251 Insights of Portugal’s teaching staff microbial occupational exposure

In the educational sector, EU strategies rely on risk factor awareness, to promote a safe and healthy environment for all the community. However, the promotion of health and safety is facing challenges among teaching staff due to the lack of adjusted policies. With the enrolment of the teaching community, these policies should address the assessment of many aspects, namely biohazards. Although it has already been proven that high levels of children’s microbial exposure are associated with chronic respiratory disease, immunosuppression, mutagenicity, or even death, teachers’ exposure remains unexplored. In schools, teachers may be exposed to bioaerosols (atmospheric particles composed of aggregated microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi) through inhalation and dermal contact, posing a risk to their health. Besides neglecting schools as a specific indoor environment, current guidelines and research mainly focus on children’s health, overlooking the occupational health of teaching staff. Nevertheless, a risk assessment is essential to ensure effective preventive measures and risk management actions. The aim of this study is to conduct a microbial assessment regarding teaching staff personal exposure to bacterial and fungal load. Active sampling methods were applied by collecting air through personal samples (Button Samplers) worn by teachers for 2h at a flow rate of 4L/min, and through a MAS-100 device collecting 400L at a flow rate of 200 L/min. With this approach, the invaluable obtained results aim to contribute to guidance for research and public health actions on behalf of occupational health and safety of teaching staff.