TITLE:
Spatiotemporal Variations of Bioaerosols in the Vicinity of an Animal Feeding Operation Facility in the US
AUTHORS:
Di Hu, Lingjuan Wang-Li, Otto D. Simmons III, John J. Classen, Jason A. Osborne
KEYWORDS:
Animal Feeding Operation, Bioaerosol, Bacteria, Fungi, Temproal Variation, Spatial Variation
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.6 No.6,
June
30,
2015
ABSTRACT: Bioaerosol emissions from animal feeding operation (AFO) facilities are of increasing interest due to the magnitude of the emissions and their potential health effect on local communities. There is limited information about fate and transport of AFO bioaerosol emissions. In this study, concentrations of airborne bacteria and fungi were measured at four ambient stations in four wind directions surrounding an egg production farm through winter, spring and summer using Andersen six-stage samplers. Mean concentrations of ambient bacteria and fungi ranged from 8.7 × 102 CFU m-3 to 1.3 × 103 CFU m-3 and from 2.8 × 102 CFU m-3 to 1.4 × 103 CFU m-3, respectively. Ambient bacterial concentrations were not significantly different over the seasons, while ambient fungal concentrations were the highest in summer and the lowest in winter. There were significant differences between downwind and upwind bacterial concentrations (p