A conference abstract that leaves me wanting more: microbes in the indoor air of high speed trains

Found a meeting abstract that intrigued me:Distribution of Airborne Bacteria and Fungi in the Korean High Speed Train Indoor.  The abstract is below:

Background/Aims:

It is known that the airborne bacteria and fungi can be the cause of a variety of infectious diseases as well as allergic and toxic effects. The purpose of this study is to find the typical concentration levels of bacteria and fungi in Korean high-speed train between Seoul and Busan (408.5 km)

Methods:

Samples were taken using MAS-100 Eco (MBV AG) air sampler (sampling flow rate 100 L/min) located in the cabin aisle (3 points), passageway (1 point), and toilet (1 point) at a height of 1.0 m above the floor. The 6-stage Andersen impactor was also used to figure out the size distribution of airborne bacteria and fungi. All the measurements were conducted in spring time of Korea (March 2010).

Results:

It was found that the concentration level of airborne bacteria was 98—173 CFU/m³ (average 148 CFU/m³) and airborne fungi was 64—98 CFU/m³(average 86 CFU/m³) in the train indoor. The concentration of airborne bacteria was higher than that of fungi by 1.7 times. The highest concentration of bacteria was observed in the cabin aisle, 173 (± 109) CFU/m³, and the similar level of fungi was observed in the passageway and toilet as 97 (± 39) and 98 (± 63).

Conclusion:

In the Korean high-speed train, the concentration level of airborne bacteria was less than 200 CFU/m³ and the level of airborne fungi was less than 100 CFU/m³ in spring time. More surveys in different seasons are undergoing to evaluate the typical level of airborne bacteria and fungi in the train

This is from the ISEE 22nd Annual Conference in Seoul, Korea.  I am looking forward to seeing a full publication on this sometime soon as there are just not enough papers out there on microbes in trains.  It seems that this group is focusing on trains and train stations in some way.  For example see also:

• Assessment of airborne environmental bacteria and related factors in 25 underground railway stations in Seoul, Korea

Via these papers I found some other related ones;

• Exposure Level and Distribution Characteristics of Airborne Bacteria and Fungi in Seoul Metropolitan Subway Stations
• Concentrations and elemental composition of particulate matter in the Buenos Aires underground system

I have added all of these to the microBEnet reference collection on Mendeley and will add them shortly to our citeUlike collection.  Still searching for more papers on microbes in trains, subways, etc.