Microbiological air monitoring and long-term evaluations of selected urban areas in the city of Tirana

The described experimental study, performed over the years, includes the quantitative and qualitative monitoring of the presence of microorganisms of air in outdoor and indoor environments of the Albanian Capital, Tirana, during a time when large demographic movements, accompanied by critical urban interventions and infrastructural changes have been part of our lives. A project, part of the National Program in Biotechnology (R&D – the year 2000), was the first support to obtain a database on microbiological air pollution in selected urban areas in Tirana and isolate and identify specific air microbial pollutants. The results obtained were an incentive to continue further with additional scientific evaluation monitoring research that included 2011 to 2015 and then those of 2016-2020. Over the years, there has been a significant reduction in pollutant microbial loads (for example, some outdoor areas of the center of Tirana), together with substantial fluctuations in indoor microbial loads, which were observed in many cases. Also, a prominent presence of typical environmental fungi pollutants was identified, such as Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, and bacterial pollutants, cocci and bacilli (typical Bacillus megaterium), during Total Viable Count (TVC) and other microbiological tests of identification.