Udaya Prakash N K, Sripriya N, Gowtham K, Suresh S, Sampathkumar B, Bhuvaneswari S
Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies, Chennai, India.
R and D, Marina Labs, Chennai, India.
Heliyon. 2019 Aug 22;5(8):e02202. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02202. eCollection 2019 Aug.
Diwali is celebrated widely in Asian countries, with a custom of firing crackers. Crackers pollute the environment with noise, particulate matter and chemicals. There are reports on the variation of particulates during firing crackers but none on airborne microbes. The present study was conducted to know the impact of fire crackers on airborne microflora. The air samples were collected 3 days prior to Diwali, on Diwali and 3 days after Diwali during the year 2017 at 15 different areas in Chennai, India. Andersen N-6 viable particle air sampler was exposed with petridishes containing nutrient agar and potato dextrose agar for the isolation of bacteria and fungi respectively. An average of 1,904 ± 2.5 CFU/m of bacteria recorded prior Diwali was reduced by 53.23% on Diwali and increased by 27.37% after Diwali. This reduction on Diwali is attributed to the exposure of bacteria to chemicals emitted by the crackers. For fungi, an average of 235.57 ± 1.67 CFU/m was recorded prior Diwali, with an increase of 78.5% on Diwali. The increase in fungal count might be due to the release of spores by ground crackers. The study shows that bacteria are susceptible to the chemicals emitted by fire crackers when compared with fungi.
排灯节在亚洲国家广泛庆祝，有燃放鞭炮的习俗。鞭炮会产生噪音、颗粒物和化学物质，从而污染环境。有关于燃放鞭炮期间颗粒物变化的报道，但没有关于空气中微生物的报道。本研究旨在了解鞭炮对空气中微生物群落的影响。2017年，在印度钦奈的15个不同区域，于排灯节前三日、排灯节当日以及排灯节后三日采集空气样本。使用安德森N - 6型活菌颗粒空气采样器，分别将装有营养琼脂和马铃薯葡萄糖琼脂的培养皿暴露于空气中，以分离细菌和真菌。排灯节之前记录的细菌平均含量为1904 ± 2.5 CFU/m³，在排灯节当日减少了53.23%，在排灯节后增加了27.37%。排灯节当日细菌数量的减少归因于细菌接触了鞭炮释放的化学物质。对于真菌，排灯节之前记录的平均含量为235.57 ± 1.67 CFU/m³，在排灯节当日增加了78.5%。真菌数量的增加可能是由于地面鞭炮释放了孢子。该研究表明，与真菌相比，细菌对鞭炮释放的化学物质更敏感。
