<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Municipal waste plants can be a source of biological contamination of the environment, depending on the method of operation and the type of collected waste. The aim of this study was the quantitative characteristics of airborne microorganisms at the Barycz municipal waste sorting plant in Cracow. Bioaerosol measurements of indoor and outdoor air of the municipal waste sorting plant were performed during the summer season using a six-stage Andersen cascade impactor. The highest concentration of bacterial and fungal aerosol was observed in the medium fraction sorting room (129.02×103 cfu·m-3 and 116.21×103 cfu·m-3, respectively). There were statistically significant differences in the concentrations of bacterial and fungal aerosol between indoor and outdoor air. The calculations showed a significant correlation between the concentration of bioaerosol and particulate matter. Based on the analysis of bioaerosol particle size distribution, it was found that the concentration of bacteria and fungi has a maximum value in the diameter range 3.3-7.0 μm. The study confirmed that the municipal waste sorting plants can be causing exposure to microbiological agents.</abstract>

Municipal waste plants can be a source of biological contamination of the environment, depending on the method of operation and the type of collected waste. The aim of this study was the quantitative characteristics of airborne microorganisms at the Barycz municipal waste sorting plant in Cracow. Bioaerosol measurements of indoor and outdoor air of the municipal waste sorting plant were performed during the summer season using a six-stage Andersen cascade impactor. The highest concentration of bacterial and fungal aerosol was observed in the medium fraction sorting room (129.02×103 cfu·m-3 and 116.21×103 cfu·m-3, respectively). There were statistically significant differences in the concentrations of bacterial and fungal aerosol between indoor and outdoor air. The calculations showed a significant correlation between the concentration of bioaerosol and particulate matter. Based on the analysis of bioaerosol particle size distribution, it was found that the concentration of bacteria and fungi has a maximum value in the diameter range 3.3-7.0 μm. The study confirmed that the municipal waste sorting plants can be causing exposure to microbiological agents.

Microbiological air quality at municipal waste sorting plant

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture and Economics, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Mickiewicza Av. 24/28, 30-059 Cracow,

Environmental Protection and Natural Resources

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Microbiological air quality at municipal waste sorting plant"}

Municipal waste plants can be a source of biological contamination of the environment, depending on the method of operation and the type of collected waste....

Microbiological air quality at municipal waste sorting plant

Published Online: Dec 30, 2016

Page range: 24 - 27

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/oszn-2016-0024

© by Krzysztof Frączek

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.