Journal of Environmental Health and Sustainable Development

en Determining the Concentration of Particulate Matters and Microbiological Quality of Indoor Air in Intensive Care Units of Kashan Hospital, Iran Environmental pollution Original articles <div style="text-align: justify;">Introduction: Maintaining hospital air quality is very important, especially in intensive care units (ICUs), where patients undergo invasive procedures. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between particulate matters (PMs) and bioaerosols in pediatric ICU (PICU), neonatal ICU (NICU), and ICU open heart (ICU OH) of Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted for six consecutive months, i.e., autumn and winter of 2021. PM samples were taken using a Grimm Dust Monitor and microbial samples were taken using a Quick Take 30 sampler. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used for analysis and then ANOVA and LSD were used for further tests. Results: The maximum and minimum PM10 concentrations in the PICU and ICU OH were 59.19 and 9.71 μg/m3, respectively; and the maximum and minimum PM2.5 concentrations were 20.23 μg/m3 in the NICU and 4.69 μg/m3 in PICU. The mean PM concentration and the number of bacterial and fungal colonies were consistent with the WHO and EPA guidelines. Gram-positive Staphylococcus were the most abundant bacteria (90.96%). The most abundant fungi were Aspergillus (54.23%), Penicillium (15.64%), and Cladosperium (12.17%) species. There was also no significant relationship between PMs and bioaerosols. Conclusion: The mean concentrations of PMs and bioaerosols match with the guidelines, which can be attributed to more observance of health protocols and restrictions on the movement of people into ICUs due to the COVID-19 outbreak. </div> Air Pollution, Indoor, Hospitals, Particulate Matter,Kashan City. 1975 1987 http://jehsd.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-624-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Razieh Vahidmoghadam r1375vahid@gmail.com 0000-0003-4963-8008 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Nezam Mirzaei nezammirzaei@yahoo.com 0000-0003-4779-1519 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Gholamabbas Mousavi g.a.moosavi@gmail.com 0000-0002-0186-3612 No Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Ali Nazari-Alam nazarialam.ali@gmail.com 0000-0003-4770-5836 No Infection Diseases Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Mehdi Nazeri mehdinazeri@yahoo.com 0000-0001-7060-5011 No Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Sahar Gholipour sahar.gholipour71@gmail.com 0000-0003-3265-0932 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Rouhullah Dehghani dehghani37@yahoo.com 0000-0001-5949-4859 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Marzieh Akbari akbari.2016.mm@gmail.com 0000-0003-3473-5331 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. Mohammad Bagher Miranzadeh miranzadehm@ymail.com 0000-0001-6731-6956 Yes Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.