Bioaerosol Emissions From Municipal Solid Waste Transfer Points: Seasonal Characteristics, Quantitative Health Risks,...

Bioaerosol emission characteristics from municipal solid waste (MSW) transfer points pose significant health risks to workers and residents. However, studies on its computable evaluation are rare. This study examines the emission characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bioaerosols at various sampling points in and around the MSW transfer point in summer and autumn. Monte Carlo simulation-based quantitative microbial risk assessment was used to estimate the annual probability of infection (P_(a)inf) and disease burden (DB) for worker groups (waste collector and operator) and pedestrians with or without personal protection equipment (PPE). Furthermore, sensitivity analysis identified the contribution of input variables to DB variance and rank correlation coefficients. The results show that bioaerosol concentrations at the control room were 1.19-1.34 times lower than the center point but 1.18-1.56 times higher than those at the footpath. The P_(a)inf of E. coli and S. aureus bioaerosol for all exposure scenarios in the summer was 1.66-2.18 and 1.45-1.63 times, respectively, higher than that in the autumn. For all exposure populations, the DB with PPE was approximately one order of magnitude lower than that without PPE. Exposure concentration to the DB without PPE was the first predominant input parameter for all exposure scenarios. Sensitivity analysis recommends using PPE as a key mitigation strategy to manage bioaerosol health risks during different seasons and worker roles. This research delivered novel data and provided guidelines for controlling the bioaerosol emission health risks from MSW transfer points.