Abstract

This paper reports the indoor air quality state of typical open-air restaurants in Malaysia. The measured air pollutant parameters include respirable coarse particulate matter (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO) and microorganisms (bacteria and fungi). We determined the effects of occupancy, number of vehicles on nearby roads, temperature, wind speed and relative humidity on the indoor concentrations of PM10, CO and microorganisms. The indoor air quality of the restaurants tested was moderate, only in the 75th percentile, and the CO concentrations were slightly elevated indoors. Among the ambient parameters measured, only wind speed and temperature affect the PM10 concentrations. The indoor and outdoor values of wind speed and temperature were similar. We observed a strong positive correlation between the PM10 concentrations and concentration of airborne microorganisms. Further microbiological analyses showed that Gram-positive bacteria were abundant compared to Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-positive cocci (micrococci, streptococci, staphylococci and diplococci) were the dominant microbial morphologies, followed by pathogenic Gram-negative enterobacteriaceae and Gram-positive bacilli.

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