Seasonal variation of quantitative microbial risk assessment for three airborne enteric bacteria from wastewater treatment plant emissions

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

Frederic Coulon¹  Xiang Li²  Sonia Garcia Alcega²  Zhang-di Peng³  Zi-cheng Gui⁴  Zaheer Ahmad Nasir⁴  Cheng Yan⁴  Man-li Liu⁵ 

[1] Correspondence to: School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan 430074, People’s Republic of China.;Hubei Key Laboratory of Environmental Water Science in the Yangtze River Basin, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People’s Republic of China;Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Hubei Water Resource Technical College, Wuhan 430202, People’s Republic of China;School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, People’s Republic of China;Three Gorges Base Development Co., Ltd., Yichang 443002, People’s Republic of China;

关键词: Enteric bacteria bioaerosols;    Emission characteristics;    Monte Carlo simulation;    Annual probability of infection;    Disease burden;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Airborne E. coli, fecal coliform, and Enterococcus are all related to sewage worker’s syndrome and therefore used as target enteric bioaerosols about researches in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, most of the studies are often inadequately carried out because they lack systematic studies reports bioaerosols emission characteristics and health risk assessments for these three enteric bacteria during seasonal variation. Therefore, quantitative microbial risk assessment based on Monte Carlo simulation was utilized in this research to assess the seasonal variations of health risks of the three enteric bioaerosols among exposure populations (academic visitors, field engineers, and office staffs) in a WWTP equipped with rotating-disc and microporous aeration modes. The results show that the concentrations of the three airborne bacteria from the rotating-disc aeration mode were 2–7 times higher than the microporous aeration mode. Field engineers had health risks 1.5 times higher than academic visitors due to higher exposure frequency. Health risks of airborne Enterococcus in summer were up to 3 times higher than those in spring and winter. Similarly, health risks associated to E. coli aerosol exposure were 0.3 times higher in summer compared to spring. In contrast, health risks associated with fecal coliform aerosol were between 2 and 19 times lower in summer compared to spring and winter seasons. Data further suggest that wearing of N95 mask could minimize health risks by 1–2 orders of magnitude. This research shed light on seasonal variation of health risks associated with bioaerosol emission from wastewater utilities.

【 授权许可】

Unknown