Bio-aerosols in indoor environment: Composition, health effects and analysis.

The health effects of bio-aerosols including infectious diseases, acute toxic effects, allergies and cancer coupled with the threat of bioterrorism and SARS have led to increased awareness on the importance of bio-aerosols. There have been problems in developing standard sampling methods, in proving a causal relationship and in establishing threshold limit values for exposures due to the complexity of composition of bio-aerosols, variations in human response to their exposure and difficulties in recovering microorganisms. In India there is little awareness regarding the quality of indoor air, mould contamination in indoor environments, potential source for transmission of nosocomial infections in health care facilities. This article is a review on composition, sources, modes of transmission, health effects and sampling methods used for evaluation of bio-aerosols, and also suggests control measures to reduce the loads of bio-aerosols. Indian J Med Microbiol. 2008;26(4):302-12.