Systematic review and meta-analysis of the potential threats to respiratory health from microbial Bioaerosol exposures

Muhammad Anwar Iqbal; Sadia Afrin Siddiqua; Mohammad Omar Faruk; Abu Reza Md Towfiqul Islam; Mohammed Abdus Salam

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122972

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the potential threats to respiratory health from microbial Bioaerosol exposures

Environ Pollut. 2024 Jan 15:341:122972. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122972. Epub 2023 Nov 18.

Authors

Muhammad Anwar Iqbal¹, Sadia Afrin Siddiqua², Mohammad Omar Faruk³, Abu Reza Md Towfiqul Islam⁴, Mohammed Abdus Salam⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh.
² Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Statistics, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Disaster Management, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, 5400, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh. Electronic address: masalam.esdm@nstu.edu.bd.

PMID: 37984479
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122972

Abstract

Infectious diseases are a part of everyday life, and acute respiratory diseases are the most common. Many agents carrying out respiratory infections are transmitted as bioaerosols through the air, usually, particulate matter containing living organisms. The purpose of the study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the likelihood that people exposed to bioaerosols may experience severe respiratory diseases. Nine digital databases and bibliographies were assessed for papers conducted between January 1960 and April 2021. A total of 35 health and exposure studies were included from 825 studies for the systematic review, while only 17 contented the meta-inclusion analysis's criteria. This systematic review found higher bacterial bioaerosol concentrations in poultry farms, waste dumpsites, composting plants, and paper industries. The meta-analysis's Standard Mean Difference (SMD) measurement indicates a substantially positive association between bioaerosol exposure and respiratory disease outcomes in targeted populations. The value is 0.955 [95% CI, range 0.673-1.238; p < 0.001]. As per the Risk of Bias (ROB) findings, most of findings (30 out of 35 [85.71%]) were judged to have low ROB. From the random effect probit model, the total relative risk is 1.477 (95% CI, range 0.987-2.211), indicating a higher risk of respiratory diseases from bioaerosol exposure than the control groups. The total risk difference is 0.121 (95% CI, -0.0229 to 0.264), which means intervention groups may have a higher risk of respiratory diseases from continuous bioaerosol exposure than the control groups. The dose-response relationship revealed a strong positive linear coefficient correlation between bacterial & fungal bioaerosol exposure to respiratory health. Based on self-reported outcomes in those studies, The systematic review and meta-analysis stated that bioaerosol exposure had an effect on pulmonary health.

Keywords: Bioaerosol; Exposure; Meta-analysis; Respiratory health impacts; Systematic review.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Systematic Review
Review

MeSH terms

Composting*
Humans
Particulate Matter / analysis
Respiratory Aerosols and Droplets
Respiratory Tract Infections*
Risk

Substances

Particulate Matter