A Comparison of Airborne Microorganism Concentration between Fan Room and Air Conditioning Room in Childcare Center, Loei Province
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Abstract
The study aimed: (1) to compare of airborne microorganism concentrations in fan rooms and in air conditioning rooms in childcare centers in Loei province; (2) to compare microorganism concentrations between sample collected location in a childcare center in Loei province. The cluster sampling method and the Bio-Stage Impactor were used for gold standard technique and collected 164 samples from three districts (by collecting two childcare centers from each area) in Loei province.
The results showed that the mean concentrations of the indoor (I) airborne bacteria was 41.09±21.13 cfu/m3 and the indoor (I) airborne fungi was 20.83±23.25 cfu/m3. The mean concentration of the outdoors (O) airborne bacteria was 35.18±28.76 cfu/m3 and the outdoors (O) airborne fungi was 11.45±9.78 cfu/m3. The I/O ratio of bacteria and fungi were 1.17 and 1.07, respectively. However, the median concentrations of airborne bacteria in the childcare centers with fan rooms and air conditioning rooms were 47.46 cfu/m3 (95% median 40.80 to 65.85) and 28.71 cfu/m3 (95% median 21.93 to 35.61), respectively. When comparing the concentration of airborne bacteria in the childcare center between the fan room and the air conditioning room, there was a statistically significant difference (p-value < 0.001). These results could lead to monitoring and planning environmental operations in childcare centers to reduce airborne microorganisms.
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