Volume 3 · Issue 1 (2026)
Effects of Cleaning Procedures on Indoor Microbial Aerosol Concentrations in Norovirus-Related Vomiting Contamination Events
Dongli Li
1 Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
Corresponding Author: Dongli Li (ldongli0412@163.com)
Abstract: Vomiting is a common acute event associated with norovirus infection and other acute gastrointestinal diseases and may result in a high biological contamination load in indoor environments. Previous studies have shown that routine activities, such as walking and vacuum cleaning, can induce the resuspension of deposited particles; however, experimental evidence regarding the impact of cleaning processes on airborne microbial aerosol levels under vomiting contamination scenarios remains limited. In this study, simulated vomiting experiments were conducted in a real office environment using a biosafe microbial tracer. Indoor airborne microbial aerosol concentrations were measured before cleaning after vomiting, during the cleaning process, and for several hours following the completion of cleaning. The results indicated that vomiting events could markedly increase airborne microbial aerosol levels within a short period. During cleaning, airborne microbial concentrations increased by approximately 54% compared with pre-cleaning levels. Under natural ventilation conditions, airborne microbial aerosol concentrations remained higher than pre-cleaning levels even 3 h after the completion of cleaning. These findings suggest that, under vomiting contamination scenarios, cleaning activities may temporarily increase exposure to airborne microbial aerosols.
Keywords: Vomiting contamination; Cleaning process; Airborne transmission; Microbial aerosols; Indoor environment
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