Ritika Charaya and Kavita Naruka
Abstract
Microbial concentration and quality of air may affect human health and environment. In the present study, indoor airborne microflora (bacteria) at different locations, viz; Staff Room (SR), Water Cooler Area (WCA) and Computer Lab (CL) of a private college in Jodhpur, Rajasthan (India) were investigated during winter season 2013-14. Concentrations of airborne viable bacteria averaged between 40.73-281.46 CFU/m3 and observed the following trend among the locations: WCA>SR>CL. Airborne Gram-positive bacteria were most abundant, with more than 70% of the measured population. A total of eight bacterial genera were isolated from the study areas, which comprises Bacillus sp., Actinomyces, Staphylococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Enterobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Escherichia coli. Bacterial counts in occupied conditions were always higher than in unoccupied conditions.