Aerosol Science: Technology and Applications

Chapter 16

Movement of Bioaerosols in the Atmosphere and the Consequences for Climate and Microbial Evolution

Cindy E. Morris, Christel Leyronas and Philippe C. Nicot

INRA, UR407 de Pathologie Végétale, France

16.1 Introduction

The presence of bioaerosols in the atmosphere has a multitude of consequences for human, animal, and plant health, for various biogeochemical and atmospheric processes, and for the conservation and maintenance of buildings and monuments. ‘Bioaerosols’ refer to particulate aerosol matter of biological origin. The major types of bioaerosols are primary and secondary biological aerosols and biogenic aerosols. Primary biological aerosols are bits of organisms or intact cells. They can be alive or dead. Secondary biological aerosols result from physical or chemical processes (condensation, oxidation, coating, etc.) that modify primary biological aerosols. They are distinct from biogenic aerosols, which are products of metabolism and often undergo secondary chemical processes that lead to their impact on the atmosphere. They include dimethylsulfide and other volatile organic carbons such as methane, for example. Whereas materials from nonbiological sources (such as sulfates, black carbon, nitrates, mineral dust, and sea salt) and organic carbon from forest fires constitute the bulk of atmospheric aerosols (Mahowald et al., 2011), primary biological aerosols can constitute up to 25% of the aerosol particles in the size range 0.2–50.0 µm (Jaenicke, 2005). A very ...