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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Background: Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are crucial in the scope of European Commission circular economy implementation. However, bioaerosol production may be a hazard to 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 policymakers and stakeholders.
Description
Authors gratefully acknowledge the FCT/MCTES national support through the UIDB/05608/2020; UIDP/05608/2020. This research was funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES/FSE/UE, 2023.01366.BD; UI/BD/153746/2022 and CE3C unit UIDB/00329/2020, UI/BD/151431/2021, and Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, national support through IPL/2022/InChildhealth/BI/12M; IPL/IDI&CA2023/FoodAIIEU_ESTeSL; IPL/IDI&CA2023/ASPRisk_ESTeSL; IPL/IDI&CA2023/ARAFSawmills_ESTeSL.
Keywords
Environmental health Occupational exposure Wastewater treatment plants Sampling methods Assays Microbial contamination assessment Bacteria Fungi FCT_UIDB/05608/2020 FCT_UIDP/05608/2020 FCT/MCTES/FSE/UE, 2023.01366.BD UI/BD/153746/2022 CE3C unit UIDB/00329/2020 UI/BD/151431/2021 IPL/2022/InChildhealth/BI/12M IPL/IDI&CA2023/FoodAIIEU_ESTeSL IPL/IDI&CA2023/ASPRisk_ESTeSL IPL/IDI&CA2023/ARAFSawmills_ESTeSL
Citation
Riesenberger B (Bruna), Rodriguez M (Margarida), Marques L (Liliana), Cervantes R, Gomes B, Dias M, Pena P, Ribeiro E, Viegas C. Filling the knowledge gap regarding microbial occupational exposure assessment in waste water treatment plants: a scoping review. Microorganisms. 2024;12(6):1144.
Publisher
MDPI