Characterization and Control of Bioaerosol Toxicology for Indoor Environments

室内环境生物气溶胶毒理学的表征和控制

• 批准号: 1134594
• 负责人: Mark Hernandez
• 金额: $ 23.3万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-09-01 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1134594&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Characterization; Control; Bioaerosol; Toxicology; Indoor

PI: Mark Hernandez Proposal Number: 1134594While gas phase pollutants and suspended particulate matter in atmosphere have received much attention, the biological content as well as the biological activity of aerosols respectively termed bioaerosol toxicology has been largely ignored by the engineering community. Certainly this is not consistent with the environmental engineering perspective concerning water quality. In response, this work will adapt quantitative molecular biology methods for use in the atmospheric environment, with the express purpose of assessing the composition and toxicological properties of indoor bioaerosols. The methods developed will be applied to indoor aerosols because most human exposure occurs indoors.There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that both biogenic and inorganic pools of airborne particulate matter can act as potent adjuvants that sensitize lungs and mucosal membranes to air pollution both indoors and out. This sensitization manifests through a broad spectrum of serious health effects, some of which are well known infectious diseases, but many of which fall into generic respiratory diseases including, but not limited to, allergenic, hypersensitivity and toxigenic responses which often present as asthma. With the rapid growth of respiratory illnesses over the last generation come their marked association with poor indoor air quality IAQ and the reclamation of commercial and residential building stocks from large-scale disasters: floods, storms, tsunamis and earthquakes. There is relatively little information regarding bioaerosol exposures within buildings impacted by water/structural damage. IAQ regulatory criteria for building reoccupation have not been defined from an epidemiological perspective appropriate for building stocks impacted by disasters.In response to this paucity, a primary scientific goal of this study is to comprehensively characterize bioaerosol loads: biochemically, ecologically and toxicologically. An associated engineering goal of this study is to assess the in-situ efficacy of applying a new generation of electrically enhanced air filter technology for the express purpose of reducing indoor bioaerosol exposure ? both in the lab with surrogate bioaerosols, and in the field. High incident, water damaged buildings on the campuses and in the proximity of Dillard University and the University of Colorado, will serve as field sites for this demonstration study. Dillard is a historically black college in New Orleans, which sustained tremendous damage from Hurricane Katrina. Supplementing Dillard?s related NSF support HRD 1118254, mentoring from Colorado?s graduate bioaerosol research group will be formally extended toDillard?s students, who will be trained in modern bioaerosol assessment techniques using REU-like formats and university exchanges. Buildings that have been previously identified with elevated or otherwise dangerous indoor bioaerosol levels pathogenic microbes, will be retrofit with electrostatically enhanced filters. Carrier Corporation and the Hunter Fan Company have agreed to provide in-kind stand alone filtration equipment for the purposes of this intervention study. The performance of this emerging technology will be as evaluated for its IAQ remediation ability in a sustainable context.The intrinsic scientific merits of this study lie in establishing a robust suite of fundamental aerobiological characterization tools for indoor aerosols, to include biochemical and toxicological indices which have never collectively been used in the atmospheric environment before. Engineering merit lies in the assessment of emerging filter technology to cost-effectively manipulate indoor bioaerosol levels for broad public health benefit. Broader reaching impacts stem from a discovery-driven partnership between an ?R1? University with extensive bioaerosol and IAQ engineering expertise, and an HBCU recovering from Katrina. This project will enhance Dillard?s educational infrastructure and bring modern industrial hygiene training capabilities to underrepresented students in a region that because of Katrina, no longer has Environmental Engineering programs Tulane has closed its program. This work will demonstrate a fundamental basis for the regulatory suite of IAQ indices to include more robust bioaerosol analyses in the future, and link biological characterization of indoor atmospheric environments to building reclamation and reoccupation practices.

主要研究者：Mark埃尔南德斯提案编号：1134594虽然大气中的气相污染物和悬浮颗粒物受到了广泛关注，但气溶胶的生物含量以及生物活性（分别称为生物气溶胶毒理学）在很大程度上被工程界所忽视。 当然，这与环境工程对水质的看法不一致。 作为回应，这项工作将采用定量分子生物学方法用于大气环境，明确的目的是评估室内生物气溶胶的成分和毒理学特性。 由于大多数人体接触发生在室内，因此开发的方法将应用于室内气溶胶。越来越多的证据表明，空气中的生物和无机颗粒物可以作为有效的佐剂，使肺和粘膜对室内和室外的空气污染敏感。 这种致敏通过广泛的严重健康影响表现出来，其中一些是众所周知的传染病，但其中许多属于一般的呼吸道疾病，包括但不限于通常表现为哮喘的过敏性、超敏性和过敏反应。 随着上一代人呼吸道疾病的迅速增长，它们与室内空气质量差、室内空气质量差以及洪水、风暴、海啸和地震等大规模灾害造成的商业和住宅建筑存量的回收有着明显的联系。 关于受水/结构破坏影响的建筑物内生物气溶胶暴露的信息相对较少。 建筑物重新占用的室内空气质量监管标准还没有从流行病学的角度来定义适当的建筑物股票受灾害的影响，在应对这种匮乏，本研究的主要科学目标是全面表征生物气溶胶负荷：生化，生态和毒理学。本研究的一个相关工程目标是评估应用新一代电增强空气过滤器技术的现场效果，以减少室内生物气溶胶暴露？无论是在实验室里用替代生物气溶胶，还是在野外。 校园内以及迪拉德大学和科罗拉多附近的高事故、水损坏建筑物将作为本示范研究的现场。 迪拉德是新奥尔良一所历史悠久的黑人大学，卡特里娜飓风给它造成了巨大的破坏。 补充迪拉德？s相关的NSF支持HRD 1118254，指导从科罗拉多？的研究生生物气溶胶研究小组将正式扩大到迪拉德？学生，谁将在现代生物气溶胶评估技术使用REU类似的格式和大学交流的培训。 先前已确定室内生物气溶胶水平升高或存在其他危险的致病微生物的建筑物将采用静电增强型过滤器进行改造。 Carrier Corporation和Hunter Fan Company已同意为本干预研究提供实物独立过滤设备。 这一新兴技术的性能将评估其IAQ修复能力在一个可持续的context.The内在的科学价值，这项研究在于建立一个强大的一套基本的空气生物学表征工具，室内气溶胶，包括生化和毒理学指标，从来没有被集体用于大气环境中之前。 工程价值在于评估新兴的过滤器技术，以成本效益高的方式控制室内生物气溶胶水平，以造福于广泛的公众健康。 更广泛的影响源于发现驱动的伙伴关系之间？R1？大学拥有广泛的生物气溶胶和室内空气质量工程专业知识，以及从卡特里娜飓风中恢复的HBCU。 这个项目将提高迪拉德？的教育基础设施，并带来现代工业卫生培训能力，以代表性不足的学生在一个地区，由于卡特里娜飓风，不再有环境工程项目杜兰大学已关闭其计划。 这项工作将展示一个基本的基础，室内空气质量指数的监管套件，包括更强大的生物气溶胶分析在未来，并链接到建筑物的复垦和再占用的做法，室内大气环境的生物特性。