Bioaerosols play a major role in the nasopharyngeal microbiota content in agricultural environment

Auteurs

Hamza Mbareche, Centre de Recherche de l’Institut, Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, Québec, G1V 4G5, Canada, Département de Biochimie, De Microbiologie et de Bio-Informatique, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
Marc Veillette, Centre de Recherche de l’Institut, Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, Québec, G1V 4G5, Canada
Jonathan Pilote, Centre de Recherche de l’Institut, Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, Québec, G1V 4G5, Canada, Département de Biochimie, De Microbiologie et de Bio-Informatique, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
Valérie Létourneau, Centre de Recherche de l’Institut, Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, Québec, G1V 4G5, Canada
Caroline Duchaine, Centre de Recherche de l’Institut, Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, Québec, G1V 4G5, Canada, Département de Biochimie, De Microbiologie et de Bio-Informatique, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada

Type de document

Études primaires

Année de publication

2019

Langue

Anglais

Titre de la revue

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Résumé

Background: Bioaerosols are a major concern for public health and sampling for exposure assessment purposes is challenging. The nasopharyngeal region could be a potent carrier of longterm bioaerosol exposure agents. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between nasopharyngeal bacterial flora of swine workers and the swine barns bioaerosol biodiversity.

Methods: Air samples from eight swine barns as well as nasopharyngeal swabs from pig workers (n = 25) and from a non-exposed control group (n = 29) were sequenced using 16S rRNA gene highthroughput sequencing. Wastewater treatment plants were used as the industrial, low-dust, nonagricultural environment control to validate the microbial link between the bioaerosol content (air) and the nasopharynxes of workers.

Results: A multivariate analysis showed air samples and nasopharyngeal flora of pig workers cluster together, compared to the non-exposed control group. The significance was confirmed with the PERMANOVA statistical test (p-value of 0.0001). Unlike the farm environment, nasopharynx samples from wastewater workers did not cluster with air samples from wastewater treatment plants. The difference in the microbial community of nasopharynx of swine workers and a control group suggest that swine workers are carriers of germs found in bioaerosols.

Conclusion: Nasopharynx sampling and microbiota could be used as a proxy of air sampling for exposure assessment studies or for the determination of exposure markers in highly contaminated agricultural environments. © 2019 by the authors.

Mots-clés

Aérosol, Aerosol, Pollution microbienne, Microbial pollution, Microorganisme, Pharynx, Élevage, Livestock rearing

Numéro de projet IRSST

n/a

Citation recommandée

Mbareche, H., Veillette, M., Pilote, J., Létourneau, V. et Duchaine, C. (2019). Bioaerosols play a major role in the nasopharyngeal microbiota content in agricultural environment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16081375