Health risk assessment of occupational exposure to hazardous volatile organic compounds in swine gestation, farrowing and nursery barns

Details

• Personal Author:
  Akdeniz N ; Hetchler BP ; Jacobson LD
• Description:
  Livestock producers are exposed to a high number of airborne pollutants during their daily duties of cleaning, feeding and maintenance activities. Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) are a major group of pollutants that may cause cancer or other serious health effects including neurological, respiratory, reproductive and developmental disorders. In this study, health risks of occupational exposure to eight hazardous VOCs (phenol, p-cresol, o/m-cresol, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, and m/pxylene) that are most likely to be emitted from swine buildings were assessed using Monte Carlo simulation. The purpose of the study was to calculate emission rates and to quantify cancer and hazard risks of the target VOCs. Cancer and hazard risks were calculated for workers A, B, and C, who spent six hours in the gestation, farrowing and nursery barns, respectively, and one hour in the office space every day. Concentrations of the target VOCs did not exceed their recommended exposure limits (RELs). But, concentrations of p-cresol and benzene exceeded their preliminary remediation goals (PRGs). The highest emission rates in mg s(-1) were measured from the gestation rooms while the highest emission rates in mg per s per head were measured from the farrowing rooms. Cancer risks of ethylbenzene, benzene and p-cresol were higher than EPA's benchmark of one per million. Hazard risks of benzene, toluene, p-cresol, and o/m-cresol were higher than the maximum acceptable risk threshold (10(-4)). Worker B (farrowing) had the highest cumulative cancer (16.6 in one million) and hazard (11 342 in one million) risks. It was followed by workers A (gestation) and C (nursery). Sensitivity analysis showed that inhalation unit risk (IUR) had the highest impact on cancer risk assessment while recommended exposure limit (REL) had the highest impact on hazard risk assessment. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Animal Husbandry Animals Benzene Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Hazardous Substances Livestock Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Phenol Risk Assessment Safety Toluene Workplace Xylenes

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Airborne-particles Analytical-processes Animal-husbandry Animal-husbandry-workers Benzenes Cancer Cresols Employee-exposure Environmental-exposure Environmental-pollution Exposure-assessment Exposure-limits Health-hazards Livestock-industry Organic-compounds Phenols Risk-analysis Toluenes Volatiles Work-environment

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• ISSN:
  2050-7887
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  15
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042704
• Citation:
  Environ Sci Process Impacts 2013 Mar; 15(3):563-572
• Contact Point Address:
  N. Akdeniz, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
• Email:
  akdeniz@umn.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2) ; Ethylbenzene (CAS RN 100-41-4) ; m-Cresol (CAS RN 108-39-4) ; m-Xylene (CAS RN 108-38-3) ; o-Cresol (CAS RN 95-48-7) ; o-Xylene (CAS RN 95-47-6) ; p-Cresol (CAS RN 106-44-5) ; Phenol (CAS RN 108-95-2) ; p-Xylene (CAS RN 106-42-3) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Science. Processes & Impacts
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4a6bbb9f0156873d09555f01fe9df13083d945931082e702fccf7a14a18670380aba5c1c52ed5d766d0c795f7e545b5333737522c02459146789e1787e12e3c1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194842/cdc_194842_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 624.90 KB ]