Biological Pollution

Biological pollutants are substances in our environment which come from living organisms and can affect our health.
They include things such as pollen from trees and plants, insects or insect parts, certain fungi, some bacteria and viruses,
and even animal hair, animal skin scales, saliva, and urine. Not all of these substances are harmful to everyone who
encounters them.

While food may be the obvious or more famous place where biological contamination can occur, it's by no means the
only one. Think of our environment. This means nature and the environment you find yourself in on a daily basis, such as
buildings at work or even your own home. Biological contamination can occur in both places. If you work in a hospital, a
surgical suite may be contaminated with dangerous viruses and/or bacteria after a patient has had surgery. That's an
example of biological contamination at work. What about your home? Well, how many times have you been warned
about mold growing in the walls or underneath the carpeting or tiles of your home? Mold is a biological organism, and it
is an unwanted one, too! Thus, it is a contaminant.
One final example of a biological contaminant, this one particular to the environment at large, is the constant threat of
biological terror. You've probably heard of various terror groups or even nation-states trying to buy or develop biological
weapons of mass destruction. Some of them work on the principle of contaminating our water source or simply the air
around us with deadly organisms.
Biological Contamination of the Water and Its Effects

Biological organisms can enter to the body through drinking water and cause disease:
These diseases can be classified into three groups: Pathogenic microbes, viruses, and parasites and protistas. Water
contamination by these organisms can be related to the contamination of the water itself or water may infect during the
piping phase. This contamination may enter the line over the distribution network. Among these reasons we can
mention broken lines due to excavation, installation of ramifications, network obsolescence and negative pressure in the
lines, especially in times of power outage, which interrupts the network line flow (Grabow, 1996).

Pathogenic Microbes
This group of microbes infects through
drinking water directly, and through
food consumption indirectly. Pathogenic
microbes have been the main cause of
death in the world’s developing countries
(Medema et al., 2003). The most
important microbial diseases originating in
water are shown in Table 1. Pathogenic
microbes are responsible for dangerous
diseases such as cholera and typhoid,
and while less dangerous to some
extent, is responsible for high numbers of
infantile diarrhea. Diarrhea diseases and
other internal infections are the main
cause of death among people who live in the
cities and villages of developing countries
(Farmer et al., 2003).
Biological Contamination of Air in Indoor Spaces

Examples of types of fungus in indoor air, which can cause rhinitis and/or asthma

 
Alternaria Geotrichum Serpula

Aspergillus Mucor Stachybotrys

Cladosporium Penicillium Stemphylium/Ulocladium

Eurotium Rhizopus Wallemia

Fusarium Rhodotorula/Sporobolomyces  

Micro-organisms in indoor air reported as causes of building-related extrinsic allergic alveolitis

Type Micro-organis Source

 
Bacteria Bacillus subtilis Decayed wood
  Faenia rectivirgula Humidifier
  Pseudomonas aeruginosa Humidifier
 
  Thermoactinomyces vulgaris Air conditioner
 
Fungi Aureobasidium pullulans Sauna; room wall
  Cephalosporium sp. Basement; humidifier
  Cladosporium sp. Unventilated bathroom
  Mucor sp. Pulsed air heating system
  Penicillium sp. Pulsed air heating system
humidifier
  P. casei Room wall
  P. chrysogenum / P. Flooring
cyclopium
  Serpula lacrimans Dry rot affected timber
  Sporobolomyces Room wall; ceiling
  Trichosporon cutaneum Wood; matting

The indoor environment is a very complex environment. Pollutants are numerous in both outdoor and indoor air. While
the same pollutants (biological, chemical, or radioactive) can be identified in indoor and outdoor spaces, their
concentrations can be very different.
Exposure evaluation of biological contamination of indoor air

Indoor air levels of bacterial concentrations of <1, 000 CFU/m3 can be regarded as “low, ” and concentrations of >5, 000
CFU/m3 can be regarded as “high”. These numbers reflect mainly the crowdedness of the room and the efficiency of the
ventilation and thus are a measure of the hygienic quality of the indoor air.

In a school in Giurgiu City, the following results were obtained: at 8:00 a.m., a number of 1, 259 CFU/m3 was identified;
at 11:00 a.m., a number of 1, 732 CFU/m3 was identified; at 1:00 p.m., a level of biological air contamination equal to
472 CFU/m3 was identified. In the school hall, the level of air contamination was equal to 2, 202 CFU/m3, the level of
contamination of the air with S. non-aureus was equal to 1, 259 CFU/m3 at 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., and 472 CFU/m3 at
1:00 p.m.; the level of contamination with Streptococcus alpha-hemolytic was equal to 157 CFU/m3 at 11:00 a.m. In a
classroom and in the school hall, at 1:00 p.m., coliform bacteria were identified as an indicator of enteric contamination
of air. The level of contamination with coliform bacteria was equal to 315 CFU/m3. The detected levels of coliform
bacteria can be dangerous for children health 

Detection of Biological Contaminants aboard Aircraft

Compilation of cough statistics. Notes: Chronic cough can include

asthma, gastrooesophageal reflux, eosinophilic bronchitis,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic bronchitis. §
Italics represent cases where median values are reported by
primary literature. † Study reports cough frequency in cough
seconds per hour. In this table, 1 cough second is assumed to be
the equivalent of one cough. NR denotes not reported.
Hospitals and Health Centers

Contamination of hospital and health care centers should be considered due to the sensitivity of patients to chemical
and biological pollutants. In addition, particles in closed environments carry infectious microbes and microbial
metabolites which are found abundantly in health centers 3 hence, there are health risks including airborne infectious
disease transmission. Different factors can increase the likelihood of chronic diseases. This possibility is probably due to
the existence of one causative agent and the effect of other intensifying factors. Example, exposure to chemical agents
in the environment, known as environmental risk factors for the development of chronic diseases in children, can play a
role in the development of diseases such as asthma, obesity, behavioral disorders and learning problems in children.
Hospital infections are a global issue, so many studies have examined the amount, source and characteristics of bio-
aerosols in hospitals, long-term exposure to pollutants in indoor air can intensify their adverse effects and health
hazards.

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