Bioaerosols Emission from Anthropogenic Sources: Influencing Factors, Microbial Diversity, Epidemiological Threats, and Control Approaches

Bioaerosols Emission from Anthropogenic Sources: Influencing Factors, Microbial Diversity, Epidemiological Threats, and Control Approaches covers various sources of biohazards and their associated risk factors. These air contaminants are developing concerns to people and the environment and must be addressed to avert future dangers. As little is known about their precise sources, controlling variables, microbial diversity, the involvement of co-pollutants, and dispersion and control methods, this book will assist stakeholders, including the public, government officials, and policymakers in developing successful strategies for ensuring society's safety.

• Identifies potential emission stages at different anthropogenic sources of bioaerosols
• Discusses characteristics, fate and development of effective control strategies for minimizing exposure to site specific bioaerosols
• Presents cleaner production and sustainable development tactics of bioaerosols

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Sep 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9780443153204

Book preview

Preface

Nitin Kumar Singh, Gaurav Sanghvi and Manish Yadav

The team of editors is highly motivated to work on sustainability aspects of environmental systems as well as for investigating the potential sources of emerging air contaminants, for example, bioaerosols. Even composition of emitted bioaerosols from diverse anthropogenic sources is absolutely variable starting from the small pollens to the microbes such as fungal spores, bacteria, and viruses. The difference in the types of emission sources plays a major role in dispersion of bioaerosols in the environment. The dispersal in terms of the size, concentration, propagation, and its interaction with the human anatomy is raising interest in the scientific community to understand and correlate its impact on human health. Bioaerosol emission sources ranging from diverse indoor and outdoor environments have a direct correlation with the epidemiology and spread of bioaerosols, which leads to even different endemic biogeography.

Recent episode of COVID-19 pandemic particularly motivated us to explore the relevance of bioaerosols, especially emitted from the anthropogenic sources. The information presented in our book can be helpful to researchers and policymakers, working on environmental management and sustainability aspects of various sources and/or places. In this book, information of various anthropogenic sources of microbial aerosols or bioaerosols such as wastewater treatment plants, sanitation facilities, and hospitals is exclusively presented. As the sources, emission stages, and determination approaches are presented in a very limited manner in previous books, our book critically discusses the methods and scientific views on source-specific bioaerosols.

Keeping the abovementioned viewpoint, in this volume, the presented scientific knowledge will cover different perspectives of the research on bioaerosols with emphasis on the below points:

• bioaerosols as important emerging air pollutants and sustainable indicators,

• role of the different emission stages along with its effect on the bioaerosol dispersion and biochemistry,

• the detection techniques used to detect microbial communities present in bioaerosols, and

• epidemiological threats associated with the bioaerosols and its way forward to social sustainability.

We warmly appreciate all the contributing national and internationals authors, panel members for the presenting their views in most fascinating way and also covering the most important facets of the proposed topics. We would also like to show our gratitude to all the team members who worked tirelessly with the editors. This resulted in the constructing the book covering the views from all interdisciplinary areas, and this book can also further serve as a reference book in different domains of science, technology, and also social sciences. At last, we are also thankful to the whole team of Elsevier publications for providing timely guidance whenever required.

Chapter 1

Bioaerosols as emerging sustainability indicators

Nitin Kumar Singh¹, Manish Yadav² and Gaurav Sanghvi³,    ¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India,    ²Central Mine Planning and Design Institute, Ranchi, India,    ³Department of Microbiology, Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Ensuring sustainability of cities and society is the major focus of various sustainability goals. In this view, understanding the relevance of sustainability indicators is of crucial importance. To date, sustainability is mainly assessed on three pillars, known as social, economic, and environmental. More understanding in this direction leads to the importance of a fourth pillar, known as institutional dimension. This chapter highlights the need and importance of new sustainability indicators, especially on health grounds. The future generation also needs to understand the importance of health-based sustainability indicators such as bioaerosols. In particular, researchers can emphasize on the fate of source-specific bioaerosols to ensure the sustainability of various occupational settings. Recent episodic incidents also suggest that emerging contaminants of biological origin can be much more devastating than any other. Results of such investigations can be helpful in justifying the need of bioaerosol standards for different work places or anthropogenic sources.

Keywords

Bioaerosols; sustainability indicator; epidemiology; health threats; bioaerosol standards

1.1 Sustainable development: an introduction

In the present scenario the whole world is facing several socioeconomic and environmental challenges such as deterioration of natural resources, climatic change, increasing air pollution and water scarcity, improper waste disposal, emerging health threats, and so on (Michalina et al., 2021). Among these the concerns for health issues are being increased day by day, and it is directly linked with man-made pollution (Kajikawa, 2008). While focusing on soil, air, and water pollution the reported threats of biological air contaminants which can travel far away from the place of generation have directed the researchers to focus in this direction (Kim et al., 2018). Recent episodic incidents of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have also raised the serious concern for biological contaminants (1 nm to 100 μm size) which can spread/travel via air, water, and other various external agents (Guzman, 2021). The magnitude of such a problem increases especially in cities where the population density and anthropogenic establishments are more, as compared to rural areas. Therefore it is the need of the hour to broaden the understanding of sustainable development, with respect to sustainable cities and societies (Zhang et al., 2022).

The word sustainability or the concept of sustainable development was first highlighted in Brundtland Commission report in 1987, which simply refers to the utilization of resources in such a way that our future generation could utilize them without any compromise (Sneddon et al., 2006). Later, in 1992 the Rio de Janeiro conference (Earth Summit) came out with some guidelines and fundamental principles to focus in a strategic manner for achieving the sustainable development (Wu & Wu, 2012). The strategic plan and guidelines endorsed that the development of societies/communities should be assessed by using various sustainability indicators, as indicated in Agenda 21 of the conference (Hák et al., 2016; Spangenberg et al., 2002). This exercise was done by 170 nations; the committee highlighted that sustainable development cannot be achieved without a standardized waste management approach (Wu & Wu, 2012). These observations led to the identification of relevant sustainability indicators, developed by international agencies, government agencies, academic scholars, urban local bodies, and nongovernmental organizations. The policy makers also emphasized that the management of waste must be in such a manner that it could ensure the public health and other safety measures (Michalina et al., 2021). Although it took a long time, the recent pandemic is proven as a wakeup call for scientists and researchers, and a retrospective analysis of biological air contaminants became the need of the hour. More specifically the concept of sustainability assessment on health ground attracted the attention of worldwide researchers (Bloom, 2007). Further the biological air contaminants such as bioaerosols were also reported to be potential emissions of various anthropogenic sources. The emission of bioaerosols can lead to poor health of not only occupational workers but also societies and communities at regional, national, or global levels (Kim et al., 2018). Fig. 1.1 shows the research trends of bioaerosols.

Figure 1.1 Annual research paper production related to bioaerosols. The research trends of bioaerosols.

It also represents the annual scientific articles published annually from 1987 on bioaerosols. The early research on bioaerosols started in 1987, but the number of published articles was 1 or 2. Research on bioaerosols accelerated from the year 2003, and in the year 2022, it increased to 300 publications per year.

1.2 Bibliometric analysis

A total of 3007 documents were found from 1987 to 2023 while exploring the Scopus database using the keyword bioaerosol. Among the all-document types, most are original articles (2445), followed by conference papers (257) and review papers (193), as also shown in Fig. 1.2.

Figure 1.2 Document type production using the keyword bioaerosol. All-document type; most are original articles (2445), followed by conference papers (257) and review papers (193).

Fig. 1.3 shows the most preferred journal list for works related to bioaerosol. The highest publication (159) came from the Journal of Aerosol Science, followed by Science of Total Environment (111); the publisher of both these journals is Elsevier. Aerobiologia (110) is the third highest-producing journal by Springer, followed by Aerosol Science and Technology (103) from Taylor and Francis. Accordingly, almost every big publication house has one journal based on research related to bioaerosols.

Figure 1.3 Top interested journal list for work related to bioaerosol. The most preferred journal list for work related to bioaerosol.

Fig. 1.4 represents a list of trending topics from 2000 to 2023 and the most popular keywords related to bioaerosols. In recent years, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19-related topics have been the most trending topics. Occupational exposure and fungi are some trending topics which dominated for many years. The most popular keywords are humans, air microbiology, aerosol, and environmental monitoring.

Figure 1.4 Trending topics and top keywords related to bioaerosols. List of trending topics from 2000 to 2023 and the most popular keywords related to bioaerosols.

1.3 Dimensions of sustainability

The term Sustainability refers to the process and mechanism of achieving intended sustainable development (Sartori et al., 2014a,b). Few researchers have also mentioned about it as a policy vision of the society, primarily focused on minimization of natural resource depletion. Having a deep sense of understanding of sustainability also helps to maintain the balance between preserving the ecosystem and meeting human needs (Michael et al., 2014). Initially the sustainability assessment was done under three major pillars, which include environment, economic, and social, with a harmonized balance (Olawumi & Chan, 2018). These terms were looked on a broader sense while considering the state of the existing natural environment, society, and economic conditions of people. Among these the pillars of environment and society are used sometimes interchangeably as a healthy environment is directly linked with societal health. Fig. 1.5 depicts the three pillars of sustainability with a brief definition.

Figure 1.5 Pillars of Sustainability and scope of integrated indicators. The three pillars of sustainability with a brief definition.

While environmental sustainability is mainly concerned with human activity and its impact on the natural environment, social sustainability highlights the well-being of society, cities, and communities (Kathiriya et al., 2021; Singh et al., 2021). From the economic point of view, sustainability means efficient use of available resources with maximum profit and/or market value (Olawumi & Chan, 2018). The progress of these pillars is assessed via various thematic indicators, whose classification depends on the type of systems under consideration. Later on a new dimension of sustainability was introduced as a fourth pillar, and it is known as institutional dimension (Rahdari & Anvary Rostamy, 2015; Singh et al., 2009). Under this dimension the sustainability of a system is expected to be analyzed in terms of governance, planning, and environmental effects. This new dimension directed the researchers and other stakeholders to look on their systems/processes/operations from a socioenviroeconomic angle as health aspects are directly linked with the environment, society, and human capital of any country.

In the year 2007, Bloom and coauthors highlighted the relevance of sustainable health as a new dimension of sustainability (Bloom, 2007). Previously, human health was frequently considered to be a component of the social pillar of sustainability. In this dimension the health is expected to be linked with all the main three pillars up to some extent. For example, poor health led to reduced productivity of human capital, reflecting the unsustainability at social as well as economic dimensions. In addition, if poor health is linked with any biological threat, for example, bioaerosols, virus, and so on, it can affect the society, economics, and environmental conditions in a severe manner, as evidenced during COVID-19 pandemic (Mutuku et al., 2020; Negishi et al., 2023). In simple words the emphasis is on sustainable health research in which humans suffer from a bad environment, focusing on understanding the vulnerability and elucidation of the anthropogenic processes/systems. The historical episodic incidents include the origin of Chagas disease (Aufderheide et al., 2004) in South America, Schistosoma mansoni (hookworm) coinfection (Raso et al., 2006), and spread of insect disease vectors among international seaports and airports through traffic movements (Tatem et al., 2006). These incidents directed the scientists and other stakeholders to advance the sustainability aspect via developing the new and effective health-based indicators that are optimally suited for the current requirements of the world. However, to take such an idea forward, both temporal and spatial assessments should be done for micro- and macrolevel datasets (Dizdaroglu, 2015). Such efforts can be useful for emphasizing the sustainability at human health while fostering economic prosperity and societal well-being. The development of health-based indicators can lead to catalyzing the innovation in sustainable technologies of waste management and other businesses that will enable the society to prosper without economic and health loss. A few countries such as Hungary, United Kingdom, and United States have developed more indicators, addressing new dimensions receiving increasing attention (Michael et al., 2014).

1.4 Sustainability indicators

Indicators work as instruments in achieving sustainable development, and the need of indicators arises from quantification of values (Zeiger et al., 2019). The general human tendency is that we measure what we care about. In professional world the indicators work as lenses through which people, society, and stakeholders can view/analyze a system and are thus utmost important in ensuring sustainable development (Fiksel et al., 2012). In a broader sense, sustainability indicators are helpful in upliftment of economy and society, without any permanent damage to the environment (Khalili & Duecker, 2013; Rametsteiner et al., 2011). Furthermore the sustainability indicators can help in understanding the dynamics and drivers of progress at social, environmental, economic, and institutional levels (Singh et al., 2009). Such indicators are also helpful in achieving sustainability targets and inform policymakers as well as the public about the current state of the environment, society, and economy. More specifically the sustainability indicators help in analyzing the state of local sustainability, quantifying it, and developing the best policy measures (Verma & Raghubanshi, 2018). For example the greenhouse gases at a place can be an indicator of air pollution due to anthropogenic activities and urbanization. Generally the development of a sustainability indicator includes the following approach:

1. Identification of a goal to be achieved.

2. Exploring the applicable and measurable indicators.

3. Choosing a relevant metric to measure the specific indicator.

Sustainability indicators can be defined in different ways, allowing them to be categorized under different pillars. They can be quantitative versus qualitative indicators, absolute versus relative indicators, and general versus specific indicators. Among the above the specific indicators are niche indicators that do not apply to most other fields. Such fields include health, space exploration, and emerging contaminants such as bioaerosols or biological air contaminants, microplastics, and so on (Fiksel, 2009; Fiksel et al., 2012). Table 1.1 lists the pillars of sustainability with their thematic categories and examples (Michalina et al., 2021; Wu & Wu, 2012).

Table 1.1

1.5 Criteria and categorization for sustainability indicators

The criteria for sustainability indicator selection mainly include the linked pillar/dimension of sustainable development and the type of indicator (specific/general/quantitative/qualitative/absolute/relative) (Michael et al., 2014; Olawumi & Chan, 2018). Till date, various stakeholders have worked on development of general indicators, but the present scenario suggests that more specific indicators must be taken into account, which could highlight the socioenviroeconomic aspects of today’s world (Cook et al., 2017; Khalili & Duecker, 2013). The rising health threats associated with the presence of emerging contaminants such as microplastics (Nakat et al., 2023) and biological air contaminants in soil/air/water environments have led the researchers to come up with some new indicators (Miki, 2023; Wu & Wu, 2012). In this view the knowledge about fate of bioaerosols, especially associated with the operation of anthropogenic sources, can be very much helpful to ensure the sustainability of cities, societies, and commercial activities. However, to develop such an indicator, researchers and other stakeholders must analyze it on the basis of Bellagio principles, that is, vision and goal, key elements to assess it, challenges in assessment, and capacity requirements for assessment (Michalina et al., 2021; Wu & Wu, 2012). The review of literature revealed that to develop a robust and efficient sustainability indicator, the following selection criteria (Fiksel et al., 2012; Wu & Wu, 2012) can also be taken into account:

Multidimensional: An indicator should be able to combine two or more dimensions of sustainability.

Measurable: An indicator should be able to measure either quantitatively or qualitatively.

Simple and understandable: An indicator should be understandable for society, experts of the field, and technical and less educated people.

Timely and feasible: The evaluation of data for indicators should not take so much time for an informed decision.

Flexible and long-term-oriented: An indicator must be geared up toward future sustainable initiatives.

There are four major categories of indicators that are applicable to most of the systems (Fiksel, 2009; Fiksel et al., 2012).

1. Resource flow indicators: These indicators are related to rate of consumption of natural resources, including materials, energy, water, land, or biota. These are generally analyzed in terms of volume, intensity, quality, and so on. Examples of such indicators are greenhouse emissions and resource depletion rate.

2. Adverse outcome indicators: These indicators indicate the destruction of value due to impacts upon individuals, society, and natural environments. More specifically, they include health impacts, safety, exposure, and risk-based indicators for a system such as emissions to soil, air, and water.

3. System condition indicators: These indicate the state of a system in question, that is, individuals, society, economic value, sustainability, and so on. They include capacity, health compatibility, employment growth, and income-based indicators.

4. Value creation indicators: These indicators indicate value creation in society, highlighting relevance in terms of economic and health improvement of individuals, organizations, and natural environments. They include energy and resource efficiency, human development, income, and so on.

1.6 Bioaerosols as sustainability indicators

The historical disease outbreaks (smallpox, rabies, whooping cough, etc.) across the world have clearly highlighted the research needs to minimize the occurrence of future epidemics and pandemics (Fardin, 2020; Kavey & Kavey, 2020a,b). One common thing in such events was exposure of microbial/biological contaminants to human beings, which simply suggest the need for a better understanding of microbial contaminants, including their sources, survival factors, exposure pathways, control approaches, and related mechanisms (Mohr, 2007; Oliveira et al., 2020a,b). The extensive literature review on anthropogenic source-specific bioaerosols helped us to understand that there are various sources which are potential seedbeds for the emissions of microbial contaminants into air environments (Boreson et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2023). Some of these sources include biological wastewater treatment plants (Singh et al., 2021), slaughter houses (Kang et al., 2022), hospitals (Nimra et al., 2022), solid waste management sites (Zhang et al., 2023), sanitation facilities (Li et al., 2021), and livestock facilities (Gladding et al., 2020). Nowadays such places have become the hotspots for the release of microbial aerosols (bioaerosols) and must be investigated to ensure the sustainable operations. Therefore the consideration of bioaerosols as sustainability requirement will not only improve the public health but also ensure the occupational safety and sustainability of overall systems/processes at health grounds (Kathiriya et al., 2021).

1.7 Bioaerosols and health

Bioaerosols and human health correlation depend on many factors, such as the quality of indoor and outdoor processes and the present environment. There is a direct effect on personal health in indoor environments like closed manufacturing units. Also the other significant contributor to bioaerosol generation is units with outdoor processing environments like solid waste processing, composting, and agriculture farms. Few studies have indicated that if bioaerosol exposure is there in early childhood, it can also activate a protective mechanism against toxin-mediated diseases like eczema and asthma (Gehring et al., 2001; Tischer et al., 2011). However, bioaerosol is the representative causative agent of respiratory illnesses like distress, microbial infection, allergenic reactions, and so on. There are a few cases; for example, in the United States, 250 million people are affected with respiratory diseases, resulting in around 150-million-day work loss with 10 billion in income loss (Cox & Wathes,