Viegas, CarlaReis, Ana Maria Gonçalves, 1958-Pena, Pedro Miguel Nunes2023-01-022024-07-1720222022http://hdl.handle.net/10451/55558Tese de mestrado, Microbiologia Aplicada , 2022, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasThe recent public health challenges pushed by climate and demographic changes, including increased waste production, forced adjustments to the waste collection system. These adjustments reach the sustainability goals set by WHO and care for a better risk assessment and management. The increasing conditions for microbial growth put waste handlers and collectors at a higher risk of exposure. This study aims to assess microbial contamination in waste collection trucks (WCT) and waste collection stations (WCS). A multi-approach methodology was applied and included passive (swabs, electrostatic dust cloths, and settled dust) and active (impingement and impaction air sampling) samples collection, and azole resistance screening. Molecular tools, namely Real-Time PCR (qPCR), for Aspergillus sections detection and SARS-CoV-2 detection were applied. Only WCS air samples showed contamination in all sampling sites (canteen, operational removal core, operational removal center, and administrative service). In WCT, swab samples had higher bacterial counts and Gram-negative counts percentage (66.93 %; 99.36 %). The most common fungal species in WCS were Penicillium sp. (43.98 %) and Cladosporium sp. (24.68 %), while on WCT, Aspergillus sp. showed to be also very prevalent (4.18 %). Aspergillus sp. was identified in azole supplemented media. Fumigati section was detected in five samples while SARS-CoV-2 was not detected in any of the environmental samples. Overall, besides active sampling methods, there should be applied passive sampling methods, culture-based methods, and molecular tools in parallel. This approach will allow more accurate results regarding microbial contamination, unveiling a complex microbial exposure (bacteria and fungi). Aspergillus section Fumigati identification and detection is an extremely important health risk factor to consider as a sentinel for hazardous fungal contamination in the waste sorting industry. Although the lack of more detailed data on bacterial characterization, this study provides more data for a precise risk assessment and further management in the waste management industry.engExposição ocupacionalIndústria de resíduosVeículos de recolha de resíduosAvaliação do riscoContaminação microbianaTeses de mestrado - 2022master thesis203199219