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Abstract：
The impact of sandstorm dust events affects local air quality and public health. These issues are becoming of greater concern in Saudi Arabia. There is a significant lack of research on airborne endotoxin exposure and analysis in the Middle East countries and no coherent body of research exists focusing on sandstorm dust in worldwide. In this study, we used a novel design of an aluminum foil plate (AFP) electrostatic dust cloth (EDC) for the passive air sampling of sandstorm dust. A total of 38 sandstorm dust samples were collected during sandstorm episodes occurring between January and April 2020 in both indoor (7 days, n = 20) and outdoor environments (24 h, n = 18). After exposure, and following an extraction procedure, bacterial endotoxin levels were measured using the Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) gel clot method. The study highlights that the airborne endotoxin level observed was between 10 and 200 EU/m2 in both indoor and outdoor environments, during a sandstorm event. Agricultural activities and farmhouses observed higher airborne endotoxin levels. In general, increased endotoxin levels were related to the severity of the sandstorms. Given that the observed values were high as per existing guidelines for respiratory health, we recommend the setting an occupational airborne exposure limit for bacterial endotoxin. This is the first report and further studies across various sandstorm-hit regions will need to be undertaken, together with various sampling methods, in order to assess for seasonal and geographic trends.
摘要：
沙尘暴事件的影响影响当地空气质量和公共卫生。这些问题在沙特阿拉伯变得更加令人关切。在中东国家中，对空气中内毒素的暴露和分析的研究非常缺乏，并且在全世界范围内都没有针对沙尘暴的相关研究。在这项研究中,我们使用了一种新颖的铝箔板（AFP）静电除尘布（EDC）的设计，用于沙尘暴的被动空气采样。在2020年1月至4月期间发生的室内沙尘暴事件期间，共收集了38个沙尘暴样品(7天，n=20）和室外环境（24小时，n=18)。暴露后,按照提取程序，细菌内毒素水平是使用LimulusAmoebocyte裂解物（LAL）凝胶凝块法测量的。该研究强调，在室内和室外环境中观察到的空气中内毒素水平在10和200EU/m2之间，在沙尘暴事件期间。农业活动和农舍观察到较高的空气传播内毒素水平。总的来说,内毒素水平升高与沙尘暴的严重程度有关。鉴于根据现有的呼吸系统健康指南，观察到的值很高，我们建议设定细菌内毒素的职业空气暴露限值。这是第一份报告，需要对各个沙尘暴受灾地区进行进一步研究，加上各种抽样方法，以评估季节性和地理趋势。
