Collection of Airborne Microorganisms by a New Electrostatic Precipitation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adhikari A ; Grinshpun SA ; Lee, Stephen A. ; Mainelis G ; Reponen T ; Willeke K
• Description:
  Bioaerosol exposure assessment and the protection of civil/governmental/military establishments from bioterrorism require the development of low-power bioaerosol collectors that are able not only to efficiently collect airborne microorganisms, but also to preserve their biological integrity. In search for such a method, a new bioaerosol sampler was evaluated. In this device, the airborne microorganisms are imparted electrical charges and are then deposited in an electrical field onto a growth medium (agar). Experiments were conducted with Pseudomonas fluorescens vegetative cells, Bacillus subtilis var. niger (BG) endospores (used to simulate the spores of anthrax-causing Bacillus anthracis when testing bioaerosol sensors) and Penicillium brevicompactum fungal spores. It was found that 80-90% of initially "charge-neutralized" biological particles were removed from the air, when a small amount of ionization was generated in the electrostatic precipitator's (ESP) inlet and a precipitation voltage of +/-4000 V was applied across the agar plates. Over 70% of viable BG and P. brevicompactum spores entering the ESP were enumerated as colony forming units. The bioefficiency of the new sampler was about the same as that of the Biosampler, which was tested in parallel. In experiments with sensitive P. fluorescens vegetative cells, the ESP enumerated twice as many cells as the Biosampler. The latter result indicates that the electrostatic collection method may be especially useful for the collection and enumeration of sensitive airborne microorganisms. Experiments investigating the effect of aging time on the amount of electrical charge carried by the airborne microorganisms showed that the level of electrical charge gradually decreases with increasing aging time. However, even after the P. fluorescens cells had remained airborne for an hour, they retained enough electrical charge to be collected with efficiency higher than 70%. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Microbiology Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Airborne-particles Airborne Microorganisms Author Keywords: Electrostatic Precipitation Bioaerosol Sampling Collection E6ciency Electrostatic-filters Electrostatic-precipitation Microorganisms Sampling
• ISSN:
  0021-8502
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New Jersey ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  33
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024313
• Citation:
  J Aerosol Sci 2002 Oct; 33(10):1417-1432
• Contact Point Address:
  Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551
• Email:
  mainelis@envsci.rutgers.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Exposure Assessment Methods
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19970930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Aerosol Science
• End Date:
  20030331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:78e434455f96fd3bfa3e3718a8278df98fab4911866b769ec8381885090ba89a4797a78eb9b53fb3055cef472e08abb6611dc7aee60742b0915a022559301816
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196177/cdc_196177_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 356.56 KB ]