{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T06:49:43Z","timestamp":1791355783327,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791331200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Informal waste burning is an established source of particulate matter and hazardous combustion emissions in many low- and middle-income settings, yet its potential contribution to biological airborne exposure remains poorly characterized. This study investigated culturable airborne bacteria in active informal waste-burning environments in Hammanskraal, South Africa, and examined their spatial variability and potential relevance to environmental exposure.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A cross-sectional exploratory field investigation was conducted at three active informal waste-burning sites and one non-burning comparison site. Active air samples were collected using a Sampl\u2019Air Pro impactor onto Tryptic Soy Agar at approximate distances of 25, 50 and 100 m from visible combustion areas. Culturable airborne bacterial concentrations were quantified as colony-forming units per cubic meter (CFU\/m\n                      <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>\n                      ), and representative cultured isolates were characterized using the Vitek Compact 2 microbial identification system. Structured field observations documented combustion intensity, waste characteristics, smoke-plume behavior and local environmental conditions.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The highest culturable airborne bacterial concentrations occurred at active waste-burning sites, although concentrations varied substantially among sites. Burn-site concentrations ranged from 91 CFU\/m\n                      <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>\n                      to above the analytical upper quantification limit (&amp;gt;1,259 CFU\/m\n                      <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>\n                      ), compared with 35\u2013260 CFU\/m\n                      <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>\n                      at the comparison site. Sampling distance was weakly associated with bacterial concentration (Spearman\u2019s \u03c1 = \u22120.14,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.701; exploratory linear regression R\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.02). Thirty-nine representative isolates were characterized. Gram-positive bacilli constituted the largest phenotypic grouping, while Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Pantoea spp. and several other environmentally associated or opportunistic taxa were recovered across the sampled environments.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Active informal waste-burning environments contained viable culturable airborne bacteria, with markedly elevated concentrations observed at some burning sites relative to the non-burning comparison environment. Distance from active combustion alone did not explain the observed spatial variability; site-specific factors including combustion intensity, plume behavior, environmental disturbance and local meteorology may influence short-term bioaerosol occurrence and warrant investigation using more highly replicated designs. These findings identify viable culturable bacteria as an under-characterized component of informal waste-burning environments and provide a basis for future integrated studies of environmental occurrence, human exposure and potential health relevance.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1965626","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T05:53:00Z","timestamp":1791352380000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Beyond smoke: culturable airborne bacteria associated with informal waste burning in peri-urban South Africa"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Boitemogelo O.","family":"Kwakwa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg","place":["Johannesburg, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shalin","family":"Bidassey-Manilal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental Health, University of Johannesburg","place":["Johannesburg, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natasha","family":"Naidoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"South African Medical Research Council","place":["South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isaac T.","family":"Rampedi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg","place":["Johannesburg, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"WHO Global Air Quality 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