Personal Exposure to Airborne Dust and Microorganisms in Agricultural Environments

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adhikari A ; Grinshpun SA ; Lee, Stephen A. ; McKay R ; Reponen T ; Shukla R ; Adhikari A ; Grinshpun SA ; Lee, Stephen A. ; McKay R ; Reponen T ; Shukla R
• Description:
  Airborne dust and microorganisms are associated with respiratory diseases and increased mortality and morbidity. Farmers are at high risk of exposure to both of these hazards. Very limited information, however, is available on the combined exposures to both hazards on different types of farms. Moreover, most of the previous studies have measured the mass concentration of particles ignoring the particle size. In this study, farmers' exposure to airborne dust and microorganisms was studied using our newly developed personal sampling system. Particle number concentration and size distribution were measured with an optical particle counter. Simultaneously, particles were collected on a filter and analyzed for microorganisms. The field measurements were conducted in animal confinements (swine, poultry, and dairy) and during grain harvesting (corn and soybean). The results show the following average concentrations on the workers' breathing zone: 1.7 x 10(6) to 2.9 x 10(7) particles/m(3) for total dust, 0.9 x 10(3) to 3.9 x 10(4) spores/m(3) for total fungal spores, 0.3 x 10(3) to 3.6 x 10(4)CFU/m(3) for culturable fungal spores, 0.3 x 10(4) to 3.3 x 10(8) CFU/m(3) for culturable bacteria, and limit of detection (LOD) to 2.8 x 10(3) CFU/m(3) for culturable actinomycetes in animal confinements. The respective concentrations were 4.4 x 10(6) to 5.8 x 10(7) particles/m(3), 3.4 x 10(4) to 6.1 x 10(6) spores/m(3), 8.2 x 10(4) to 7.4 x 10(6) CFU/m(3), 0.4 x 10(5) to 1.4 x 10(6) CFU/m(3), and LOD to 2.6 x 10(4) CFU/m(3) during grain harvesting. The highest contribution of large particles (3-10 microm) in total particles was found during grain harvesting, whereas the size distribution was dominated by smaller particles (< 3 microm) in animal confinements. High fraction (up to 37%) of particles between 2-10 microm was found to be fungal spores. The results indicate that an increase in the concentration of large dust particles (2-10 microm) during grain harvesting was partially attributed to the increase in the concentration of the fungal spores. Overall, the combined exposure to airborne dust and microorganisms was found to be more severe during harvesting than in animal confinements. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Farmers Microbiology Morbidity Mortality Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Agricultural-workers Airborne-dusts Airborne-particles Breathing-zone Dust-exposure Dust-particles Dusts Microorganisms Morbidity-rates Mortality-data Mortality-rates Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Respiratory-system-disorders

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  118-130
• Volume:
  3
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030435
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2006 Mar; 3(3):118-130
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment ; Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010601
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• End Date:
  20110731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1e1fc684723cc6dde2b5e4a943717278b30f4ed072225dc0e50b5996d8c551f8a00a2fbd39e08b76402ce1110d8ae1266df6ab6a19b5dea4f77b2c335b522cb6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191051/cdc_191051_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1000.01 KB ]