Personal Exposure to Dust, Endotoxin and Crystalline Silica in California Agriculture

Details

• Personal Author:
  Nieuwenhuijsen MJ ; Noderer KS ; Olenchock, Stephen A. ; Schenker MB ; Vallyathan V
• Description:
  AIMS: The aim of this study was to measure personal exposure to dust, endotoxin and crystalline silica during various agricultural operations in California over a period of one year. METHODS: Ten farms were randomly selected in Yolo and Solano counties and workers were invited to wear personal sampling equipment to measure inhalable and respirable dust levels during various operations. The samples were analysed for endotoxin using the Limulus Amebocyte Lysate assay and crystalline silica content using X-ray diffraction. In total 142 inhalable samples and 144 respirable samples were collected. RESULTS: The measurements showed considerable difference in exposure levels between various operations, in particular for the inhalable fraction of the dust and the endotoxin. Machine harvesting of tree crops (Geometric mean (GM) = 45.1 mg/m3) and vegetables (GM = 7.9 mg/m3), and cleaning of poultry houses (GM = 6.7 mg/m3) showed the highest inhalable dust levels. Cleaning of poultry houses also showed the highest inhalable endotoxin levels (GM = 1861 EU/m3). Respirable dust levels were generally low, except for machine harvesting of tree crops (GM = 2.8 mg/m3) and vegetables (GM = 0.9 mg/m3). Respirable endotoxin levels were also low. For the inhalable dust fraction, levels were reduced considerably when an enclosed cabin was present. The percentage of crystalline silica was overall higher in the respirable dust samples than the inhalable dust samples. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable differences exist in personal exposure levels to dust, endotoxin and crystalline silica during various agricultural operations in California agriculture with some operations showing very high levels. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Dust Farmers Microbiology Occupational Health Particulate Matter Quartz Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Agricultural-processes Agricultural-workers Agriculture Author Keywords: Dust California Dust-exposure Dusts Endotoxin Microorganisms Organic-dusts Particulate-dust Particulates Quartz-dust Respirable-dust Silica

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• ISSN:
  0003-4878
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 9 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  35-42
• Volume:
  43
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030826
• Citation:
  Ann Occup Hyg 1999 Jan; 43(1):35-42
• Contact Point Address:
  Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, U.K.
• Email:
  m.nieuwenhuijsen@ic.ac.uk
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Davis
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19900930
• Source Full Name:
  Annals of Occupational Hygiene
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5d89e9005b83a400bafe694b5d6c9a16173d55d21293a16754281fc2087921ecd65f678000311c222c9396161af4b9f7a9bf3079ed31d13ed6bc3d6a329ba5c6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191303/cdc_191303_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 198.37 KB ]