MICROBES IN THE AIR AT GARBAGE SORTING FA CILITIES

At two german garbage sorting facilities, germ concentrations in the a ir were analyzed at different working environments (waste reception, m anual sorting). At plant A, maximum concentrations of total bacteria ( 14700 CFU/m(3)), gram-negative bacteria (7279 CFU/m(3)) and moulds (> 84806 CFU/m(3)) occurred in the air at the final manual sorting belts. Referring to concentrations of total bacteria and moulds, concentrati ons in the air at the final sorting belts were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than at the other working environments. At plant B, the coun ts of total bacteria reached 7173 CFU/m(3) in the air at the waste rec eption site and 5512 CFU/m(3) at the manual sorting belt. Maximum conc entrations for gram-negative bacteria were 247 resp. 206 CFU/m(3) and 70919 resp. 60848 CFU/m(3) for moulds. At the waste reception site, th e aerial concentrations of total bacteria lay highly significantly (p < 0.001) and of moulds significantly (p < 0.05) above aerial concentra tions at the manual sorting belt. As causes, an intensive mechanical p retreatment of recycle material at plant A and whirling up of sediment ary dust of the floor during manual sweeping of the material on to the transportation at plant B are discussed.