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Environmental Health and Microbiology
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Environmental Health and Microbiology

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 11106

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Naomichi Yamamoto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
Interests: indoor environment; bioaerosols; aerobiology; molds; environmental microbiology; environmental microbiome; environmental genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to publish papers related to environmental microorganisms and associated human health problems. Microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi, in the environment affect human health via airborne, waterborne, and soilborne exposures. The diseases caused by these microorganisms include respiratory allergy and infection, and diarrheal and gastrointestinal disorders. In this Special Issue, we aim to publish papers describing environmental microorganisms and associated human health problems. Topics include but are not limited to environmental monitoring, exposure assessment, control technologies, and detection and monitoring techniques for disease-causing environmental microorganisms. We invite not only original articles, but also high-quality review articles to raise awareness of a given research field of environmental health microbiology.

Prof. Dr. Naomichi Yamamoto
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • indoor environment
  • bioaerosols
  • aerobiology
  • molds
  • environmental microbiology
  • environmental microbiome
  • environmental genomics

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

8 pages, 1146 KiB  
Communication
The Influence of Carpeting, Human Activity and Number of Beds on Airborne Fungi Concentration in Hotel Bedrooms
by Patricio Zapata-Morín, Raúl Reyna-Martinez, Nydia Orue, Rogelio de J. Treviño-Rangel, Mariana Elizondo-Zertuche, Juan Adame-Rodríguez, Yair Becerra-Siller, Verónica Sánchez-Ovalle and Efrén Robledo-Leal
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(15), 6773; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11156773 - 23 Jul 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2197
Abstract
In urban environments, people spend about 90% of their time indoors, where strong indicators of air-borne contaminants have been found. Currently, there are no reports on the fungal presence and distribution in the air of hotel bedrooms. In this study, we assessed the [...] Read more.
In urban environments, people spend about 90% of their time indoors, where strong indicators of air-borne contaminants have been found. Currently, there are no reports on the fungal presence and distribution in the air of hotel bedrooms. In this study, we assessed the presence of airborne fungi in bedrooms from three hotels and correlated with room characteristics. We sampled 100 L (L) of air from hotels in Nuevo León, Mexico, then fungi colony forming units (CFU) were measured and identification was made based on morphological features. Variables considered were the presence of carpet, number of beds, cleaning status for the room and floor number. Penicillium, Cladosporium and Aspergillus exhibited the highest CFU concentration and frequency. A slight tendency was observed towards lower fungi concentrations when rooms had been cleaned before sampling. Statistical differences were found between rooms with carpet vs. no carpet, and one vs. two beds. Furthermore, a correlation between floor number and fungi concentration was observed with correspondence to the hotels’ room assignment protocol. These findings offer new variables to take into consideration when designing and implementing preventive or corrective sanitization procedures to improve their efficiency and could be relevant for hotel bedrooms as well as any other type of room. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Health and Microbiology)
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30 pages, 1591 KiB  
Article
Modeling Aerial Transmission of Pathogens (Including the SARS-CoV-2 Virus) through Aerosol Emissions from E-Cigarettes
by Roberto A. Sussman, Eliana Golberstein and Riccardo Polosa
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(14), 6355; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11146355 - 9 Jul 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3727
Abstract
We examine the plausibility of aerial transmission of pathogens (including the SARS-CoV-2 virus) through respiratory droplets that might be carried by exhaled e-cigarette aerosol (ECA). Given the lack of empiric evidence on this phenomenon, we consider available evidence on cigarette smoking and respiratory [...] Read more.
We examine the plausibility of aerial transmission of pathogens (including the SARS-CoV-2 virus) through respiratory droplets that might be carried by exhaled e-cigarette aerosol (ECA). Given the lack of empiric evidence on this phenomenon, we consider available evidence on cigarette smoking and respiratory droplet emission from mouth breathing through a mouthpiece as convenient proxies to infer the capacity of vaping to transport pathogens in respiratory droplets. Since both exhaled droplets and ECA droplets are within the Stokes regime, the ECA flow acts effectively as a visual tracer of the expiratory flow. To infer quantitatively the direct exposure distance, we consider a model that approximates exhaled ECA flow as an axially symmetric intermittent steady starting jet evolving into an unstable puff, an evolution that we corroborate by comparison with photographs and videos of actual vapers. On the grounds of all this theoretical modeling, we estimate for low-intensity vaping (practiced by 80–90% of vapers) the emission of 6–210 (median 39.9, median deviation 67.3) respiratory submicron droplets per puff and a horizontal distance spread of 1–2 m, with intense vaping possibly emitting up to 1000 droplets per puff in the submicron range with a distance spread over 2 m. The optical visibility of the ECA flow has important safety implications, as bystanders become instinctively aware of the scope and distance of possible direct contagion through the vaping jet. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Health and Microbiology)
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13 pages, 2749 KiB  
Article
Fungal Assemblages on Indoor Surfaces with Visible Mold Growth in Homes after the 2016 Flood Disaster in Thailand
by Nopadol Precha, Wissanupong Kliengchuay, Cheolwoon Woo, Naomichi Yamamoto and Kraichat Tantrakarnapa
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(15), 5322; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10155322 - 31 Jul 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4257
Abstract
Southern Thailand suffers from floods due to heavy rainfalls every year. Post-flood increases in indoor fungi are a public health concern. Here, we investigated fungal assemblages on indoor surfaces with visible mold growth in homes after the 2016 flood disaster in Trang Province [...] Read more.
Southern Thailand suffers from floods due to heavy rainfalls every year. Post-flood increases in indoor fungi are a public health concern. Here, we investigated fungal assemblages on indoor surfaces with visible mold growth in homes after the 2016 flood disaster in Trang Province in Southern Thailand, using swab sampling followed by high-throughput DNA sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer 1 region. The most abundant phyla detected were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, with respective mean relative abundances of 87% and 13%. The dominant genera and their mean relative abundances were Leptospora (12.0%), Cystobasidium (7.7%), and Pyrenochaetopsis (6.5%). P-tests showed that indoor visible fungal assemblages in flooded homes in Thailand were significantly different from those in the non-flooded mold-laden homes observed in our previous study in South Korea. We detected 20 genera that contain species that can induce type I allergies, including Alternaria (3.8%) and Trichoderma (4.0%). Genera related to infectious, melanized, and toxigenic fungi were also detected. Indoor fungal measurements gathered using a DNA-based approach revealed fungal communities in homes in Thailand and provide important information about the potential health risks. Future research should examine the fungal infections and allergies that might be caused by flood disasters in less well studied tropical countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Health and Microbiology)
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