The microbial air quality of a Secondary School in Port Harcourt was investigated between 9-9:30am and 2-2:30am employing plate exposure and count method for bacteria and fungi estimation. Results
obtained from the study showed that bacteria counts from the school for morning session ranged from 4.8 x 10
3
cfu/m
3 (Library) to 4.07 x 10
4 cfu/m
3 (Staffroom) and for the afternoon 9.8 x 10
3 cfu/m
3 (Library) to 4.66 x 10
4 cfu/m
3
(SS1A Classroom). Fungal counts ranged from 5.68 x 10
3 cfu/m
3 (Library) to 2.07 x 10
4 cfu/m
3 (SS3B Classroom)
for the morning sessions and 6.56 x 103 cfu/m3 (Library) to 2.59 x 104 cfu/m3 (SS3B Classroom) for the afternoon
session. Seven bacterial species,
Bacillus
spp.,
Enterococcus
spp.,
Escherichia coli
,
Micrococcus
spp.,
Pseudomonas
spp.
Staphylococcus aureus
and
Serratia
spp and six fungal species,
Alternaria
spp.,
Aspergillus niger
,
Candida
spp.,
Mucor
spp.,
Penicillium
spp., and
Rhizopus
spp were isolated. The bioaerosol concentrations were higher than
recommended limit regardless of the sampling sessions. The high microbial counts and identified bacterial and
fungal species may pose a serious problem to learning.
