• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations of air-borne microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, gram negative bacteria (GNB), endotoxins, and respirable suspended particles (RSPs), and their correlation with environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels) in duck houses. The mean concentrations of bacteria, fungi, and GNB were very high (> $10^6\;CFU/m^3$), and endotoxin levels exceeded $10^3\;EU/m^3$. Among the various work stages, in the task of receiving ducks, bacteria were $6.2{\times}10^6;CFU/m^3$, and GNB were $5.4{\times}10^6\;CFU/m^3$, while RSPs levels were $397.6\;{\mu}g/m^3$ and endotoxin levels were $47.2{\times}10^3\;EU/m^3$ in the task of dividing the ducks, and fungi were $4.9{\times}10^6\;CFU/m^3$ in the task of shipping the ducks. The concentrations of RSPs and endotoxins were significantly higher in tasks involving greater movement of ducks in the house, relative to tasks involving little movement of ducks (p<0.05). Further, with progression in growth of the ducks, the concentrations of bacteria, GNB, endotoxins, and RSPs were significantly increased. There was significant correlation between levels of GNB with bacteria (r=0.75) and fungi (r=0.86), endotoxins with RSPs (r=0.75), bacteria with fungi (r=0.39), and carbon dioxide with RSPs (r=0.38), bacteria (r=0.33), and endotoxins (r=0.31). These results suggest considerable respiratory hazard for farmers in these environments.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2022

Background: The global shift toward greener societies demands new technologies and work operations in the waste-management sector. However, progressive industrial methods do not necessarily consider workers' health. This study characterized workers' exposure to bioaerosols and investigated the bioaerosols' potential to engage the immune system in vitro. Methods: Full shift personal aerosol sampling was conducted over three consecutive days. Dust load was analyzed by gravimetry, fungal and actinobacterial spores were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, and endotoxin by limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay. In vitro exposure of HEK cells to airborne dust samples was used to investigate the potential of inducing an inflammatory reaction. Results: The total dust exposure level exceeded the recommended occupational exposure limit (OEL) of 5.0 mg/m³ in 3 out of 15 samples. The inhalable endotoxin level exceeded the recommended exposure level by a 7-fold, whereas the fungal spore level exceeded the recommended exposure level by an 11-fold. Actinobacterial spores were identified in 8 out of 14 samples. In vitro experiments revealed significant TLR2 activation in 9 out of 14 samples vs. significant TLR4 activation in all samples. Conclusion: The present study showed that the dust samples contained potentially health-impairing endotoxin, fungi, and actinobacterial levels. Furthermore, the sampled dust contained microbial components capable of inducing TLR activation and thus have the potential to evoke an inflammatory response in exposed individuals.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.359-369
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• 2018

An essential measure to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAI) is to develop a consistent system of surveillance, thereby promoting a reliable situation diagnosis to perform efficient control for the problem. Patient-to-patient transmission of pathogens within the hospital plays a substantial role in the epidemiology of HAIs. Contamination of healthcare environments commonly occurs, including facilities surfaces (e.g., bed rails, bedside tables), drinking water, cooling tower water, endoscopic instruments, food, airborne, endotoxin test, sterile test and medical equipment, with pathogenic organisms. In addition, epidemiological analysis is performed by multi locus sequence tying, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for active surveillance. Therefore, an environmental surveillance culture test for prevention improves patient safety and blocks infection agents. Effective infection control and increased safety are possible by controlling the national infection control system. In conclusion, this study contributes to an effective infection control system through the standardization of active surveillance culture laboratory and secure expertise as infection control specialist. The primary objective of the standardization is to improve the safety of the nation's healthcare system by reducing the rates of HAIs.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.183-191
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the distribution patterns and exposure concentrations of bioaerosols in industries suspected to have high levels of bioaerosol exposure. Methods: We selected 11 plants including 3 livestock feed plants (LF industry), 3 metal working fluids handling plants (MWFs industry), and 5 sawmills and measured total airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, as well as dust. Airborne bacteria and fungi were measured with one stage impactor, six stage cascade impactor, and gelatin filters. Endotoxins were measured with polycarbonate filters. Results: The geometric means (GM) of the airborne concentrations of bacteria, fungi, and endotoxins were 1,864, $2,252\;CFU/m^3$, and $31.5\;EU/m^3$, respectively at the sawmills, followed by the LF industry (535, $585\;CFU/m^3$, and $22.0\;EU/m^3$) and MWFs industry (258, $331\;CFU/m^3$, and $8.7\;EU/m^3$). These concentrations by industry type were significantly statistically different (p < 0.01). The ratio of indoor to outdoor concentration was 6.2, 1.9, 3.2, and 3.2 for bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, and dust in the LF industry, 5.0, 0.9, 2.3, and 12.5 in the MWFs industry, and 3.7, 4.1, 3.3, and 9.7 in sawmills. The respiratory fractions of bioaerosols were differentiated by bioaerosol types and industry types: the respiratory fraction of bacteria in the LF industry, MWF industry, and sawmills was 59.4%, 72.0%, and 57.7%, respectively, and that of fungi was 77.3%, 89.5%, and 83.7% in the same order. Conclusion: We found that bioaerosol concentration was the highest in sawmills, followed by LF industry facilities and MWFs industry facilities. The indoor/outdoor ratio of microorganisms was larger than 1 and respiratory fraction of microorganisms was more than 50% of the total microorganism concentrations which might penetrate respiratory tract easily. All these findings suggest that bioaerosol in the surveyed industries should be controlled to prevent worker respiratory diseases.