In 2016, the WHO (World Health Organization) declared that “More than 80% of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution are exposed to air quality levels that exceed the WHO limits”.
Several sources of air pollutant: from PM to bacteria
In cities, the population is exposed to several pollution sources such as Primary Particulate Matter (PM2.5, PM10, and the like) or volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Either in the street [1] or in the subway [3], city dwellers are exposed to diverse sources of contaminations. Even if PM is one of the biggest source of pollution, bio-aerosols do not have to be forgotten. Some studies [2] show that the local airborne bacteria may adapt to the pollution they are exposed to. This implies great potential for the use of airborne bacteria in biomonitoring local air pollution and for bioremediation purposes.
Dedicated air sampler to perform high efficient collection
As for any particles, specific air samplers such as the Coriolis µ, are designed to collect bio-aerosols with a high air flow rate and a very good collection efficiency. The Coriolis µ is a system dedicated to the contamination monitoring of airborne bio-particles. The goal is to propose a sampling method compatible with any type of downstream analysis: Culture [2], PCR [3], Microscopy [1], in order to get reliable and specific data. The Coriolis µ provides more information than only cultivable flora and reduces the current time-to-results. This instrument is frequently used on research protocols ensuring a fast and efficient collection method.
Furthermore, little is known about microbial communities in the air. Performing a review of the bacterial and fungal communities in the air is a good solution to better understand population exposure and health consequences. Discover the latest publications on Indoor and Outdoor studies using the Coriolis on the Application Center >> Find out more on Coriolis µ, Biological Air Sampler for bio-contamination quality control >> [1] Evaluating exposure of pedestrians to airborne contaminants associated with non-potable water use for pavement cleaning [2] Study Of Airborne Bacteria And Their Relation To Air Pollutants [3] Bioaerosols in the Barcelona subway system