Assessment of airborne particles and bioaerosols concentrations in a waste recycling environment in Brazil

This study aims to assess the concentrations of size-fractioned particle mass (PM(1.0), PM(2.5), PM(4.0), PM(10)) and number (PNC(0.3), PNC(0.5), PNC(1.0), PNC(2.5)), bacteria, and fungi in a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Brazil. The measurements were performed inside the waste processing shed (P1) and in the outdoor environment (P2) during working days in winter and spring of 2017, and summer of 2019. A total of 2,400 min of PM, 1,440 min of PNC, and 216 samples of bioaerosols were collected in the morning and afternoon. P1 has the strongest air contamination with mean values of 475.5 ± 563.7 µg m(−3) for PM(10), 58.6 ± 36.0 cm(−3) for PNC(0.3), 1,088.8 ± 825.2 colony-forming units per cubic meter (CFU m(−3)) for bacteria, and 2,738.3 ± 1,381.3 CFU m(−3) for fungi. The indoor/outdoor ratios indicated the large influence of indoor sources due to the activities performed inside P1 that promote the generation and resuspension of pollutants. Gram-positive bacteria dominated with 58.6% of indoor samples. Overall, our results show a critical indoor air quality situation in a Brazilian MRF, which may cause several health risks for waste pickers. Finally, we call attention to the lack of occupational exposure limits for bioaerosols in industrial workplaces and mainly in MRFs.