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Distribution characteristics and noncarcinogenic risk assessment of culturable airborne bacteria and fungi during winter in Xinxiang, China

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Abstract

Bioaerosols are an important component of particulate matter in the atmosphere and are harmful to human health. In this study, the concentration, size distribution, and factors influencing culturable airborne bacteria and fungi in the atmosphere were investigated using a six-stage impactor device in the city of Xinxiang, China, during the winter season. The results revealed that the concentration of culturable airborne bacteria and fungi varied significantly during the sampling period: 4595 ± 3410 and 6358 ± 5032 CFU/m3, respectively. The particle sizes of the bioaerosols were mainly within stage V (1.1–2.1 μm), and fine particulate matter accounted for 45.9% ± 18.9% of airborne bacteria and 52.0% ± 18.5% of airborne fungi, respectively. With the deterioration of air quality, the concentration of airborne fungi gradually increased, and that of airborne bacteria increased when the air quality index was lower than 200 and decreased when it was higher than 200. With respect to the diurnal variation pattern of bioaerosol concentration, the highest and lowest concentrations were registered at night and noon, respectively, probably because of changes in ultraviolet radiation intensity. Bioaerosol concentration positively correlated with humidity, concentration of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 and negatively correlated with O3 concentration. The risk of exposure of humans to the airborne bacteria was primarily associated with the respiratory inhalation pathway, and the risk of skin exposure was negligible. These results should improve our understanding of the threat of bioaerosols to public health.

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Funding

This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51408199) and the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province of China (No. 182300410157).

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  1. School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Control, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, 453007, Henan, China

    Xu Yan, Dezhi Qiu, Shikan Zheng, Jie Yang, Hongyan Sun, Yue Wei, Jingru Han, Jianhui Sun & Xianfa Su

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  1. Xu Yan
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  2. Dezhi Qiu
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Yan, X., Qiu, D., Zheng, S. et al. Distribution characteristics and noncarcinogenic risk assessment of culturable airborne bacteria and fungi during winter in Xinxiang, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 36698–36709 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06720-8

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