Skin and respiratory symptoms in peanut inspectors with peanut dust and endotoxin exposure

Details

• Personal Author:
  Sylvain, David C. ; Tapp, Loren C.
• Description:
  Analysis of peanut bulk samples and air-conditioner dust in the initial peanut season and area and PBZ air samples in the following season provides evidence that peanut inspectors are at risk of exposure to airborne endotoxin during routine operations in peanut grading rooms. Although airborne endotoxin concentrations in grading rooms can vary between seasons, crops, and locations, air samples collected in the grading room indicate that exposure to airborne endotoxin may exceed levels that have been associated with symptoms of cough, wheeze, shortness of breath, chest tightness, mucous membrane irritation, and signs of acute airflow obstruction. The acute respiratory and flu-like symptoms reported in the initial site visit by peanut inspectors and the associated medical findings are consistent with endotoxin exposure. However, the persistence of symptoms reported by some employees after being removed from exposure does not fit with recognized endotoxin- or mycotoxin-related illness. We suspect that this may have resulted from "take-home" contamination (i.e., endotoxin in peanut dust that was carried home on employees' clothing) and may have resulted in continued exposure to endotoxin while away from work. In addition, some employees may have been more susceptible to pulmonary and skin disorders or had co-existing pulmonary or skin disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Digestive System Digestive System Diseases Dust Endotoxins Eye Foreign Bodies Food-Processing Industry Food Handling Food Industry Fungi Insecticides Irritants Microbiology Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Skin Skin Diseases Ventilation

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: HETA 2008-0052-3115 Dusts Eye-irritants Food-handlers Food-processing Food-processing-workers Gastrointestinal-system-disorders Microorganisms Organic-dusts Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Pesticides Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Protective-equipment Pulmonary-system-disorders Respirable-dust Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-protection Respiratory-protective-equipment Respiratory-system-disorders Skin-diseases Skin-disorders Skin-irritants

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  10
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041811
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2013 Feb; 10(2):D19-D24
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  424590 - Other Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers - (NAICS)
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b477a2110901ebcd442e79ed7f32c5492b4a5167ae177f55ff22615a5ed76b7a987abe90ff4b85020d05afe3fa24488321c198d3fe1936d67cd672b14f93d0fd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194267/cdc_194267_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 288.25 KB ]