title: Air-borne microorganisms in the metropolitan area of Graz, Austria.
abstract: Urban and rural regions are affected by different microorganism loads depending on their structure and utilization. At 7 sampling sites in the metropolitan area of Graz, counts of airborne bacteria as well as yeasts and molds were conducted over a one-year period at two-week intervals. Bacteria and yeasts/molds counts in a village area to the South of Graz dominated by agriculture exceeded the corresponding counts in a suburban residential area fourfold (327 CFU/m3 air-bacteria) and twofold (185 CFU/m3 air-yeasts/molds) respectively. In the vicinity of a composting facility located in the same residential area, microorganism counts exceeded those of the neighboring "unaffected" area by 29% in the case of bacteria and by 54% in the case of yeasts/molds. At an industrial and business site with heavy traffic, the counts are twice that of the area affected by the composting facility (146 CFU/m3 for bacteria and 168 CFU/m3 for yeasts/molds). The proportion of Aspergillus fumigatus is highest in the village area with 23%, compared to 10% in the open land. 49% of the bacteria and 54% of the yeasts and molds can be shown on stages 4-6 of the Andersen-Volumetric-Sampler registering the respirable particle sizes.
authors.affiliation: Office for Information of Environment Protection Institute of Hygiene, University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Köck
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schlacher
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Pichler-Semmelrock
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Reinthaler
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Eibel
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marth
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Friedl
mesh_terms: D000391:Air Microbiology; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D012423:Rural Health; D012621:Seasons; D014504:Urban Health