Issue 2, 2012

Documentation of bioaerosol concentrations in an indoor composting facility in France

Abstract

Bioaerosol concentrations were investigated in a totally indoor composting facility processing fermentable household and green wastes to assess their variability. Stationary samples were collected by filtration close to specific composting operations and then were analysed for cultivable mesophilic bacteria, thermophilic bacteria, mesophilic fungi, thermophilic fungi, endotoxins and total airborne bacteria (DAPI-staining). Indoor concentrations exceeded the background levels, between 500 and 5400 EU m−3 for endotoxins, 104 and 106 CFU m−3 for cultivable bacteria and generally below 105 CFU m−3 for airborne cultivable fungi. No significant (p > 0.05) differences were observed between the indoor composting operations. Successive 30 minute bioaerosol samples were collected to investigate the variation of cultivable mesophilic microorganisms over the work shift. Concentrations of mesophilic bacteria and fungi varied up to 1 log unit depending on the time at which they were collected in the day. Total airborne particles, counted using an optical particle counter, were present at up to 108 particles m−3 and several concentration peaks were noted. Values for total airborne bacteria were roughly 70-fold higher than cultivable bacteria. These results raise the question of the sampling strategy (duration of sampling; number of samples to be collected) used in similar studies. They provide new bioaerosol concentration data in a composting facility and suggest that the filtration sampling method might be a useful tool for exposure measurements in that occupational environment.

Graphical abstract: Documentation of bioaerosol concentrations in an indoor composting facility in France

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Aug 2011
Accepted
19 Dec 2011
First published
27 Jan 2012

J. Environ. Monit., 2012,14, 409-419

Documentation of bioaerosol concentrations in an indoor composting facility in France

P. Duquenne, X. Simon, V. Koehler, S. Goncalves-Machado, G. Greff, T. Nicot and P. Poirot, J. Environ. Monit., 2012, 14, 409 DOI: 10.1039/C2EM10714G

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