Abstract:
Objective To investigate the indoor environmental sanitation of railway stations in Shijiazhuang, China during the Spring Festival travel rush.
Methods During the Spring Festival travel rush in 2025, indoor multi-pathogen monitoring (for types of pathogens in indoor air aerosols and on the surfaces of the railway stations) and routine monitoring (including temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, CO, CO2, PM10, and PM2.5) were carried out for 7 consecutive days in two railway stations in Shijiazhuang. The differences between indoor routine monitoring samples and multi-pathogen monitoring samples in different regions, stations, and time periods (workdays vs. rest days) were analyzed.
Results During the Spring Festival travel rush in 2025, the qualified rates of indoor routine monitoring samples (n=91) were the lowest for relative humidity (0.00%), followed by temperature, PM2.5, PM10, and wind speed (17.58%, 65.93%, 89.01%, and 94.51%, respectively), and finally CO and CO2 (both 100.00%). The indoor relative humidity and PM2.5 concentration of the railway stations were higher on rest days than on workdays (Z=-3.01 and -2.31, respectively, both P < 0.05), with PM2.5 concentration qualified rate of Railway Station B being lower than that of Railway Station A (χ2=14.87, P < 0.001); the qualified rate of PM2.5 concentration was lower on rest days than on workdays (χ2=6.34, P=0.012). During the Spring Festival, fluorescence PCR assay of indoor multi-pathogen monitoring samples in railway stations revealed a total of 17 pathogens, including 15 respiratory pathogens and 2 diarrhea pathogens. Among them, Staphylococcus aureus had the highest detection rate (44.29%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (25.71%) and rhinovirus (22.86%). The positive rate of surface samples (96.40%) was significantly higher than that of air samples (50.00%) (χ2=16.80, P < 0.001). The strains with the highest detection rates were Staphylococcus aureus (89.29%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (60.71%) for surface samples and rhinovirus (28.57%) and Staphylococcus aureus (14.29%) for air samples.
Conclusion During the Spring Festival travel rush in 2025, the indoor air pollution from PM2.5 and surface pathogen contaminaiton from pathogens in the railway stations in Shijiazhuang are serious, making it necessary to strengthen ventilation management and increase the frequency of surface disinfection in railway stations during the Spring Festival travel rush in the future.