ABSTRACT
Introduction and objective: While the qualitative information about bacterial and fungal pollution of automated teller machine (ATM) surfaces is available in the scientific literature, there are practically no studies precisely quantifying this type of contamination. Regarding viruses, such data in relation to ATM surfaces are not available at all. Material and methods: The quantitative and qualitative control of adeno- and coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 (based on qPCR/RT-qPCR and v-qPCR/v-RT-qPCR), bacterial and fungal contaminants (based on morphological and biochemical characteristics followed by PCR/RAPD typing) deposited on internal and external ATM surfaces (swab sampling), as well as present in the air of premises housing the ATM machines (inertial impaction sampling) belonging to the network of one of the largest Polish banks was performed. Results: As the air of premises housing ATMs was relatively clean, the internal (i.e. safe boxes and cash dispenser tracks) and external (i.e. touch screens and keypads) ATM surfaces were heavily polluted, reaching 599 CFU/cm2, 522 CFU/cm2, 17288 gc/cm2 and 2512 gc/cm2 for bacterial, fungal, coronaviral and adenoviral contaminants, respectively. The application of propidium monoazide (PMA) dye pretreatment for v-qPCR/v-RT-qPCR allows detection of the potentially infectious SARS-CoV-2 and adenoviral particulates on ATM surfaces. Conclusions: The packaged banknotes and people involved in their distribution, as well as general population using ATMs, can be the sources of this type of contamination and its potential victims. Highly efficient hygienic measures should be introduced to prevent unwanted pollution of both the distributed means of payment and ATM surfaces, and to avoid subsequent dissemination of microbial contaminants.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the prevalence of the most common respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses in the air, surface swab, and influent/effluent samples collected in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Application of qPCR/RT-qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction/reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction) assays combined with PMA (propidium monoazide) dye pretreatment allowed detecting the potentially infectious and disintegrated viral particles in collected samples. In the air at workplaces in WWTPs, the most frequent isolation with the highest concentrations (reaching up to 103 gc/m3 of potentially infectious intact viral particles) were observed in case of adenoviruses (AdVs) and rotaviruses (RoVs), followed by noroviruses (NoVs). Viruses were significantly more often detected in the air samples collected with Coriolis µ impinger, than with MAS-100NT impactor. The temperature negatively (Spearman correlation: -1 < R < 0; p < 0.05), while RH (relative humidity) positively (0 < R < 1; p < 0.05) affected airborne concentrations of potentially infectious viral particles. In turn, the predominant viruses on studied surfaces were RoVs and noroviruses GII (NoV GII) with concentrations of potentially infectious virions up to 104 gc/100 cm2. In the cases of SARS-CoV-2 and presumptive SARS-CoV-2 or other coronaviruses, their concentrations reached up to 103 gc/100 cm2. The contamination level of steel surfaces in WWTPs was similar to this on plastic ones. This study revealed that the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses at workplaces in WWTPs is important for proper exposure assessment and needs to be included in risk management in occupational environment with high abundance of microbial pollutants derived from wastewater.