Microbial Air Quality in the Built Environment—Case Study of Darvas-La Roche Heritage Museum House, Oradea, Romania
Dorina Camelia Ilies,
Tudor Caciora,
Alexandru Ilies,
Zharas Berdenov,
Mallik Akram Hossain,
Vasile Grama,
Ranjan Kumar Dahal,
Mihaela Zdrinca,
Thowayeb H. Hassan,
Grigore Vasile Herman,
Jan Andrzej Wendt,
Paula Dejeu
Affiliations
Dorina Camelia Ilies
Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport, University of Oradea, 1 Universitatii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Tudor Caciora
Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport, University of Oradea, 1 Universitatii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Alexandru Ilies
Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport, University of Oradea, 1 Universitatii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Zharas Berdenov
Department of Physical and Economic Geography, Faculty of Science, L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan 010008, Kazakhstan
Mallik Akram Hossain
Department of Geography and Environment, Jagannath University, Dhaka 1100, Bangladesh
Vasile Grama
Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport, University of Oradea, 1 Universitatii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Ranjan Kumar Dahal
Central Department of Geology, Tribhuvan University Kirtipur, Kathmandu 44618, Nepal
Mihaela Zdrinca
Department of Preclinical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410073 Oradea, Romania
Thowayeb H. Hassan
Social Studies Department, College of Arts, King Faisal University, Al Ahsa 400, Saudi Arabia
Grigore Vasile Herman
Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport, University of Oradea, 1 Universitatii Street, 410087 Oradea, Romania
Jan Andrzej Wendt
Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, University of Gdańsk, 4 Bażyńskiego Street, 80309 Gdańsk, Poland
Paula Dejeu
Medical Laboratory Service M.D., Bethany Medical Clinic Oradea, Bihor County, 410004 Oradea, Romania
Problems in the degradation and biodegradation of cultural heritage objects exposed or stored in public buildings and museums and of construction materials are caused (between others) by the activity of microorganisms. Biodeterioration can be observed not only at the level of the building materials of museum buildings, but also at the level of materials from which art objects are made (natural or artificial) and is determined by factors such as the chemical composition and nature of the composition material, the microclimate characteristics and exposure objects, but also through the manner and frequency of surface cleaning and housekeeping in museums. Based on this, the present study offers, through classical methods, a qualitative and quantitative identification of microorganisms inside a heritage museum building located in a temperate climate country. The purpose of the work was to determine to what extent the bacteriological microflora inside can directly and indirectly contribute to the health quality of the building’s occupants as well as the degradation of its materials and structures. The results emphasize the presence of some fungi and bacteria, among them Alternaria spp., Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., and Botrytis spp. All of the analyzed rooms have a high and very high degree of fungal contamination (between 524 and 3674 UFC/m3), which can represent a danger to both human health and the integrity of the exhibitions. This is more pronounced considering that some of species of fungi identified are associated with sick building syndrome, problems in humans due to harmful exposure to viruses, bacteria, and pathogens, which generate possible symptoms such as rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, hoarseness, coughing, sneezing, and irritability for the personnel and visitors.
