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Large particles are responsible for elevated bacterial marker levels in school air upon occupation

Fox, A ; Harley, W ; Feigley, C ; Salzberg, D ; Toole, C ; Sebastian, Aleksandra LU and Larsson, Lennart LU (2005) In Journal of Environmental Monitoring 7(5). p.450-456
Abstract
Muramic acid (Mur) is found in bacterial peptidoglycan ( PG) whereas 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH FAs) are found in Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Thus Mur and 3-OH FAs serve as markers to assess bacterial levels in indoor air. An initial survey, in a school, demonstrated that the levels of dust, PG and LPS (pmol m(-3)) were each much higher in occupied rooms than in the same rooms when unoccupied. In each instance, the Mur content of dust was increased and the hydroxy fatty acid distribution changed similarly suggesting an alteration in the bacterial population. Here, findings are compared with results from two additional schools. Follow-up aerosol monitoring by particle size was also performed for the first time for all... (More)
Muramic acid (Mur) is found in bacterial peptidoglycan ( PG) whereas 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH FAs) are found in Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Thus Mur and 3-OH FAs serve as markers to assess bacterial levels in indoor air. An initial survey, in a school, demonstrated that the levels of dust, PG and LPS (pmol m(-3)) were each much higher in occupied rooms than in the same rooms when unoccupied. In each instance, the Mur content of dust was increased and the hydroxy fatty acid distribution changed similarly suggesting an alteration in the bacterial population. Here, findings are compared with results from two additional schools. Follow-up aerosol monitoring by particle size was also performed for the first time for all 3 schools. The particle size distribution was shown to be quite different in occupied versus unoccupied schoolrooms. Within individual classrooms, concentrations of airborne particles ≥ 0.8 μ m in diameter, and CO2 were correlated. This suggests that the increased levels of larger particles are responsible for elevation of bacterial markers during occupation. Release of culturable and non-culturable bacteria or bacterial aggregates from children (e.g. from flaking skin) might explain this phenomenon. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Environmental Monitoring
volume
7
issue
5
pages
450 - 456
publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
external identifiers
  • wos:000228932400009
  • pmid:15877165
  • scopus:19544394088
  • pmid:15877165
ISSN
1464-0325
DOI
10.1039/b418038k
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8b211255-2d7a-4c5a-800b-8766ab6a42e7 (old id 240505)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:24:02
date last changed
2022-03-13 17:22:11
@article{8b211255-2d7a-4c5a-800b-8766ab6a42e7,
  abstract     = {{Muramic acid (Mur) is found in bacterial peptidoglycan ( PG) whereas 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH FAs) are found in Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Thus Mur and 3-OH FAs serve as markers to assess bacterial levels in indoor air. An initial survey, in a school, demonstrated that the levels of dust, PG and LPS (pmol m(-3)) were each much higher in occupied rooms than in the same rooms when unoccupied. In each instance, the Mur content of dust was increased and the hydroxy fatty acid distribution changed similarly suggesting an alteration in the bacterial population. Here, findings are compared with results from two additional schools. Follow-up aerosol monitoring by particle size was also performed for the first time for all 3 schools. The particle size distribution was shown to be quite different in occupied versus unoccupied schoolrooms. Within individual classrooms, concentrations of airborne particles ≥ 0.8 μ m in diameter, and CO2 were correlated. This suggests that the increased levels of larger particles are responsible for elevation of bacterial markers during occupation. Release of culturable and non-culturable bacteria or bacterial aggregates from children (e.g. from flaking skin) might explain this phenomenon.}},
  author       = {{Fox, A and Harley, W and Feigley, C and Salzberg, D and Toole, C and Sebastian, Aleksandra and Larsson, Lennart}},
  issn         = {{1464-0325}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{450--456}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society of Chemistry}},
  series       = {{Journal of Environmental Monitoring}},
  title        = {{Large particles are responsible for elevated bacterial marker levels in school air upon occupation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/b418038k}},
  doi          = {{10.1039/b418038k}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2005}},
}