and technologies used in the past and gives us a better understanding of the history of migration processes, cultural characteristics, and thereby more grounded parameters for the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage. The use of non-destructive methods, such as the PIXE analysis, is very suitable in such studies because damage or alteration is avoided and the integrity of the object maintained. Such techniques gave historians and curators at the Archaeological and Ethnology Museum in São Paulo new understanding of the Chimu collection of ceramics as well as of the technical process of preventive conservation.

The Al Mahdi CaseFrom Punishing Perpetrators to Repairing Cultural Heritage Harm

2020 ◽  
pp. 133-156
Author(s):  
Karolina Wierczyńska ◽  
Andrzej Jakubowski
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal Law ◽  
Cultural Sites ◽  
Historical Monuments ◽  
Evolving System ◽  
Individual Criminal Responsibility

This chapter examines the ongoing process of consolidating international criminal law regimes for counteracting cultural heritage crimes, with particular focus on reparations for cultural harm. It begins with a wider panorama of international criminal law and jurisprudence in relation to cultural heritage crimes. This background outlines the limited provisions of the Rome Statute and offers some critical observations in relation to the evolving system of individual criminal responsibility for cultural heritage crimes. Second, it scrutinizes the approach taken by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in convicting Al Mahdi for the crime of intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion and/or historical monuments. Third, this chapter considers the issue of remedies and reparations for cultural harm suffered in light of the relevant provisions of the Rome State and the practice of international human rights bodies. Next, it analyzes the approach taken by the ICC in Al Mahdi regarding the methodology of determining reparations for the international destruction of cultural heritage. This chapter also analyzes the possible reconsideration of the crime of deliberate attacks against protected cultural sites going beyond the notion and scope of war crime.

scholarly journals Impact of meteorological conditions and air pollution on COVID-19 pandemic transmission in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Lolli ◽  
Ying-Chieh Chen ◽  
Sheng-Hsiang Wang ◽  
Gemine Vivone
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Lombardy Region ◽  
Autonomous Province

Abstract Italy was the first, among all the European countries, to be strongly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (Sars-CoV-2). The virus, proven to be very contagious, infected more than 9 million people worldwide (in June 2020). Nevertheless, it is not clear the role of air pollution and meteorological conditions on virus transmission. In this study, we quantitatively assessed how the meteorological and air quality parameters are correlated to the COVID-19 transmission in two large metropolitan areas in Northern Italy as Milan and Florence and in the autonomous province of Trento. Milan, capital of Lombardy region, it is considered the epicenter of the virus outbreak in Italy. Our main findings highlight that temperature and humidity related variables are negatively correlated to the virus transmission, whereas air pollution (PM2.5) shows a positive correlation (at lesser degree). In other words, COVID-19 pandemic transmission prefers dry and cool environmental conditions, as well as polluted air. For those reasons, the virus might easier spread in unfiltered air-conditioned indoor environments. Those results will be supporting decision makers to contain new possible outbreaks.

scholarly journals Allergenic fungal spores in the air of urban parks

Aerobiologia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idalia Kasprzyk ◽  
Agnieszka Grinn-Gofroń ◽  
Agata Ćwik ◽  
Katarzyna Kluska ◽  
Paloma Cariñanos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Urban Parks ◽  
Volumetric Method ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Seasonal Occurrence ◽  
Aerobiological Monitoring ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Airborne Fungal Spores ◽  
Burkard Sampler

Abstract Urban green spaces, especially urban parks, are essential for the proper functioning of cities, but they can be a serious source of airborne fungal spores. Aerobiological monitoring was carried out in urban parks of different typology to estimate the risk associated with fungal spores for citizens. Volumetric method was applied with the use of portable Burkard Sampler. In the air of the studied parks, the most dominant spores are strong allergenic or considered as potentially allergenic. Cladosporium spores were found in enormous concentrations in all studied parks, and it affected the low biodiversity of fungal spores in the parks. Compared to Cladosporium, concentrations of Alternaria spores in the air were several dozen times lower, but still a risk for people who are allergic. The fungal spores spectra and their seasonal occurrence in each park were similar. The highest similarities in the patterns of the season were found in the case of Cladosporium, Alternaria, Epicoccum, and the lowest in the case of Torula and Drechslera type. Due to the fact that allergy sufferers are most often polysensitized, the period when they should limit long visits in the urban parks is July–August, when the concentration of allergenic fungal spores of many taxa is the highest.

scholarly journals Changes in outdoor air pollution due to COVID-19 lockdowns differ by pollutant: evidence from Scotland

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (11) ◽  
pp. 798-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruaraidh Dobson ◽  
Sean Semple
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Personal Exposure ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
Outdoor Air ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Hourly Data ◽  
The Impact

ObjectivesTo examine the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in March/April 2020 on concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution measured at roadside monitors across Scotland by comparing data with previous years.MethodsPublicly available data of PM2.5 concentrations from reference monitoring systems at sites across Scotland were extracted for the 31-day period immediately following the imposition of lockdown rules on 23 March 2020. Similar data for 2017, 2018 and 2019 were gathered for comparison. Mean period values were calculated from the hourly data and logged values compared using pairwise t-tests. Weather effects were corrected using meteorological normalisation.ResultsNO2 concentrations were significantly lower in the 2020 lockdown period than in the previous 3 years (p<0.001). Mean outdoor PM2.5 concentrations in 2020 were much lower than during the same period in 2019 (p<0.001). However, despite UK motor vehicle journeys reducing by 65%, concentrations in 2020 were within 1 µg/m3 of those measured in 2017 (p=0.66) and 2018 (p<0.001), suggesting that traffic-related emissions may not explain variability of PM2.5 in outdoor air in Scotland.ConclusionsThe impact of reductions in motor vehicle journeys during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions may not have reduced ambient PM2.5 concentrations in some countries. There is also a need for work to better understand how movement restrictions may have impacted personal exposure to air pollutants generated within indoor environments.

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