Aspergillus spp. presence on mechanical protection gloves from the waste sorting industry

Abstract

The organic material present on waste sorting units serve as a substrate for different microorganisms, increasing workers’ exposure to Aspergillus spp. This study intends to assess the Aspergillus spp. contamination on Mechanical Protection Gloves (MPG) from different workstations and understand the role of MPG in workers’ exposure to these genera. Sixty-seven used MPG were collected from different workstations and extracts were seeded on malt extract agar (MEA) supplemented with chloramphenicol (0.05%) and dichloran glycerol (DG18). The same extracts were used for the molecular detection of fungal species/strains, with reported toxigenic potential, namely Aspergillus sections (Circumdati, Flavi, Fumigati, and Nidulantes). Among Aspergillus spp., the sections with the highest prevalence on MEA were Nigri (88.29%) and Fumigati (8.63%), whereas on DG18 were Nigri (31.79%) and Circumdati (30.77%). Aspergillus section Circumdati was detected in 22 MPG samples by RT-PCR (32.84%), Fumigati in 59 samples (88.06%), Nidulantes in 61 samples (91.05%), and Flavi in 6 samples (8.96%). It was showed that, even with daily replacement, MPG presented Aspergillus spp. contamination. Thus, a more regular replacement of MPG and the adoption of complementary hygienic procedures by workers are critical to guarantee workers’ protection in this occupational environment.

Keywords:

• Aspergillus spp
• culture based-methods
• mechanical protection gloves
• RT-PCR
• toxigenic potential
• waste sorting unit

Disclosure statement

None. I have full control of all primary data and permission is given to the journal to review the data if requested.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by FCT – Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia for funding the project EXPOsE – Establishing protocols to assess occupational exposure to microbiota in clinical settings (02/SAICT/2016 – Project n° 23222), Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal for funding the Project "Waste Workers’ Exposure to Bioburden through Filtering Respiratory Protective Devices” (IPL/2018/WasteFRPD_ESTeSL). The project is co-financed by FCT – Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia and the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, under the program “Regional Initiative of Excellence” in 2019–2022 (Grant No. 008/RID/2018/19). Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (PPN/BIL/2018/1/00231).