VDI 4250 Blatt 3:2016-08

Handling of organic materials may cause bioaerosol emissions. Primarily this concerns waste recovery and treatment plants, agricultural animal husbandry but also other plants or parts of plants like evaporation coolers or biological waste air purification systems. Different and partly very specific microorganisms are emitted from the different plant types and introduced into the environment. The immissions generated thereby may lead to adverse effects on human health by exposing the residents to bioaerosols. This standard gives a current overview on plant-related environmental-medically relevant microorganisms and an orientation for their environmental-medical assessment with regard to the most important plant types inducing bioaerosol emissions and immissions. This does not replace an exact case-specific examination but facilitates definition and selection of the evaluation-relevant bioaerosols. This standard allows for a prompt adaptation and supplementation with respect to new insights on plants and sources, their indicative parameters and their assessment.