Characterization and decontamination of deposited dust: a management regime at a museum

AbstractDeposited dust represents a nutritional niche for microflora. Inhibiting microflora-associated deposited dust is a critical approach to manage cultural heritage buildings. Knowledge on the effectiveness of commercial disinfection on microflora in a real field environment is limited. The present study aims to: (1) characterize deposited dust composition, and (2) assess the effectiveness of several commercial biocides/and an air ionizer on microflora-associated floor surface and air before and after treatment. Deposited dust was collected using a dust collector and microbial air sampling was conducted via a volumetric impactor sampler. Susceptibility of microorganisms to biocide/ionizer was performed in a naturally ventilated unoccupied room with a floor area of 18  m2. One-treatment protocol, a daily disinfection mode, was applied to each biocide/ionizer. The surface floor was adjacently sprayed by a biocide, and the ionizer was turned on for 30  min. Indoor deposited dust rates varied between 0.75 and 8.7 mg/m2/day with indoor/outdoor ratio of  ~ 1:100. Ion concentrations of NH4+, Cl−, SO42 − and NO3− were higher indoor than outdoor. The concentration of microorganisms-associated deposited dust averaged 106 CFU/g; 105 CFU/g and 104 CFU/g for bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes, respectively. A total of 23 fungal taxa were identified, withAspergillus flavus,Asp. fumigatus andAsp. niger were the predominant taxa. Biocides quickly reduced floor surface and ...
Source: Aerobiologia - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research