Assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in Al Zulfi city, Saudi Arabia – Establishing threshold exposure levels
The impact of sandstorm dust events affects local air quality and public health. These issues are becoming of greater concern in Saudi Arabia. There is a significant lack of research on airborne endotoxin exposure and analysis in the Middle East countries and no coherent body of research exists focu...
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2021-02-01
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doaj-f79dbc2aabe646bbb07fb0a46762e0c82021-02-07T04:22:51ZengElsevierSaudi Journal of Biological Sciences1319-562X2021-02-0128212571266Assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in Al Zulfi city, Saudi Arabia – Establishing threshold exposure levelsRajendran Vijayakumar0Faiz Abdulaziz Alfaiz1Esam S. Al-Malki2Tim Sandle3Department of Biology, College of Science in Zulfi, Majmaah University, Majmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia; Corresponding author at: Department of Biology, College of Science in Zulfi, Majmaah University, Majmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia.Department of Biology, College of Science in Zulfi, Majmaah University, Majmaah 11952, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Biology, College of Science in Zulfi, Majmaah University, Majmaah 11952, Saudi ArabiaHead of Microbiology, Risk Management and Sterility Assurance, Bio Products Laboratory, Elstree, United KingdomThe impact of sandstorm dust events affects local air quality and public health. These issues are becoming of greater concern in Saudi Arabia. There is a significant lack of research on airborne endotoxin exposure and analysis in the Middle East countries and no coherent body of research exists focusing on sandstorm dust in worldwide. In this study, we used a novel design of an aluminum foil plate (AFP) electrostatic dust cloth (EDC) for the passive air sampling of sandstorm dust. A total of 38 sandstorm dust samples were collected during sandstorm episodes occurring between January and April 2020 in both indoor (7 days, n = 20) and outdoor environments (24 h, n = 18). After exposure, and following an extraction procedure, bacterial endotoxin levels were measured using the Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) gel clot method. The study highlights that the airborne endotoxin level observed was between 10 and 200 EU/m2 in both indoor and outdoor environments, during a sandstorm event. Agricultural activities and farmhouses observed higher airborne endotoxin levels. In general, increased endotoxin levels were related to the severity of the sandstorms. Given that the observed values were high as per existing guidelines for respiratory health, we recommend the setting an occupational airborne exposure limit for bacterial endotoxin. This is the first report and further studies across various sandstorm-hit regions will need to be undertaken, together with various sampling methods, in order to assess for seasonal and geographic trends.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X20306665Airborne endotoxinBacterial endotoxinDust stormsElectrostatic dust clothIndoorLAL test |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Rajendran Vijayakumar Faiz Abdulaziz Alfaiz Esam S. Al-Malki Tim Sandle |
spellingShingle |
Rajendran Vijayakumar Faiz Abdulaziz Alfaiz Esam S. Al-Malki Tim Sandle Assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in Al Zulfi city, Saudi Arabia – Establishing threshold exposure levels Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences Airborne endotoxin Bacterial endotoxin Dust storms Electrostatic dust cloth Indoor LAL test |
author_facet |
Rajendran Vijayakumar Faiz Abdulaziz Alfaiz Esam S. Al-Malki Tim Sandle |
author_sort |
Rajendran Vijayakumar |
title |
Assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in Al Zulfi city, Saudi Arabia – Establishing threshold exposure levels |
title_short |
Assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in Al Zulfi city, Saudi Arabia – Establishing threshold exposure levels |
title_full |
Assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in Al Zulfi city, Saudi Arabia – Establishing threshold exposure levels |
title_fullStr |
Assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in Al Zulfi city, Saudi Arabia – Establishing threshold exposure levels |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in Al Zulfi city, Saudi Arabia – Establishing threshold exposure levels |
title_sort |
assessment of airborne endotoxin in sandstorm dust and indoor environments using a novel passive sampling device in al zulfi city, saudi arabia – establishing threshold exposure levels |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences |
issn |
1319-562X |
publishDate |
2021-02-01 |
description |
The impact of sandstorm dust events affects local air quality and public health. These issues are becoming of greater concern in Saudi Arabia. There is a significant lack of research on airborne endotoxin exposure and analysis in the Middle East countries and no coherent body of research exists focusing on sandstorm dust in worldwide. In this study, we used a novel design of an aluminum foil plate (AFP) electrostatic dust cloth (EDC) for the passive air sampling of sandstorm dust. A total of 38 sandstorm dust samples were collected during sandstorm episodes occurring between January and April 2020 in both indoor (7 days, n = 20) and outdoor environments (24 h, n = 18). After exposure, and following an extraction procedure, bacterial endotoxin levels were measured using the Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) gel clot method. The study highlights that the airborne endotoxin level observed was between 10 and 200 EU/m2 in both indoor and outdoor environments, during a sandstorm event. Agricultural activities and farmhouses observed higher airborne endotoxin levels. In general, increased endotoxin levels were related to the severity of the sandstorms. Given that the observed values were high as per existing guidelines for respiratory health, we recommend the setting an occupational airborne exposure limit for bacterial endotoxin. This is the first report and further studies across various sandstorm-hit regions will need to be undertaken, together with various sampling methods, in order to assess for seasonal and geographic trends. |
topic |
Airborne endotoxin Bacterial endotoxin Dust storms Electrostatic dust cloth Indoor LAL test |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X20306665 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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