Exposures and Health Effects from Inorganic Agricultural Dusts

Details

• Personal Author:
  Schenker M
• Description:
  Most studies of respiratory disease from dust exposure in the agricultural workplace have focused on allergic diseases caused by inorganic dusts, specifically occupational asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Exposures to inorganic (mineral) dusts among farmers and farm workers may be substantial. Such exposures are most frequent in dry-climate farming regions. In such locations farming activities that perturb the soil (e.g., plowing, tilling) commonly result in exposures to farm operators of 1-5 mg/m3 respirable dust and >= 20 mg/m3 total dust. The composition of inorganic dust in agriculture generally reflects the soil composition. Crystalline silica may represent up to 20% of particles, and silicates represent up to 80%. These very high concentrations of inorganic dust are likely to explain some of the increase in chronic bronchitis reported in many studies of farmers. Pulmonary fibrosis (mixed dust pneumoconiosis) has been reported in agricultural workers, and dust samples from the lungs in these cases reflect the composition of agricultural soils, strongly suggesting an etiologic role for inorganic agricultural dusts. However, the prevalence and clinical severity of these cases are unknown, and many exposures are to mixed organic and inorganic dusts. Epidemiologic studies of farmers in diverse geographic settings also have observed an increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease morbidity and mortality. It is plausible that agricultural exposure to inorganic dusts is causally associated with chronic bronchitis, interstitial fibrosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but the independent contribution of mineral dusts beyond the effects of organic dusts remains to be determined. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Asthma Asthma, Occupational Chronic Disease Dust Environmental Monitoring Farmers Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Lymphatic System Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Hypersensitivity Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Agricultural-processes Agricultural-products Agricultural-workers Bronchial-asthma Chronic-exposure Chronic-inflammation Dust-analysis Dust-exposure Dust-inhalation Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Lung-disorders Lung-function Lung-irritants Lymphatic-system-disorders Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Occupational-health Occupational-respiratory-disease Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-hypersensitivity Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders

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• ISSN:
  0091-6765
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  108
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032481
• Citation:
  Environ Health Perspect 2000 Aug; 108(Suppl 4):661-664
• Contact Point Address:
  M. Schenker, University of California at Davis, School of Medicine, One Shields Ave., TB168, Davis, CA 95616-8638 USA
• Email:
  mbschenker@ucdavis.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Davis
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19900930
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Health Perspectives
• Supplement:
  4
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5a16647275cf7afe756db8b1bd902260df98400682b49c3994570bb7cd89f6f6e41f0f7c5709de903c5ccad1046172f1c0172bd9f6847d7a04c00bee75d04e44
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186429/cdc_186429_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.29 MB ]