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Evaluation of Exposure to Environmental Bacteria
Laitinen Sirpa, Ph.D., Kangas Juhani, Ph.D. Kuopio Regional Institute of Occupational Health, Finland

The present study provides information about the methods used to determine airborne bacteria in occupational environments. The best means proved to be the analysis of filter samples with endotoxin and peptidoglycan assays. The results of the assay, which measures the biological activity of cell wall components, mainly endotoxins, correlated well with the measured concentrations of viable airborne bacteria, especially with the levels of gram-negative bacteria. The endotoxin analyzed by chemical markers did not correlate well with the results of the assay nor with the viable bacteria levels, despite the similarity between the bacterial species identified from the culture media and the corresponding 3-OH fatty acids analyzed by the GC-MS assay. Indicative information on total bacteria levels could be obtained from peptidoglycans, which correlated well with total viable bacteria.