Małgorzata Gołofit-Szymczak, Anna Ławniczek-Wałczyk, Rafał L. Górny, Marcin Cyprowski, Agata Stobnicka
Centralny Instytut Ochrony Pracy – Państwowy Instytut Badawczy
Abstract
One of the main biohazard for the employees working in processing of biomass for energy purposes is organic dust. The bioaerosol sampling was carried out at two power plants and three combined heat and power plants in Poland which co-combusted the agricultural and forest biomass with coal dust. The bacterial and fungal aerosol was collected stationary by a single-stage MAS-100 impactor. Fourteen different types of biomass samples used in the co-combustion process were also analyzed: conifer chips, alder chips, bark, sawdust, sunflower hull pellet, olive pellet, straw pellet, oat hull pellet, biofuel mix pellet, olive pomace, straw waste, corn pomace, dried fruit and straw with coal. The concentrations of bacterial and fungal aerosol ranged from 0.9×103 to 2.3×106 CFU/m3 and from 0.2×103 to 1.5×105 CFU/m3, respectively. The highest concentrations of bacterial and fungal aerosols were determined at workplaces related to screening, reloading and biomass transport via conveyor belts. The most prevalent in the air were fungi from Aspergillus genus and Gram-negative rods. Bacterial and fungal concentrations in biomass samples ranged from 1.8×103 CFU/g to 3.9×106 CFU/g and from 0.1×103 CFU/g to 22.7×106 CFU/g, respectively. Their highest concentrations were recorded in the samples of straw mixed with coal. This study showed that employees working at a power plant, both in the technological lines and in the laboratories, are associated with the exposure to high concentrations of potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Hence, to reduce such exposure, both hermetization of biomass processing and regular control of work environment should be applied.
Słowa kluczowe
narażenie zawodowe, biomasa, bioaerozol
Characteristics of Biological Hazards Associated with Processing of Biomass for Energy Purposes
Key words
occupational exposure, biomass, bioaerosol
Pełny tekst / Full text
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