Qualidade do ar em ambientes internos hospitalares: parâmetros físico-químicos e microbiológicos
Year: 2008
Type: dissertation
Abstract: People's quality of life is greatly influenced by the quality of the air they breathe. In urban centers, more than 80% of the time is spent indoors. Specifically in health centers, air quality may exert a direct influence in the patient's recovery time and in the occurrence of nosocomial infections. This work's objective was to evaluate the indoor air quality of three categories of hospital environments: a neonatal ICU, an ICU and a surgical ward inside the University Hospital at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (HU/UFSC), in Florianopolis (SC), Brazil. The following comfort parameters and indicators of indoor air exchange: temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, average air speed and exchange flow rate. These parameters allowed for the establishment of the maximum occupation accepted in each operating room. A qualitative evaluation of the volatile organic compounds (VOC) was also performed, using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The results showed a slight accumulation of VOC in some of the indoor environments. The passive bioaerossol sampling technique was evaluated in one of the environments, and a weak relationship was observed between the agar plate exposure times and the bioaerosol counts. Bioaerosol concentrations were also measured through active sampling, using an agar plate impactor (Andersen sampler) with selective culture medias for fungi and bacteria. This parameter's behavior was studied throughout the day, and this permitted to visualize a slight relationship between bioaerosol counts and indoor occupation rates. Time of usage did not cause a direct increase in the bioaerosol concentrations. Filamentous fungus of the Aspergillus and Penicillium genera were the most frequent. The filters of a fan-coil unit were tested for the removal of filamentous fungi. Values of 41% and 100% were obtained for fungi removal efficiencies of bag and HEPA filters, respectively. All studied environments were in compliance with the current indoor air regulations. The results allowed for the suggestion of improvements in the Brazilian indoor air quality legislation and for the establishment of a future regulation, specific for hospital's indoor air quality.
Author: Marina E. Quadros
Language: Portuguese
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1514343144