Identifying and Determining Dispersion Boundary Bio-aerosols of Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens from Municipal Waste Collection Containers

Background & Aims of the Study: Identifying and determining the dispersion boundary bioaerosolsof bacterial and fungal pathogens for locating containers of municipal waste in accuratemanagement to prevent from health damage and enhance society health is essential. The aim ofthis research is to identify and assess the radius of bacterial and fungal bio-aerosol emissionsfrom municipal waste collection containers.Materials and methods: This was a cross- sectional study in Gonabad city in which air sampleprepared from around the containers from July to October 2015. Sampling was carried out byactive Zefon A6 Impactor samplers at a distance of 1.5 m from surface of earth and in severalhorizontal distances up to 2 m from containers. Totally, 360 samples were gathered and thebacteria and fungi were identified by microbiology tests. Also, temperature, humidity and windspeed was measured.Results: Aspergillus, yeast and Alternaria were the most dominant species of fungi in around ofcontainers. Among bacteria, gram-positive bacilli and Staphylococcus epidermidis weredominant. Most of bio-aerosols in a distance of 25 cm from the containers (228.00±167.12CFU/m3) and the lowest were observed at a distance of 2 m of the containers (223.86±204.72CFU/m3).Conclusion: The findings indicated that municipal waste collection containers released thehazardous biological agents as Aspergillus and Staphylococcus aureus that are very pathogenicfor human in environment. So the position of the garbage containers for decline the environmenthealth effect, it should not be less than 2 m from human exposure.

Keywords:

Bio-Aerosols , Municipal Waste , Hazardous Biological Agents Waste Collection Iran