Author(s):
Viegas, Carla ; Peixoto, Cátia ; Gomes, Bianca ; Dias, Marta ; Cervantes, Renata ; Pena, Pedro ; Slezakova, Klara ; Pereira, Maria do Carmo ; Morais, Simone ; Carolino, Elisabete ; Twarużek, Magdalena ; Viegas, Susana ; Caetano, Liliana Aranha
Date: 2024
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/17390
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa
Subject(s): Occupational health; Occupational exposure; Microbial contamination; Fitness centers; Aspergillus sp.; Azole resistance; Mycotoxins; Portugal; IPL/2023/FoodAIIEU_ESTeSL; IPL/2023/ASPRisk_ESTeSL; IPL/2023/ARAFSawmills_ESTeSL; FCT_FBR_OC2_66; FCT_UIDB/05608/2020; FCT_UIDP/05608/2020
Description
The lack of knowledge regarding the extent of microbial contamination in Portuguese fitness centers (FC) puts attendees and athletes at risk for bioaerosol exposure. This study intends to characterize microbial contamination in Portuguese FC by passive sampling methods: electrostatic dust collectors (EDC) (N=39), settled dust (N=8), vacuum filters (N=8), and used cleaning mops (N=12). The obtained extracts were plated in selective culture media for fungi and bacteria. Filters, EDC, and mop sample extracts were also screened for antifungal resistance and used for the molecular detection of the selected Aspergillus sections. The detection of mycotoxins was conducted using a high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) system and to determine the cytotoxicity of microbial contaminants recovered by passive sampling, HepG2 (human liver carcinoma) and A549 (human alveolar epithelial) cells were employed. The results reinforce the use of passive sampling methods to identify the most critical areas and identify environmental factors that influence microbial contamination, namely having a swimming pool. The cardio fitness area presented the highest median value of total bacteria (TSA: 9.69x102 CFU.m-2.day-1) and Gram-negative bacteria (VRBA: 1.23 CFU.m-2.day-1), while for fungi it was the open space area, with 1.86x101 CFU.m-2.day-1. Aspergillus sp. was present in EDC and in filters used to collect settled dust. Reduced azole susceptibility was observed in filters, EDC (on ICZ and VCZ), and mops (on ICZ). Fumonisin B2 was the only mycotoxin detected and was present in all sampling matrixes except settled dust. High and moderate cytotoxicity was obtained, suggesting that A549 cells were more sensitive to samples’ contaminants. The observed widespread of critical toxigenic fungal species with clinical relevance, such as Aspergillus section Fumigati, as well as Fumonisin B2 emphasizes the importance of frequent and effective cleaning procedures while using shared mops appeared as a vehicle of cross-contamination.
