Collaborative Research: Characterization of the Microbiome Aerosolized in Shower Units

在家庭自来水中已经检测到各种各样的微生物，这些微生物有可能在淋浴时被释放到空气中。虽然饮用水系统中的细菌水平是定期监测的，但这些系统中存在的真菌却没有。然而，各种各样的真菌存在于自来水中。淋浴时被污染的水中的真菌雾化已被认为是免疫低下个体真菌感染的一个来源。更广泛地说，在家中接触霉菌与哮喘恶化和过敏有关，但我们每天洗澡时接触真菌气溶胶的情况仍未得到研究。该项目的总体目标是确定住宅淋浴装置中存在的真菌，调查淋浴释放真菌生物气溶胶的假设，并确定潜在的人类过敏原和病原体的存在。该研究将利用最先进的湿壁旋风（WWC）生物气溶胶采样和测序方法，确定两个季节（夏季和冬季）两个不同的市政供水系统中住宅淋浴装置释放的真菌。在淋浴空气中检测到的真菌的潜在来源将通过从淋浴喷头和淋浴水中收集额外的样本来调查。最后，将在实验淋浴装置中系统地研究几个可能影响真菌释放到空气中的因素（例如，水温和流速，淋浴头设计，清洁），以允许对关键变量进行操作并进行长期采样。人类在洗澡时接触真菌的潜在风险尚不清楚，尽管已知真菌存在于进入美国和其他地方家庭的自来水中。暴露于真菌有可能导致免疫功能低下的个体感染，并加剧敏感个体的哮喘和过敏症状。这项研究将表征和量化淋浴时释放到空气中的真菌，并为评估相关的人类健康风险奠定基础。该项目将包括一些外联活动，以提高社会对生物气溶胶及其环境影响的认识。这些活动将包括举办研讨会和开放实验室，供高中学生、教师和一般公众以及水系统和医疗代表使用。研究结果将向免疫功能低下群体传播，因为他们是风险最大的人群。此外，这项工作的多学科性质将被利用来提供新的研究经验，通过UT的毕业生与本科工程师（GLUE）指导计划和TAMU的生物技术685研究生课程，使研究生和本科生接触到生物气溶胶领域。

1236040/1236104Kinney/King A wide variety of microorganisms have been detected in household tap water and the potential exists for these microbes to be released into the air during showering activities. While bacterial levels in drinking water systems are routinely monitored, the fungi present in these systems are not. Nevertheless, a wide range of fungi are present in the tap water reaching homeowners. Aerosolization of fungi from contaminated water during showering has been implicated as one source of fungal infections in immune-compromised individuals. More broadly, mold exposure in homes is associated with asthma exacerbation and allergies yet our daily exposure to fungal aerosols during showering remains unstudied. The overall objective of the project is to identify the fungi present in residential shower units to investigate the hypothesis that showering releases fungal bioaerosols and to identify the presence of potential human allergens and pathogens. The study will utilize state-of-the-art wetted wall cyclone (WWC) bioaerosol sampling and sequencing methods to identify the fungi released from residential shower units on two different municipal water supplies over two seasons (summer and winter). Potential sources of the fungi detected in the shower air will be investigated by collecting additional samples from the showerhead as well as the shower water. Finally, several factors potentially affecting fungal release into the air (e.g., water temperature and flow rate, shower head design, cleaning) will be investigated systematically in an experimental shower unit to allow manipulation of the key variables and to conduct longer term sampling. The potential risk associated with human exposure to fungi during showering is not well understood even though it is known that fungi are present in tap water reaching households in the United States and elsewhere. Exposure to fungi has the potential to cause infections for immune-compromised individuals and to exacerbate asthma and allergy symptoms in sensitive individuals. This study will characterize and quantify the fungi released into the air during showering and lay the foundation for assessing the associated human health risks. The project will include a number of outreach activities to increase societal awareness of bioaerosols and their environmental impacts. These activities will include hosting seminars and open lab access to high school students, teachers and the general public as well as water system and medical representatives. The results of the research will be disseminated to the immune-compromised community since they are the segment of the population at greatest risk. In addition, the multidisciplinary nature of this work will be leveraged to provide new research experiences that expose both graduate and undergraduate students to the field of bioaerosols via the Graduates Linked to Undergraduate Engineers (GLUE) mentoring program at UT and the BIOTECH 685 graduate course at TAMU.