title: Documentation of bioaerosol concentrations in an indoor composting facility in France.
abstract: Bioaerosol concentrations were investigated in a totally indoor composting facility processing fermentable household and green wastes to assess their variability. Stationary samples were collected by filtration close to specific composting operations and then were analysed for cultivable mesophilic bacteria, thermophilic bacteria, mesophilic fungi, thermophilic fungi, endotoxins and total airborne bacteria (DAPI-staining). Indoor concentrations exceeded the background levels, between 500 and 5400 EU m(-3) for endotoxins, 10(4) and 10(6) CFU m(-3) for cultivable bacteria and generally below 10(5) CFU m(-3) for airborne cultivable fungi. No significant (p > 0.05) differences were observed between the indoor composting operations. Successive 30 minute bioaerosol samples were collected to investigate the variation of cultivable mesophilic microorganisms over the work shift. Concentrations of mesophilic bacteria and fungi varied up to 1 log unit depending on the time at which they were collected in the day. Total airborne particles, counted using an optical particle counter, were present at up to 10(8) particles m(-3) and several concentration peaks were noted. Values for total airborne bacteria were roughly 70-fold higher than cultivable bacteria. These results raise the question of the sampling strategy (duration of sampling; number of samples to be collected) used in similar studies. They provide new bioaerosol concentration data in a composting facility and suggest that the filtration sampling method might be a useful tool for exposure measurements in that occupational environment.
authors.affiliation: INRS-Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité, 1 rue du Morvan, CS 60027, 54519 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France. philippe.duquenne@inrs.fr
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Duquenne
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Koehler
authors.forename: Solimar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goncalves-Machado
authors.forename: Guylaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Greff
authors.forename: Thérèse
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nicot
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poirot
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D000391:Air Microbiology; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012037:Refuse Disposal
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational