Bioaerosol

About: Bioaerosol is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1347 publications have been published within this topic receiving 34791 citations.

Design and Evaluation of the Field-Deployable Electrostatic Precipitator with Superhydrophobic Surface (FDEPSS) with High Concentration Rate

Abstract: Here we report on further development of an electrostatics-based bioaerosol collector with high concentration rate. We developed a field-deployable version of the electrostatic precipitator with superhydrophobic surface (FDEPSS), which consists of two combined half-cylinder collection chambers and an integrated control box. The collector is made of a static dissipative material and each collection chamber features a 3.2 mm wide collection electrode. The round top part of each chamber contains eight carbon fiber ionizers arranged in two lines of four. The collected particles are removed by a 20 µL rolling water droplet. Sampler’s components were integrated into a control box. The FDEPSS was tested with two bacterial species, Bacillus atropheus and Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria, and one fungal spore, Penicillium chrysogenum for 10 and 60 min collection times and showed collection efficiency of ~70% at a sampling flow rate of 20 L min–1. The use of a collecting water droplet of 20 µL per collection chamber achieved sample concentration rates approaching 0.5 × 106 min–1. The FDEPSS was also tested against BioSampler (SKC Inc., Eighty Four, PA) and Button aerosol sampler (SKC Inc.) when sampling bioaerosols outdoors for 60 min. The samples were characterized based on the total airborne adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration, which was reported as relative luminescence units (RLU). The FDEPSS detected 5.1 × 105 RLU m–3, while the BioSampler and the Button sampler showed 4.1 × 105 RLU m–3 and 8.7 × 105 RLU m–3, respectively. Since ATP analysis can be performed with small sample volumes, and the FDEPSS captures particles into 20 µL of liquid, resulting in a high concentration rate, we show that this sampler can detect the presence of airborne microorganisms 40× faster than the BioSampler or Button aerosol sampler. This FDEPSS feature could be integrated into bioaerosol detection systems, especially where concentrations are low and time is critical.

Identification and Characterization of Size-Segregated Bioaerosols at Different Sites in Delhi

Abstract: Ambient levels of culturable bioaerosol were measured at four different sites of Delhi, India in six size ranges (> 70 µm, 70–47 µm, 47–33 µm, 33–21 µm, 21–11 µm, < 11 µm) The study also accounted the seasonal variation (monsoon, post monsoon, winter and pre-monsoon) of the air microbes The sampling was carried out for three different fractions of bioaerosols viz fungi, gram positive and negative bacteria during August 2010 to April 2011 using a six-stage viable cascade impactor sampler Unlike gram positive and negative bacteria, the concentration of fungal bioaerosol found in different stages at each site seems to follow a typical pattern in all four season The typical pattern of concentration depicts that majority of the fungal species found in the diameter range of 33–21 µm, which coincides with the penetration range in the secondary bronchi of the lungs in the human body This reveals that majority of the immunotoxic and allergic fungi found at this stage are mostly prone to affect the secondary bronchi in human lungs when inhaled At all four sites maximum fungal concentration (17405–32247 CFU m–3), gram-positive bacterial concentration (27906–94283 CFU m–3) and gram-negative bacterial concentration (19903–7609 CFU m–3) were found in post monsoon season In the majority of the sites, minimum concentrations were found in monsoon period which probably may be due to rain wash during the sampling For all the three bioaerosol fractions no particular relationship pattern was found to exist between their respective concentrations with temperature and relative humidity (RH) However, higher range of variation was observed at higher concentration levels and lower range of variation at low concentration levels for all the three bioaerosol fractions Most of the fungal bioaerosol identified such as Penicillium sp, Alternaria sp and Aspergillus sp are associated with immunotoxic and allergic diseases

High Abundance of Fluorescent Biological Aerosol Particles in Winter in Beijing, China

Abstract: Primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) such as pollen, fungal spores, bacteria, and viruses represent a major subset of particulate matter for both coarse and fine aerosols. Although PBAP affect climate and human health, there still remains a large uncertainty regarding their sources and characteristics, especially in urban atmospheres. Here we combined online fluorescent biological aerosol particle measurements and offline fluorescent and biomarker analysis in winter in Beijing, a city suffering from severe air pollution. Our results show that the abundance of fluorescent biological particles was higher than that of many other natural environments. Bioaerosol loadings were greatly enhanced during mealtime, indicating local emissions of bioaerosols from human activities. The contributions of fungal spores to total organic carbon (OC) from fluorescent bioaerosol analyses were estimated to be around 10% both in clean and polluted periods. This study highlights the importance of human activities to emit...