Airborne microorganisms associated with packaging glass sorting facilities (20m Lecture)

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Numerous sectors are potentially exposed to biological agents. However since they are rarely visible, the accompanying risks are rarely recognized. The waste management sector, where there is an increased risk of handling material in decomposition, is one of the 10 principal emergent activities associated with exposure to biological risks according to the European Agency for Occupational Health and Safety.
In this study some data obtained from one of the two Portuguese enterprises of the sorting sector concerning the airborne microorganisms is presented. Data was collected from two different working environments, critical (sorting) and non-critical (administrative area) and a control point (outside) during a period of nine months.
Total concentration of airborne bacteria and fungi were determined as well as the prevalent species that could be identified. The environmental micro flora is mostly composed of bacteria, although the average counts of viable fungi are slightly lower.
Regarding the characterization of the environmental micro flora, mostly composed of Gram (+) bacteria, it was observed the coexistence of Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium genera, while Gram (-) bacteria was mostly composed by Serratia and Proteus genera. As regards the fungal characterization of the environmental samples, the predominance of Penicillium spp., Rhodotorula spp. and Cladosporium spp. was observed in the sorting cabins, a trend equally seen in the reference sample.