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Microorganisms
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Microbial Exposure Assessments in Different Occupational and Indoor Settings, 2nd...
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Microbial Exposure Assessments in Different Occupational and Indoor Settings, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 3484

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Carla Viegas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. H & TRC—Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL—Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1990-096 Lisbon, Portugal
2. Public Health Research Centre, NOVA National School of Public Health, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal
3. Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC), NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: fungal occupational exposure; indoor air quality; aspergillus epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microorganisms are present in different occupational and indoor settings. Thus, workers/occupants are constantly exposed to a wide range of species, including those that are a part of our natural flora, as well as opportunistic and pathogenic varieties that may potentiate the development of adverse health outcomes. Different sampling methods and various assays can be employed to obtain useful information in the scope of exposure assessment to microbial contamination and, consequently, to risk characterization and management. Culture-dependent and, more recently, culture-independent methodologies have been applied to analyze microbial communities in different indoor environments. The use of different analysis methods can provide different and divergent perspectives on the stages of microbial growth and quantity. This Special Issue will focus on various occupational/indoor sources of microbial exposures, sampling and analysis methods, as well as potential health consequences of those exposures.

Prof. Dr. Carla Viegas
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. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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 air quality
  • occupational exposure
  • microbial contamination
  • fungi
  • bacteria
  • viruses
  • sampling and analysis methods
  • worker/occupant health

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 3799 KiB  
Article
Microbial Community Establishment, Succession, and Temporal Dynamics in an Industrial Semi-Synthetic Metalworking Fluid Operation: A 50-Week Real-Time Tracking
by Renuka Kapoor, Suresh Babu Selvaraju, Venkataramanan Subramanian and Jagjit S. Yadav
Microorganisms 2024, 12(2), 267; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12020267 - 26 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1333
Abstract
Microorganisms colonizing modern water-based metalworking fluids (MWFs) have been implicated in various occupational respiratory health hazards to machinists. An understanding of the exposure risks from specific microbial groups/genera/species (pathogenic or allergenic) and their endotoxins and the need for strategies for effective, timely fluid [...] Read more.
Microorganisms colonizing modern water-based metalworking fluids (MWFs) have been implicated in various occupational respiratory health hazards to machinists. An understanding of the exposure risks from specific microbial groups/genera/species (pathogenic or allergenic) and their endotoxins and the need for strategies for effective, timely fluid management warrant real-time extended tracking of the establishment of microbial diversity and the prevailing fluid-related factors. In the current study, the microbial community composition, succession, and dynamics of a freshly recharged industrial semi-synthetic MWF operation was tracked in real-time over a period of 50 weeks, using a combination of microbiological and molecular approaches. Substantial initial bacterial count (both viable and non-viable) even in the freshly recharged MWF pointed to the inefficiency of the dumping, cleaning, and recharge (DCR) process. Subsequent temporal analysis using optimized targeted genus/group-specific qPCR confirmed the presence of Pseudomonads, Enterics, Legionellae, Mycobacteria (M. immunogenum), Actinomycetes, and Fungi. In contrast, selective culturing using commercial culture media yielded non-specific isolates and collectively revealed Gram-negative (13 genera representing 19 isolates) and Gram-positive (2 genera representing 6 isolates) bacteria and fungi but not mycobacteria. Citrobacter sp. and Bacillus cereus represented the most frequent Gram-negative and Gram-positive isolates, respectively, across different media and Nectria haematococca isolation as the first evidence of this fungal pathogen colonizing semi-synthetic MWF. Unbiased PCR-DGGE analysis revealed a more diverse whole community composition revealing 22 bacterial phylotypes and their succession. Surges in the endotoxin level coincided with the spikes in Gram-negative bacterial population and biocide additions. Taken together, the results showed that semi-synthetic MWF is conducive for the growth of a highly diverse microbial community including potential bacterial and fungal pathogens, the current DCR practices are inefficient in combating microbial reestablishment, and the practice of periodic biocide additions facilitates the build-up of endotoxins and non-viable bacterial population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Exposure Assessments in Different Occupational and Indoor Settings, 2nd Edition)
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Review

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24 pages, 1064 KiB  
Review
Filling the Knowledge Gap Regarding Microbial Occupational Exposure Assessment in Waste Water Treatment Plants: A Scoping Review
by Bruna Riesenberger, Margarida Rodriguez, Liliana Marques, Renata Cervantes, Bianca Gomes, Marta Dias, Pedro Pena, Edna Ribeiro and Carla Viegas
Microorganisms 2024, 12(6), 1144; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12061144 - 4 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1744
Abstract
Background: Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are crucial in the scope of European Commission circular economy implementation. However, bioaerosol production may be a hazard for occupational and public health. A scoping review regarding microbial contamination exposure assessment in WWTPs was performed. Methods: This study [...] Read more.
Background: Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are crucial in the scope of European Commission circular economy implementation. However, bioaerosol production may be a hazard for occupational and public health. A scoping review regarding microbial contamination exposure assessment in WWTPs was performed. Methods: This study was performed through PRISMA methodology in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. Results: 28 papers were selected for data extraction. The WWTPs’ most common sampled sites are the aeration tank (42.86%), sludge dewatering basin (21.43%) and grit chamber. Air sampling is the preferred sampling technique and culture-based methods were the most frequently employed assays. Staphylococcus sp. (21.43%), Bacillus sp. (7.14%), Clostridium sp. (3.57%), Escherichia sp. (7.14%) and Legionella sp. (3.57%) were the most isolated bacteria and Aspergillus sp. (17.86%), Cladosporium sp. (10.71%) and Alternaria sp. (10.71%) dominated the fungal presence. Conclusions: This study allowed the identification of the following needs: (a) common protocol from the field (sampling campaign) to the lab (assays to employ); (b) standardized contextual information to be retrieved allowing a proper risk control and management; (c) the selection of the most suitable microbial targets to serve as indicators of harmful microbial exposure. Filling these gaps with further studies will help to provide robust science to policy makers and stakeholders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Exposure Assessments in Different Occupational and Indoor Settings, 2nd Edition)
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