Overall
- Language
- English
- Conflict of Interest
- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received February 5, 2024
Accepted May 27, 2024
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Most Cited
Accessing of Viable Bacteria Captured by Antimicrobial Filters in a Metropolitan Subway of South Korea
Abstract
In subway stations, where passengers are crowed in enclosed spaces with restricted ventilation, airborne microorganisms
have been detected, potentially contributing to the spread of infectious aerosols. In South Korea’s metropolitan subways,
air purifi ers are installed on platforms to reduce particulate matter. Effi ciency particulate air (EPA) fi lters in air purifi ers
lack disinfection capabilities and can serve as a source of airborne pathogens during fi lter replacement. In this fi eld study,
antimicrobial fi lters were applied to air purifi ers installed on a subway platform to assess their ability to reduce the captured
microorganisms. After 1 week of operation, the microbiomes were collected from both the control and test fi lters, followed
by microbial identifi cation. Additionally, the composition of metal elements was analyzed using particulate matter collected
by the EPA fi lters. While 19 types of bacterial species were detected in control fi lters, the antimicrobial fi lters showed the
presence of 15 bacterial species, with overall 64.71% of antibacterial effi cacy. Specifi cally, the antimicrobial fi lter exhibited
100% reduction in Micrococcus and 93.75% reduction in Staphylococcus genus, related to anthropogenic sources.
