Real-time monitoring of bioaerosols via cell-lysis by air ion and ATP bioluminescence detection

•We introduce a methodology for disrupting cell membranes with ions coupled with ATP bioluminescence detection for real-time monitoring of bioaerosols.•Carbon fiber ionizer was used to extract ATP from bacterial cells for generating ATP bioluminescence.•For test bacteria and indoor bioaerosols, correlation equations were obtained for results acquired using our methodology and a culture-based method.•Our methodology is an affordable solution for rapidly monitoring bioaerosols due to rapid-detection time (<4 min) and easy operation.

In this study, we introduce a methodology for disrupting cell membranes with air ions coupled with ATP bioluminescence detection for real-time monitoring of bioaerosol concentrations. A carbon fiber ionizer was used to extract ATP from bacterial cells for generating ATP bioluminescence. Our methodology was tested using Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli, which were aerosolized with an atomizer, and then indoor bioaerosols were also used for testing the methodology. Bioaerosol concentrations were estimated without culturing which requires several days for colony formation. Correlation equations were obtained for results acquired using our methodology (Relative Luminescent Unit (RLU)/m3) and a culture-based (Colony Forming Unit (CFU)/m3) method; CFU/m3=1.8×measured RLU/m3 for S. epidermidis and E. coli, and CFU/m3=1.1×measured RLU/m3 for indoor bioaerosols under the experimental conditions. Our methodology is an affordable solution for rapidly monitoring bioaerosols due to rapid detection time (cell-lysis time: 3 min; bioluminescence detection time: <1 min) and easy operation.