Concentration of air-borne microorganisms in sport facilities
¹Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Technological Equipment of Buildings, Kamycka 129, CZ165 21 Prague, Czech Republic
²Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Department of Microbiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Kamycka 129, CZ165 21 Prague 6, Czech Republic
*Correspondence: kic@tf.czu.cz
Abstract:
This paper is focused on the microclimatic research in several buildings and rooms used for sport at the University. The attention is paid mainly to the problems of dimensions of space, capacity and activity of sportsmen, and influence of space ventilation. The air samples for microbiological analyses were taken by the microbial air sampler Merck Mas-100 Eco and cultivated by potato-dextrose agar and nutrient agar. Captured microorganisms, are expressed as colony forming units per m3 (CFU m-3). Measurement results showed that bacteria average quantity was statistically significantly less without students (562 CFU m-3) than with students (1,024 CFU m-3). The students inside the rooms increased the bacteria concentration. From this point of view the ventilation is not adequate for the removal of bacteria from ventilated spaces. From the results we can conclude that the great importance on the air quality in terms of a specific bacteria concentration has the specific volume of the room per one athlete. The worst situation is in rooms with the smallest volume, which has the largest biological load of the space. The lowest quantity of bacteria was in the swimming pool all year round (152 to 300 CFU m-3). The opposite situation was in average quantity of filamentous fungi, which was with students and ventilation (57 CFU m-3) and without students but without ventilation (109 CFU m-3). The pollution of air by fungi was higher without ventilation.
Key words:
air, gyms, indoor environment, pollution, swimming pool, ventilation