Cytotoxicity of Aspergillus Section Fumigati isolates recovered from protection devices used on waste sorting industry

Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (Portugal) for funding the EEA Grants Project “EXPO-Green”, by Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal for funding the Project "Waste Workers’ Exposure to Bioburden through Filtering Respiratory Protective Devices” (IPL/2018/WasteFRPD_ESTeSL) and to Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, under the program “Regional Initiative of Excellence” in 2019–2022 (Grant No. 008/RID/2018/19). Funding Information: This research was funded by FCT?Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia, I.P. (Portugal) for funding the EEA Grants Project ?EXPO-Green?, by Instituto Polit?cnico de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal for funding the Project "Waste Workers? Exposure to Bioburden through Filtering Respiratory Protective Devices? (IPL/2018/WasteFRPD_ESTeSL) and to Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, under the program ?Regional Initiative of Excellence? in 2019?2022 (Grant No. 008/RID/2018/19). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Safe working conditions must be guaranteed during waste sorting, which is crucial to maximizing recycling and reuse, in order to minimize workers’ exposure to chemical and biological hazards. This study determines the contribution of Aspergillus section Fumigati to the overall cytotoxicity of filtering respiratory protection devices (FRPD) and mechanic protection gloves (MPG) collected in 2019 from different workstations in one waste sorting industry in Portugal. The cytotoxicity of 133 Aspergillus section Fumigati isolates was determined as IC50 in human A549 epithelial lung cells and swine kidney cells, using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. Aspergillus section Fumigati cytotoxicity results were compared with previous total cytotoxicity data from FRPD and MPG samples. A significant correlation was detected between the total cytotoxicity of samples and cytotoxicity of Aspergillus section Fumigati isolates in A549 cells (rS = −0.339, p = 0.030). The cytotoxicity of Aspergillus section Fumigati isolates explained 10.7% of the total cytotoxicity of the sample. On the basis of the comparison of cytotoxicity levels, it was possible to determine the contribution of Aspergillus section Fumigati isolates for the total cytotoxicity of protection devices used in the waste sorting industry. The results support in vitro toxicology as a relevant approach in risk assessments regarding cytotoxicity in passive sampling, and thus, useful in determining the contribution of relevant microbial contaminants to overall cytotoxicity. This approach can provide valuable answers in dose/response studies, and support innovations in risk characterization and their translation into occupational policies.publishersversionpublishe