Advanced Personal Sampler to Assess Occupational Exposures to Bioaerosols

This grant application responds to PAR-18-812: Occupational Safety and Health Research (R01). Exposure to airborne biological agents is known to cause a wide range of negative health effects in occupational and general populations. Thus, advanced exposure assessment tools are needed. The proposed project will complete the development and testing of a novel, standalone, battery-operated personal

electrostatic bioaerosol sampler (PEBS) featuring a high sample concentration rate. In the completed PEBS, bioaerosols will be drawn into an open channel collector at 20 L/min, electrically charged, and deposited inside a removable cartridge with a hydrophobic collection plate. The collected particles will be eluted into 0.5 mL of

liquid using a newly designed elution station. The eluate can then be analyzed by various techniques, from culturing to molecular tools, sequencing, and rapid analysis kits. In the exploratory research, we demonstrated the feasibility of this personal sampler concept and built its prototype. This R01 project will complete the

sampler’s development, including integration with electronic components and controls and the elution station. The completed sampler version will quadruple the sample concentration rate compared to the prototype. The performance of PEBS will be validated using different microorganisms, including coronavirus OC43, and

multiple microbial analysis techniques. The standalone PEBS will be rigorously tested against other personal samplers, including its use in the field to determine actual personal bioaerosol exposures in various occupational environments. We hypothesize that the standalone PEBS is advantageous over current personal

bioaerosol samplers in determining bioaerosol exposures, especially at low microorganism concentrations. This proposal responds to NORA’s Priority Research Agendas National Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing; National Services; National Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities by answering their call to

improve exposure assessment to occupational agents (e.g., biological agents) and to prevent and reduce work-related illnesses, including respiratory infectious diseases and asthma. The proposal also responds to several cross-sector programs, e.g., Respiratory Health and Immune, Dermal & Infectious Diseases.

This proposal responds to the NIOSH r2P initiative by developing an innovative tool that will enable an improved assessment of personal exposures to biological air contaminants, leading to worker health protection. The new personal sampling technology will eventually be transferred into the workplace.

The study output will be an advanced standalone personal bioaerosol sampler for occupational environments and publications/presentations describing the technology and its performance and application. We expect that intermediate outcomes will include a patent, citations in the literature, and, finally, adoption of

the sampler in practice. The end outcome is expected to be a better understanding of personal exposures to hazardous biological particles, eventually leading to better health protection.