Microbial Assessment of Air Quality in Medical Laboratories of A Tertiary Hospital in Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Medical Laboratories are rooms equipped for performing scientific research. Monitory bioaerosols in the laboratories will help to estimate the health hazards posed by airborne microorganisms and create standards for quality control. This study aimed to determine the indoor air quality of Medical Laboratories of a University Teaching Hospital. Air samples were taken twice a day: in the morning (8:00 – 9:00 am) and in the afternoon (2:00 – 3:00 pm) using the settle plate method. The microbial isolates were characterized and identified using standard microbiological techniques. Location or type of laboratory (p= p=0 . 0077072) and time of collection (p=0.0000937) significantly affected the bacterial load of air, with TB laboratory having the least count and with count obtained in the morning being higher than those obtained in the afternoon. Fungal counts were not affected by the type of laboratory and time of collection (p>0.05). Microbial isolates in descending order of prevalence include Bacillus species, coagulase, Mucor species, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus and Staphylococcus aureus. Measures to reduce the microbial load of the air of medical laboratories are advocated.