Department of Environmental & Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0056, USA.
Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0428, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 18;19(6):3613. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063613.
Home healthcare workers (HHCWs) are subjected to variable working environments which increase their risk of being exposed to numerous occupational hazards. One of the potential occupational hazards within the industry includes exposure to bioaerosols. This study aimed to characterize concentrations of three types of bioaerosols utilizing a novel fluorescence-based direct-reading instrument during seven activities that HHCWs typically encounter in patients' homes. Bioaerosols were measured in an indoor residence throughout all seasons in Cincinnati, OH, USA. A fluorescence-based direct-reading instrument (InstaScope, DetectionTek, Boulder, CO, USA) was utilized for all data collection. Total particle counts and concentrations for each particle type, including fluorescent and non-fluorescent particles, were utilized to form the response variable, a normalized concentration calculated as a ratio of concentration during activity to the background concentration. Walking experiments produced a median concentration ratio of 52.45 and 2.77 for pollen and fungi, respectively. Fungi and bacteria produced the highest and lowest median concentration ratios of 17.81 and 1.90 for showering, respectively. Lastly, our current study showed that sleeping activity did not increase bioaerosol concentrations. We further conclude that utilizing direct-reading methods may save time and effort in bioaerosol-exposure assessment.
家庭保健工作者（HHCWs）所处的工作环境多变，这增加了他们接触多种职业危害的风险。该行业的潜在职业危害之一包括接触生物气溶胶。本研究旨在利用一种新型荧光直接读数仪器，在 HHCWs 通常在患者家中遇到的七种活动中，对三种类型的生物气溶胶浓度进行特征描述。在美国俄亥俄州辛辛那提市，所有季节均在室内住宅中测量生物气溶胶。所有数据收集均使用基于荧光的直接读数仪器（InstaScope，DetectionTek，博尔德，CO，美国）。总颗粒物计数和每种颗粒物类型（包括荧光和非荧光颗粒物）的浓度用于形成响应变量，归一化浓度作为活动期间的浓度与背景浓度的比值进行计算。步行实验产生的花粉和真菌的中位数浓度比分别为 52.45 和 2.77。真菌和细菌在洗澡时产生的最高和最低中位数浓度比分别为 17.81 和 1.90。最后，我们的研究表明，睡眠活动不会增加生物气溶胶浓度。我们进一步得出结论，利用直接读数方法可能会节省生物气溶胶暴露评估的时间和精力。
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