El-Bestawy Ebtesam, Ibrahim Mohammed Mahmoud, Shalaby El Sayed Ahmed
Department of Environmental Studies, Institute of Graduate Studies & Research (IGSR), Alexandria University, 163 Horria Ave. El-Shatby, P.O. Box 832, Alexandria, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 16;14(1):30479. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-79645-z.
Bioaerosol studies showed that wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a significant source of bioaerosol emissions. In this study, 170 samples of total bacteria, total coliform, and total fungi were collected from 10 sites within a domestic WWTP, Alexandria, Egypt, using the sedimentation technique. According to the Index of Microbial Air Contamination (IMA) classes, the total bacteria range was 108-5120 CFU/dm/hour, and all samples were classified as "very poor" except one sample of an office, which was classified as "poor." The total coliform range was 0-565 CFU/dm/hour, and 6 samples were classified as "very poor," while one sample was classified as "poor." The total fungi range was 0-209 CFU/dm/hour, and 9 samples were classified as "very poor," while 4 samples were classified as "poor." After the conversion to CFU/m, the counts of total bacteria, total coliforms, and total fungi were 897 - 42.7 × 10, 0-4.71 × 10, and 0-2.69 × 10 CFU/m, respectively. Several identified bioaerosols have been reported before as a cause of human infections. They included Lysinibacillus fusiformis, Bacillus cereus, Alcaligenes faecalis, Klebsiella sp., Escherichia coli, Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Rhizopus sp., Candida sp., and Rhodotorula sp. These results indicated an increased health risk to WWTP staff, which needs more attention and more efficient control measures.
生物气溶胶研究表明，污水处理厂是生物气溶胶排放的重要来源。在本研究中，采用沉降技术从埃及亚历山大市一家生活污水处理厂的10个地点采集了170份总细菌、总大肠菌群和总真菌样本。根据微生物空气污染指数（IMA）等级，总细菌范围为108 - 5120 CFU/dm/小时，除一个办公室样本被归类为“差”外，所有样本均被归类为“极差”。总大肠菌群范围为0 - 565 CFU/dm/小时，6个样本被归类为“极差”，1个样本被归类为“差”。总真菌范围为0 - 209 CFU/dm/小时，9个样本被归类为“极差”，4个样本被归类为“差”。转换为CFU/m后，总细菌、总大肠菌群和总真菌的计数分别为897 - 42.7×10、0 - 4.71×10和0 - 2.69×10 CFU/m。之前已有报道称，几种已鉴定的生物气溶胶是人类感染的原因。它们包括梭形赖氨酸芽孢杆菌、蜡样芽孢杆菌、粪产碱杆菌、克雷伯菌属、大肠杆菌、曲霉属、青霉属、根霉属、念珠菌属和红酵母属。这些结果表明污水处理厂工作人员的健康风险增加，需要更多关注和更有效的控制措施。
