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Quantitative microbial risk assessment of bioaerosols in a wastewater treatment plant by using two aeration modes

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Abstract

Nonnegligible emission of bioaerosols usually occurs during aeration of wastewater in aerator tanks in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Literature had shown that the respiratory and intestinal diseases of workers at WWTPs are related to bioaerosols. Thus, quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) based on Monte Carlo simulation was utilized in this research to assess the health risks of Gram-negative bacteria bioaerosol (GNBB) and Staphylococcus aureus bioaerosol (SAB) among academic visitors and staffs. Results showed that the concentrations of GNBB and SAB in the inverted umbrella aeration mode were consistently higher than those in the microporous aeration mode under all six size distribution ranges of the Anderson six-stage impactor. Thus, GNBB and SAB can be highly threatening to the weasand and first bronchus (or alveoli and third bronchus) for the exposure populations. The health risks (annual probability of infection (Py) and disease burden (DB)) of males were constantly higher than those of females for each certain exposure scenario. The health risks of staffs were higher than those of academic visitors when assessed by Monte Carlo simulation. The wearing of mask is an effective measure to minimize health risks through reducing the bioaerosol concentration intake. Especially, for the academic visitors and staffs exposed to GNBB, all their DB failed to meet the World Health Organization DB benchmark under various credible intervals when they were without a mask on. In a word, the results of health risk assessment in this research can be utilized as an educational tool and policy basis to facilitate the implementation of efficacious prevention measures to protect the public health from bioaerosol health threats in WWTPs.

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Acknowledgments

This study was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51608497), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (CUGL170409, CUG170103, CUGGC07), the Special Fund from the State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences) (18K03ESPCR), the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2018ZX07110004), as well as the Program of Geological Processes Resources and Environment in the Yangtze Basin (CUGCJ1702).

Funding

We declare that the sources of funding for this research include the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), the Special Fund from the State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment, and the Program of Geological Processes Resources and Environment in the Yangtze Basin. The funding bodies only provide financial support in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.

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  1. School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, 388 Lumo Road, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Yan, Zi-cheng Gui & Jun-ting Wu

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  1. Cheng Yan
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by CY, ZG, and JW. The first draft of the manuscript was written by CY and ZG. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Yan, C., Gui, Zc. & Wu, Jt. Quantitative microbial risk assessment of bioaerosols in a wastewater treatment plant by using two aeration modes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 8140–8150 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11180-6

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