Quantitative microbial risk assessment and sensitivity analysis for workers exposed to pathogenic bacterial bioaerosols under various aeration modes in two wastewater treatment plants.

ABSTRACT: Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could emit a large amount of bioaerosols containing pathogenic bacteria. Assessing the health risks of exposure to these bioaerosols by using quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is important to protect workers in WWTPs. However, the relative impacts of the stochastic input variables on the health risks determined in QMRA remain vague. Hence, this study performed a Monte Carlo simulation-based QMRA case study for workers exposing to S. aureus or E. coli bioaerosols and a sensitivity analysis in two WWTPs with various aeration modes. Results showed that when workers equipped without personal protective equipment (PPE) were exposed to S. aureus or E. coli bioaerosol in the two WWTPs, the annual probability of infection considerably exceeded the U.

SUBMITTER: Chen YH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7527313 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature