Issue 2, 2024

Disruption and recovery of outdoor bioaerosols before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak at a campus in Central China: pathogen composition, particle size distribution, influencing factors, and exposure risk

Abstract

Before (2019), during (2020), and after (2021) the COVID-19 outbreak, different response methods and measures were taken on campuses to control the spread of COVID-19 within schools. These response methods may have changed the outdoor bioaerosol characteristics, which may affect staff and student health. Therefore, we analyzed the bacterial concentrations, particle size distribution, microbial populations, exposure risks, and environmental influences of bioaerosols at a campus before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak. This study used eight-stage Andersen samplers to collect and analyze culturable bacteria in bioaerosols from various locations, high-throughput sequencing to analyze microbial species, principal component analysis to compare differences in samples, RDA to investigate the effects of environmental factors on bioaerosols, and hazard quotient (HQ) and BugBase to evaluate human health risks. The study findings revealed that average bacterial concentrations before, during, and after COVID-19 were 75 CFU m−3, 136 CFU m−3, and 78 CFU m−3, respectively. Moreover, the average percentage of bacteria attached to PM2.5 was 49.2%, 42.7%, and 29.9%, respectively. High-throughput sequencing revealed that species composition changed significantly during the three years of COVID-19. The proportion of Pantoea and Bacillus increased with the development of COVID-19 and these became the dominant strains after COVID-19, whereas Pseudomonas had the maximum proportion during COVID-19. Both risk assessment and BugBase phenotype prediction results indicated that the potential pathogenic risk was the highest in the outdoor environment of the campus during COVID-19 and that bioaerosol contamination was the most severe compared to the outdoor bioaerosol characteristics of the campus recovered after COVID-19.

Graphical abstract: Disruption and recovery of outdoor bioaerosols before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak at a campus in Central China: pathogen composition, particle size distribution, influencing factors, and exposure risk

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 נוב 2023
Accepted
07 ינו 2024
First published
23 ינו 2024

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024,26, 421-435

Disruption and recovery of outdoor bioaerosols before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak at a campus in Central China: pathogen composition, particle size distribution, influencing factors, and exposure risk

Y. Wang, H. Zhu, S. Zhang, K. Yang, Y. Liu, B. Lai and F. Yu, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024, 26, 421 DOI: 10.1039/D3EM00496A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements