School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Jan;29(5):6710-6721. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-16171-9. Epub 2021 Aug 30.
In this study, a systematic procedure for establishing the relationship between particulate matter (PM) and microbial counts in four operating rooms (ORs) was developed. The ORs are located in a private hospital on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The objective of developing the systematic procedure is to ensure that the correlation between the PMs and microbial counts are valid. Each of the procedures is conducted based on the ISO, IEST, and NEBB standards. The procedures involved verifying the operating parameters are air change rate, room differential pressure, relative humidity, and air temperature. Upon verifying that the OR parameters are in the recommended operating range, the measurements of the PMs and sampling of the microbes were conducted. The TSI 9510-02 particle counter was used to measure three different sizes of PMs: PM 0.5, PM 5, and PM 10. The MAS-100ECO air sampler was used to quantify the microbial counts. The present study confirms that PM 0.5 does not have an apparent positive correlation with the microbial count. However, the evident correlation of 7% and 15% were identified for both PM 5 and PM 10, respectively. Therefore, it is suggested that frequent monitoring of both PM 5 and PM 10 should be practised in an OR before each surgical procedure. This correlation approach could provide an instantaneous estimation of the microbial counts present in the OR.
本研究旨在建立四个手术室（OR）中颗粒物（PM）与微生物计数之间的关系。这些 OR 位于马来西亚半岛西海岸的一家私立医院内。开发系统程序的目的是确保 PM 与微生物计数之间的相关性是有效的。每个程序都基于 ISO、IEST 和 NEBB 标准进行。这些程序包括验证运行参数，即空气交换率、房间压差、相对湿度和空气温度。在确认 OR 参数处于推荐的运行范围内后，进行 PM 测量和微生物采样。使用 TSI 9510-02 粒子计数器测量三种不同粒径的 PM：PM0.5、PM5 和 PM10。使用 MAS-100ECO 空气采样器定量微生物计数。本研究证实 PM0.5 与微生物计数之间没有明显的正相关关系。然而，PM5 和 PM10 分别有 7%和 15%的明显相关性。因此，建议在每次手术前对 OR 中的 PM5 和 PM10 进行频繁监测。这种相关性方法可以提供 OR 中存在的微生物计数的即时估计。
