Health Hazard Evaluation Report: MHETA-85-083-1976: Zellwood Farms, Inc.; Zellwood, Florida

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kullman, Greg J. ; Sanderson, Wayne T. ; Kullman, Greg J. ; Sanderson, Wayne T.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from Zellwood Farms, Inc. (SIC-2033), a mushroom farm near Orlando, Florida, an evaluation was made of an outbreak of respiratory problems among farm workers. This farm had been in operation for 16 years and employed about 250 workers from four ethnic/racial backgrounds: white, black, Hispanic and Vietnamese. The jobs involved preparation of a growth medium, spawning the compost with mushroom mycelia, growing the mushrooms, and picking and packing the mushrooms. Seven workers were diagnosed with mushroom workers lung (MWL) between April of 1982 and August of 1985. These workers had different farm operations, indicating that workers throughout the farm were exposed to disease causing agents. A cross sectional medical study diagnosed no additional workers with an acute respiratory illness consistent with MWL. However, about 20 percent of the workers were experiencing some symptoms consistent with MWL. Organic dust constituents capable of causing MWL were identified at the farm. The authors conclude that some workers continue to be at risk of developing MWL. The authors recommend that organic dust exposures at the compost handling operations, and the spawn, tray fill, and casing lines be reduced. A respiratory protection program should be developed for workers in jobs requiring periodic work in areas with high organic dust levels. A medical surveillance and referral program should be established for workers.
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Endotoxins Fungi Hazardous Substances Hypersensitivity Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Agricultural-workers Air-contamination Bacteria Biohazards Foodstuff Hazard-Confirmed Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis Mushroom Farming Mushroom Workers Lung NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-respiratory-disease Organic Dusts OSHA Region 4

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)   ; Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)  
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA) ; Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHMHETA850831976
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  91 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Sastre, Jaoquin ; Olenchock, Stephen ; Hong, C. J. ; Pore, R. Scott ; Burge, Harriet ; Sorenson, Bill ; Mull, Judith ; Clere, Jerry
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00192790
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB90-163999
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, MHETA 85-083-1976, 1989 Aug ; :1-91
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2033 - Canned fruits and vegetables - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bd517bb5bb1f4f8d1b4d5dbd8f67787a29fed24b4ae1461a2cc1739853d300519383381b84976e6adfae6034cd5cb44d70c046e6f9345259aff3f4223ecd13d2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171807/cdc_171807_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.97 MB ]