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Special Issue "Indoor Air Quality in Healthcare Facilities and Healing Environments"

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A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality and Human Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 August 2021) | Viewed by 12536

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marco Dettori

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Guest Editor

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
Interests: public health; environmental health; urban health; indoor air quality; water quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Gea Oliveri Conti

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Guest Editor

Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, CT, Italy
Interests: environmental health risks by a hygiene and public health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Marco Gola

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Guest Editor

Department of Architecture, Construction Engineering and Built Environment, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano MI, Italy
Interests: indoor air quality; healthcare design; architectures for health

Dr. Neveen Hamza

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Guest Editor

School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: computational fluid dynamics; sustainable architecture; environmental design; architecture; building performance simulation; environmental psychology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The healthcare settings’ confined space is a complex and integrated system of multiple risk factors (chemical, physical, and microbiological) interacting with each other, which can lead to altered comfort and health conditions both for patients and healthcare professionals. In recent decades, situations of sensory discomfort and specific pathologies have increased in the occupants of healthcare facilities, highlighting the necessity of environmental quality requirements.

This Special Issue is looking forward to publishing evidence and observations in the field regarding, but not limited to, indoor air quality; chemical, physical, and microbiological contaminants; thermal comfort; and microclimate conditions with regard to healthcare facilities and healing environments.

We welcome the submission of reviews, original research articles, short communications, editorial letters, systematic reviews, and case studies targeting any of these core research questions.

Dr. Marco Dettori
Dr. Gea Oliveri Conti
Dr. Marco Gola
Dr. Neveen Hamza
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Indoor air quality
Microclimate conditions
Thermal comfort
Chemical air pollution
Microbial air pollution
Healthcare facilities air quality
Hospital air quality
Healing settings

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Air or Nitrogen Non-Thermal Plasma on Variations of Natural Bioactive Compounds in Djulis (Chenopodium formosanum Koidz.) Seed and the Potential Effects for Human Health

Wan Nurdiyana Wan Mansor

and

Ying-Chieh Lee

Atmosphere 2021, 12(11), 1375; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12111375 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1504

Abstract

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) has been widely applied in the food and agricultural industries. It is still unknown whether natural bioactive compounds in seeds are affected by NTP treatment. Our goal was to examine whether the bioactive compounds in djulis (Chenopodium formosanum Koidz.) seed are changed after NTP treatment. The betacyanin, anthocyanin, total phenolic content (TPCs), total flavonoids (TFs), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging effects (DPPH), gallic acid, and rutin were compared in NTP-treated seed and an untreated control. Levels of betacyanin, anthocyanin, and TPCs in the seed were found to be significantly increased after the nitrogen (N₂)-NTP treatment compared with the control (p < 0.001). Inversely, the air-NTP treatment significantly weakened the performance of these bioactive compounds in the seed as compared to the control. Levels of TFs in both the air- and N₂-NTP treated seed were significantly lower than those in the control (p < 0.001). After the NTP treatment, DPPH was still at high levels, similar to those in the control. The djulis seed extract had antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on THP-1 (human-monocyte-cell line) cells. N₂-NTP generated nitrogen reactive species that activated the bioactive compounds in the seed. In contrast, air-NTP produced oxygen and nitrogen reactive species inhibited the expression of these bioactive compounds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Air Quality in Healthcare Facilities and Healing Environments)

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Open AccessArticle

Microclimatic and Environmental Surveillance of Operating Theaters: Trend and Future Perspectives

Margherita Ferrante

Gea Oliveri Conti

Giuseppe Lucio Blandini

and

Atmosphere 2021, 12(10), 1273; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12101273 - 30 Sep 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1509

Abstract

The health risk level in operating rooms is correlated to the safety levels of microclimatic parameters, thermal indices, anesthetic gases and microbiological parameters. The objective of this study was to estimate the staff and medical service management compliance with the suggestions resulting from monitoring. Methods: The environmental conditions of 38 different operating rooms in the Sicily region, Italy, from January 2011 to December 2020 were monitored. The results were compared with specific standards suggested by national and international laws and guidelines. Results: Almost all microclimatic and microbiological parameters were outside the limits. The monitoring of the anesthetic gases showed that 5.6% of sevoflurane measurements exceeded the limit values. Conclusions: Constant environmental monitoring is an essential element for maintaining optimal living conditions in the working environment. The compliance of staff with guidelines and rules is a fundamental parameter for achieving this objective. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Air Quality in Healthcare Facilities and Healing Environments)

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Open AccessArticle

Microbial Environmental Pollution in ICUs: Results, Trends, and Suggestions from a Long-Lasting Surveillance

Daniela D’Alessandro

Massimo Fabiani

and

Letizia Appolloni

Atmosphere 2021, 12(9), 1174; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12091174 - 12 Sep 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1583

Abstract

Intensive care units (ICUs) are special areas in hospitals for patients with severe and life-threatening diseases. ICUs are of several categories, such as neonatal ICUs, cardiac ICUs, neurological ICUs, surgical ICUs, etc. The ICUs’ patients may show a high susceptibility for hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) depending on underlying disease, duration of stay and treatment. ICUs are considered potential reservoirs for (opportunistic) pathogenic microbial strains and the risk of acquiring infection in these hospital environments is higher than in others. Several studies show the role of inanimate surface and equipment contamination in the transmission of pathogens to ICU patients. The aim of this study is to describe the results of 124 sampling campaigns performed during 12 years of microbiological surveillance of five ICUs of different categories, for an overall number of 714 samples (232 from air and 482 from surface), to analyze their trends and to elaborate suggestions to improve ICUs’ environmental quality and patients’ safety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Air Quality in Healthcare Facilities and Healing Environments)

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Open AccessArticle

Building Performance Evaluation of a New Hospital Building in the UK: Balancing Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Performance

and

Atmosphere 2021, 12(1), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12010115 - 15 Jan 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4308

Abstract

Hospitals are controlled yet complex ecosystems which provide a therapeutic environment that promotes healing, wellbeing and work efficiency for patients and staff. As these buildings accommodate the sick and vulnerable, occupant wellbeing and good indoor environmental quality (IEQ) that deals with indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort, lighting and acoustics are important objectives. As the specialist nature of hospital function demands highly controlled indoor environments, this makes them energy intensive buildings due to the complex and varying specifications for their functions and operations. This paper reports on a holistic building performance evaluation covering aspects of indoor air quality, thermal comfort, lighting, acoustics, and energy use. It assesses the performance issues and inter-relationships between IEQ and energy in a new building on a hospital campus in the city of Bristol, United Kingdom. The empirical evidence collated from this case study and the feedback received from the hospital staff help identify the endemic issues and constraints related to hospital buildings, such as the need for robust ventilation strategies in hospitals in urban areas that mitigate the effect of indoor and outdoor air pollution and ensuring the use of planned new low-carbon technologies. Whilst the existing guidelines for building design provide useful instructions for the protection of hospital buildings against ingress of particulate matter from outdoors, more advanced filtration strategies may be required to enact chemical reactions required to control the concentration levels of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and benzene. Further lessons for improved performance in operation and maintenance of hospitals are highlighted. These include ensuring that the increasingly available metering and monitoring data in new buildings, through building management systems, is used for efficient and optimal building operations for better IEQ and energy management. Overall, the study highlights the need for an integrated and holistic approach to building performance to ensure that healthy environments are provided while energy efficiency targets are met. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Air Quality in Healthcare Facilities and Healing Environments)

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Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Microbial Monitoring as a Tool for Preventing Infectious Risk in the Operating Room: Results of 10 Years of Activity

and

Atmosphere 2021, 12(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12010019 - 25 Dec 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2560

Abstract

Environmental microbial contamination in the operating room (OR) can favour contamination of the surgical wound, posing the risk of infection of the surgical site. Thus, environmental monitoring is a useful tool for assessing environmental health and the effectiveness and efficiency of the measures adopted to control the risk of infection in the OR. This work aimed to analyse the long term environmental quality of 18 ORs throughout Sardinia, Italy, through the quantitative and qualitative characterisation of the microbial flora present in the air and on surfaces, in order to evaluate the trend over time, including in relation to any control measures adopted. The results of the sampling carried out in the period from January 2010 to December 2019 have been extrapolated from the archive-database of the Laboratory of the Hygiene and Control of Hospital Infections Unit of the University Hospital in Sassari. During the period in question, 188 air evaluations were carried out, both in empty rooms and during surgery, and 872 surface samples were taken. When the air was monitored, it emerged that significant contamination was detectable in a reduced number of examinations and a limited number of rooms. Microbial load values higher than the reference values may have been mainly determined by sub-optimal operation/maintenance of the air conditioning system. Surface testing showed a good level of sanitisation, given the low percentage of non-compliant values detected. The possibility of having data available on environmental quality is a useful educational and training tool both for those responsible for sanitisation procedures and the surgical team, in order to increase awareness of the effects of a lack of compliance with behavioural standards. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Air Quality in Healthcare Facilities and Healing Environments)

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