Assessment of airborne bacteria in selected occupational environments in Quezon City, Philippines

ABSTRACT

Exposure to bioaerosols has been associated with health deterioration among workers in several occupational environments. This highlights the need to study the microbiological quality of air of workplaces as no such study has been conducted yet in the Philippines. To detect and characterize the culturable mesophilic airborne bacteria in selected occupational environments we used passive sedimentation technique. It was observed that the number of colony-forming units was highest in junk shop, followed by the light railway transit station and last the office. By contrast, the bacterial composition was similar in all sites: Gram-positive cocci > Gram-positive bacilli > Gram-negative bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus spp. were also detected in all sites. These findings suggest that the presence of airborne bacteria may be a potential health hazard in urban occupational environments in the Philippines.

KEYWORDS:

• Air quality
• bioaerosol
• microorganism
• occupational hazard

Funding

This work was funded by the UP System Enhanced Creative Work and Research Grant (ECWRG 2015-1-020) through the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of the Philippines System.