Abstract：
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are the leading sources of potential pathogenic bioaerosol that cause non-negligible health risks. However, bioaerosolization behaviour of potential pathogenic microorganisms (PPMs) migrating from wastewater to the atmosphere is still unclear. This study investigated the occurrence profile of PPMs in wastewater, sludge and bioaerosol, then analyzed bioaerosolization level, impact factors and social function. Staphylococcus aureus was selected as the target due to its pathogenicity, and the health risks of workers, engineers and researchers wearing various masks (N90, N95 and medical masks) were evaluated. The results showed that there were 38 and 64 PPMs in bioaerosol from plant A and B. Streptomyces in plant A (average bioaerosolization index, BI= 237.71) and Acinetobacter in plant B (average BI = 505.88) were more likely to migrate from wastewater to the atmosphere forming bioaerosol. Environmental factors (relative humidity, wind speed and temperature) affected both BI and microbial species of PPMs in different ways. PPMs related to fermentation, aerobic chemoheterotrophy, and chemoheterotrophy are the most abundant. Meanwhile microbial networks from plants A and B showed that PPMs were well-connected. Emission level of Staphylococcus aureus bioaerosol can reach 980 ± 309.19 CFU/m3 in plant A and 715.55 ± 44.17 CFU/m3 in plant B. For three exposure population, disease burden (DB) and annual probability infection (Py) of Staphylococcus aureus bioaerosol in two plants were both higher than the U.S.EPA benchmark (10-4 DALYs pppy). All three masks (N90,N95 and medical masks) can decrease Py and DB by at least one order of magnitude. This study illustrated the bioaerosolization behaviour of PPMs comprehensively, which provides a scientific basis for exposure risk prevention and control.
摘要：
废水处理厂（WWTP）是潜在致病性生物气溶胶的主要来源，会导致不可忽视的健康风险。然而,从废水迁移到大气的潜在病原微生物（PPM）的生物雾化行为尚不清楚。这项研究调查了废水中PPMs的发生概况，污泥和生物气溶胶，然后分析了生物雾化水平，影响因素和社会功能。由于金黄色葡萄球菌的致病性，选择其作为目标，以及工人的健康风险，对佩戴各种口罩（N90，N95和医用口罩）的工程师和研究人员进行了评估。结果表明，植物A和植物B的生物气溶胶中分别有38和64PPMs。植物A中的链霉菌（平均BI=237.71）和植物B中的不动杆菌（平均BI=505.88）更容易从废水迁移到大气中形成生物气溶胶。环境因素(相对湿度、风速和温度）以不同方式影响BI和PPM的微生物种类。与发酵相关的PPMs，需氧化学异型营养,在微生物网络中，化学杂化最丰富，有130个正相关和17个负相关，这表明PPM连接良好。金黄色葡萄球菌生物气溶胶的排放水平在A厂达到980±309.19CFU/m3,在B厂达到715.55±44.17CFU/m3。两种植物中金黄色葡萄球菌生物气溶胶的疾病负担（DB）和年概率感染（Py）均高于美国EPA基准（10-4DALYspppy）。所有三个掩模(N90、N95和医用掩模)可以将Py和DB降低至少一个数量级。这项研究全面说明了PPM的生物雾化行为，暴露风险防控提供了科学依据。
