Health Effects and Exposure Assessment to Bio-aerosols in Indoor Environments- An Instrumental Case Study

Abstract

The pollutants in air are invisible but cause greater threat to the society. In recent times, the spread of the life-threatening disease was also spread through air. Outdoor and indoor air pollution is frequently cited as key contributors to environmental health issues. One of the areas in which the pollutants grow rapidly and the chance of mutating is slaughterhouse. Typically, hazardous gases, scents, and significant amounts of dust particles with biological and non-biological origin contaminate the air in slaughterhouses. However, there hasn’t been much research done on the exposure of air pollutants in slaughterhouses. So, this study focuses on the pollutants which are present in the slaughterhouse. In this research, the correlation results for weekend data showed highest positive relation between PM₁, PM_2.5, PM₁₀ and relative humidity. We identified highest bacterial load 3.9*10² CFU/m³ in chicken cutting area as compared to the lowest 8.5*10 CFU/m³ observed in area of live chicken. The isolated bacterial species identified as Macrococcus goetzii using 16s rRNA analysis and phylogenetic tree analysis showed 99.62% identity with Staphylococcus aureus. Hence, it may be responsible for pathogenesis and can be associated with health risk in workers.