Bioaerosols of the Municipal Waste Landfill Site as a Source of Microbiological Air Pollution and Health Hazard

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the composition of bacterial and fungal aerosol on the premises of the Municipal Waste Disposal Complex at Zolwin-Wypaleniska near Bydgoszcz and to evaluate the degree of microbiological air pollution at the appointed stands. Microbial concentration in the air was determined at the waste sorting station and in the active sector of the landfill site as well as in the point situated 200 m beyond the facility. It was found that the total number of bacteria in the air ranged from 10 to 10 cfu · m and many times strong air pollution occurred on the premises of that facility. High concentration level of actinomycetes and indicator bacteria Pseudomonas flourescens contributed also to strong or moderate air pollution at research stands 1 and 2. Potentially pathogenic bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae (such as bacilli of Salmonella sp. and Escherichia coli) as well as faecal streptococci occurred in the largest amounts also at stands 1 and 2, and their number reached up to 10 cfu · m. The obtained values show that both the sorting station the active sector of the waste landfill are serious emission sources of dangerous bacterial aerosol. They can pose a health hazard to the workers staying at those workstands. The determined amounts of fungal aerosol prove that it did not pose a microbiological hazard, and the studied air was described as moderately clean throughout the research period, only in the area of the sorting station it was polluted at several times. Among the isolated fungi, species of the genera Aspergillus and Penicillium predominated, as well as Sclerotinia sclerotorum. However, also potentially pathogenic species were detected in the studied air, such as: Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium herbarium, Alternaria alternata etc. Their presence may affect the health of people (workers of the facility and residents of neighbouring areas) and the risk of the environmental pollution, since those species are well-known for their production of mycotoxins and inducing allergic reactions. Based on the registered concentrations of bacteria and fungi at the point 200 m away from the facility, it should be assumed that the studied air was not polluted and bioaerosol transmission from the sources of emission to the surrounding areas did not occur.