363671

Microbial air quality in a complex public building: influence of work type, height level and environmental stressors

Article

Last updated: 15 Feb 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Environmental chemistry

Abstract

The behavior of indoor microbial air community is not well understood due to complex functional characteristics of building and environmental stressors. This study aims to understand behavior of microbial air community in relation to work type, height level and environmental factors in a complex built environment. A field survey was conducted at random sites of a research institute. Air microbial (bacteria, fungi & actinomycetes), chemical (PM, NO2, SO2, NH3 & HCOH) and physical (T°C, RH%, noise, lighting & electromagnetic strength) parameters were measured using integrated and real-time instruments. The overall microbial concentrations averaged 4451 CFU/m3 (95% CI: 3795-5107 CFU/m3), 916 CFU /m3 (95% CI: 745-1087 CFU /m3), 556 CFU /m3 (95% CI: 473-639 CFU/m3) and 197 CFU/m3 (95% CI: 140- 254 CFU/m3) for environmental bacteria, mesophilic bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes, respectively. Global index of microbial contamination was significantly high at the hospital and near surface ground level. Amplification index of microbial concentration was ≥1.5 at 14% of total sites. Microbial concentrations decreased with increasing height level. Environmental stressors had complex interactions with microbial concentrations. Multiple linear regressions showed that ventilation influenced environmental bacteria. RH% and PM positively influenced mesophilic bacteria and fungal concentrations, respectively. Standardizing environmental factors could control microbial community in buildings.

DOI

10.21608/ejchem.2024.281559.9562

Keywords

Built Environment, Microbial air community, Air Quality, Height level, Ventilation, lighting, Electromagnetic Field

Authors

First Name

Abdel Hameed

Last Name

Awad

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Air Pollution Research Dept., Environment & Climate Change Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt

Email

abed196498@yahoo.com

City

cairo

Orcid

-

First Name

Yuosra

Last Name

Saeed

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Air Pollution Research Dept., Environment & Climate Change Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt

Email

haneen_ys@hotmail.com

City

-

Orcid

0000-0002-5183-4342

First Name

Safaa

Last Name

El-Gendy

MiddleName

Atef

Affiliation

Air Pollution Research Dept., Environment & Climate Change Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt

Email

safaaelgendy@hotmail.com

City

cairo

Orcid

-

First Name

Salwa

Last Name

Hassan

MiddleName

Kamal

Affiliation

Air Pollution Research Dept., Environment & Climate Change Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt

Email

salwa_kamal2004@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

68

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

53637

Issue Date

2025-02-01

Receive Date

2024-04-06

Publish Date

2025-02-01

Page Start

429

Page End

441

Print ISSN

0449-2285

Online ISSN

2357-0245

Link

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/article_363671.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=363671

Order

363,671

Type

Original Article

Type Code

297

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Chemistry

Publication Link

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Microbial air quality in a complex public building: influence of work type, height level and environmental stressors

Details

Type

Article

Created At

15 Feb 2025