Title: Microbial aerosol in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of Eastern China

Authors: Jianling Zhang; Shuxian Huang; Mengyao Tian; Xuerun Wu; Dilimulati Samaiti; Amanti Haheerman; Fuguang Dong; Hui Xiong; Ru Jiang

Addresses: Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China ' Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China ' Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China ' Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China ' Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China ' Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China ' Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China ' Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China ' Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 312 West Anshan Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300193, China

Abstract: With dense population, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China is one of the regions most severely stricken by atmospheric pollution in the world. Research shows that the annual average concentration of airborne bacteria in this region is 1,380-3,020 CFU/m³. The concentration of gram-positive (G⁺) bacteria (80%-85%) is significantly higher than that of G⁻ bacteria (15%-20%) and a total of 47 genera of bacteria are found. The number of airborne fungi in Beijing is 89-2,270 CFU/m³ and a total of nine genera of fungi are detected. Bacterial aerosols in the air are mostly distributed in particles bigger than 2 µm (82.2%). Fungal aerosols are mainly found in 1-6 µm particles, accounting for 71.6%, and are the most densely distributed in 2-3.5 µm particles. The regular changes in distribution region, time, and particle size of microbial aerosol in the air may provide an important research basis for the further study on the correlation between the quantity and genera of microorganisms in haze and human infectious disease.

Keywords: China; Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei; air pollution; microbial aerosol; PM2.5; bacteria; fungi.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2017.085650

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2017 Vol.61 No.2, pp.89 - 97

Accepted: 26 Oct 2016
Published online: 05 Aug 2017 *

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