| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.34 MB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The lack of knowledge regarding the extent of microbial contamination in Portuguese fitness centers (FC) puts attendees and athletes at risk for bioaerosol exposure. This study intends to characterize microbial contamination in Portuguese FC by passive sampling methods: electrostatic dust collectors (EDC) (N=39), settled dust (N=8), vacuum filters (N=8), and used cleaning mops (N=12). The obtained extracts were plated in selective culture media for fungi and bacteria. Filters, EDC, and mop sample extracts were also screened for antifungal resistance and used for the molecular detection of the selected Aspergillus sections. The detection of mycotoxins was conducted using a high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) system and to determine the cytotoxicity of microbial contaminants recovered by passive sampling, HepG2 (human liver carcinoma) and A549 (human alveolar epithelial) cells were employed. The results reinforce the use of passive sampling methods to identify the most critical areas and identify environmental factors that influence microbial contamination, namely having a swimming pool. The cardio fitness area presented the highest median value of total bacteria (TSA: 9.69x102 CFU.m-2.day-1) and Gram-negative bacteria (VRBA: 1.23 CFU.m-2.day-1), while for fungi it was the open space area, with 1.86x101 CFU.m-2.day-1. Aspergillus sp. was present in EDC and in filters used to collect settled dust. Reduced azole susceptibility was observed in filters, EDC (on ICZ and VCZ), and mops (on ICZ). Fumonisin B2 was the only mycotoxin detected and was present in all sampling matrixes except settled dust. High and moderate cytotoxicity was obtained, suggesting that A549 cells were more sensitive to samples’ contaminants. The observed widespread of critical toxigenic fungal species with clinical relevance, such as Aspergillus section Fumigati, as well as Fumonisin B2 emphasizes the importance of frequent and effective cleaning procedures while using shared mops appeared as a vehicle of cross-contamination.
Description
This research was funded by the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, under the program "Regional Initiative of Excellence" in 2019 - 2022 (Grant No. 008/RID/2018/19), by Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal for funding the Projects IPL/2023/FoodAIIEU_ESTeSL; IPL/2023/ASPRisk_ESTeSL; IPL/2023/ARAFSawmills_ESTeSL. H&TRC and by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (Portugal) for funding the EEA Grants Project “Microbiological contamination in cultural heritage settings: shared experiences for better approaches - FBR_OC2_66”. The authors gratefully acknowledge the FCT/MCTES national support through the UIDB/05608/2020, UIDP/05608/2020, and the Ph.D. Grant UI/BD/151431/2021. This work was also supported by national funds through FCT/MCTES/FSE/UE, UI/BD/153746/2022, and CE3C unit UIDB/00329/2020 within the scope of a PhD Grant.
We thank the fitness centers and workers for participating in the study. The work was supported by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) as the following: LEPABE (DOI: 10.54499/UIDB/00511/2020; DOI: 10.54499/UIDP/00511/2020); ALiCE (DOI: 10.54499/LA/P/0045/2020); REQUIMTE (DOI: 10.54499/UIDB/50006/2020; DOI: 10.54499/UIDP/50006/2020; DOI: 10.54499/ LA/P/0008/2020) from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MCTES).
Additional funding was provided by PCIF/SSO/0017/2018 FCT through national funds. Cátia Peixoto would like to acknowledge FCT for her fellowship SFRH/BD/147185/2019.
Keywords
Occupational health Occupational exposure Microbial contamination Fitness centers Aspergillus sp. Azole resistance Mycotoxins Portugal IPL/2023/FoodAIIEU_ESTeSL IPL/2023/ASPRisk_ESTeSL IPL/2023/ARAFSawmills_ESTeSL FCT_FBR_OC2_66 FCT_UIDB/05608/2020 FCT_UIDP/05608/2020
Citation
Viegas C, Gomes B, Dias M, Cervantes R, Pena P, Carolino E, Viegas S, Caetano LA, et al. Assessment of Portuguese fitness centers: bridging the knowledge gap on harmful microbial contamination with focus on fungi. Environ Pollution. 2024;350:123976.
Publisher
Elsevier