Bioaerosol and Atmospheric Simulation Chamber: first studies on bacteria viability versus NOx concentrations.

Bioaerosol is generally defined as solid airborne particles of biological origin suspended in the gaseous medium ubiquitously with an aerodynamic diameter of up to 100 µm. They can either be naturally released from the biosphere to the atmosphere or are released due to human activities. Here, we present the results of several experiments, performed inside a confined and controlled artificial environment, such as the Atmospheric Simulation Chamber, providing valuable information on bio-aerosol viability, dispersion, and impact. At ChAMBRe (Chamber for Aerosol Modelling and Bio-aerosol Research), managed by INFN at the Physics Department of the University of Genoa, Italy, the research on bioaerosol is focused on the investigation of the airborne bacteria behavior in different atmospheric and air quality conditions (Massabò et al., 2018). A multi-step protocol was developed (Vernocchi et al, 2023) and thoroughly tested to cultivate a suitable bacteria population (E. coli, B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, and P. fluorescens). Then, bacteria are nebulized, and injected inside ChAMBRe, where they are exposed to different gas concentration values. The viability variation, due to the pollutant exposure inside ChAMBRe, was determined by monitoring the concentration of viable bacteria. The bacteria survival rate inside ChAMBRe is first evaluated by a set of baseline experiments (clean air condition) and successively exposing the bacterial strands to NO₂ and NO concentration values up to 1200 ppb for both pollutants. A WIBS-NEO instrument measured bacteria total concentration inside ChAMBRe while the viable concentration was determined by active sampling on Petri dishes by an Andersen impactor and then counting the Colonies Forming Units (CFU). In addition, a liquid impinger was used to maintain the integrity of the microorganisms and their physiological state to investigate a sampling strategy to assess viability and simultaneously cultivability, taking into account the VBNC status (viable but not cultivable).  To this end, we present the results of impactor experiments and preliminary assessments with live and dead assays examined by fluorescence microscopy for quantitative and qualitative analysis.

References

Massabò, D., Danelli, S. G., Brotto, P., Comite, A., Costa, C., Di Cesare, A., Doussin, J. F., Ferraro, F., Formenti, P., Gatta, E., Negretti, L., Oliva, M., Parodi, F., Vezzulli, L., and Prati, P.: ChAMBRe: a new atmospheric simulation chamber for aerosol modelling and bio-aerosol research, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5885–5900, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5885-2018, 2018.

Vernocchi, V., Abd El, E., Brunoldi, M., Danelli, S. G., Gatta, E., Isolabella, T., Mazzei, F., Parodi, F., Prati, P., and Massabò, D. (2023) Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5479–5493. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5479-2023, 2023.