1 / 16

Assessment of Airborne Contaminants in Irish Swine Farms

This study examines respiratory hazards in Irish swine farms, focusing on gases, dust, and endotoxin exposure, with recommendations for best practices and awareness.

mrodas
Download Presentation

Assessment of Airborne Contaminants in Irish Swine Farms

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Exposure assessment to airborne contaminants in the indoor environment of Irish Swine FarmsPatricia Mc Donnell M.Sc.

  2. Acknowledgements • Millennium Research Fund, National University of Ireland, Galway • Health & Safety Authority • Teagasc • Farmers

  3. Presentation Outline • Introduction • Agriculture in Ireland • Swine Farmers – Respiratory Hazards • Study Objectives • Sampling Strategy • Results & Conclusions • Study Recommendations

  4. Introduction Agriculture in Ireland • Farmers – 7% of Irish workforce (Teagasc, 2006) • Intensive live-stock production • Increases in Productivity • Increased potential exposure to physical, chemical & biological health hazards • HSA Farm Safety Plan 2003-2007 • HSA Code of Practice for Preventing Injury and Occupational ill Health in Agriculture

  5. Agriculture in Ireland Cont’d.. • Illnesses (National Farm Survey, 2004) • 49% back pain • 35% respiratory disease • Respiratory hazards • Gases e.g. ammonia & carbon dioxide • Dusts • Endotoxin

  6. Swine farmersRespiratory Hazards • Gases of concern: • Carbon dioxide (CO2) • Concentrations >1,500 ppm associated with higher risk of respiratory disease • Recommended health limit 1,540 ppm • Ammonia (NH3) • Colourless gas with sharp, distinctive odour that can irritate eyes, throat & lungs at low levels • Moderate concentrations (6-20 ppm) eye irritation & respiratory problems • Recommended health limit 7 ppm

  7. Swine farmers Respiratory Hazards Cont’d.. Inhalable, Thoracic and Respirable Dust Fractions • Swine Confinement Dust • Organic materials - • Inhalable, thoracic & respirable • Endotoxin • Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecules in outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria • Symptoms of exposure vary from mild flu-like symptoms (short-term) to chronic respiratory disease (long-term) Diagram from: http://www.skcinc.com

  8. Objectives • Address important data gap in Irish agricultural sector • Particularly exposure levels of swine confinement workers • Measure swine workers’ occupational exposures to respiratory hazards • Gases, swine confinement dust & endotoxin • Calculate worker 8-hour time weighted average (TWA) exposures & compare to recommended health limits for prevention of acute respiratory symptoms • Qualitative assessment of occupational exposure control measures, Best Practices & awareness of occupational health issues

  9. Swine farms No. of farms – 7 Size/Productivity 200-2500 sows Number of employees 1 to 15 employees Facilities/age 4 to 40 years old Workers - Similar Exposure Groups (SEGs) Weaner unit Farrowing unit Dry sow unit Finishing/fattening Farmer who works in all units Sampling Strategy

  10. Sampling Methodology • Personal Inhalable & Respirable Swine Confinement Dust • IOM inhalable sampler; gravimetric analysis • Endotoxin – IOM inhalable sampler • Endotoxin analysed by Limulus Amebocyte Lysate Endosafe Assay (LAL) • Gases • Ammonia - electrochemical sensors • Carbon dioxide – infrared monitor IOM Inhalable Sampler Personal ammonia sampler Pictures taken by author

  11. Results: CO2 and NH3 Table 1: CO2 peak exposures (ppm) and NH3 TWA exposures (ppm) of the SEGs CO2 • Recommended health limit of 1,540 ppm • Farmer SEG peak carbon dioxide exposure (4700 ppm) • NH3 • Recommended health limit of 7 ppm • No significant difference between SEGs • Highest peak levels in fattening unit (peak exposure 16 ppm)

  12. Results cont’d: Inhalable and Respirable Particulates Table 2: Inhalable and Respirable Particulate Exposures (mg/m3) of the SEGs • Swine Confinement Dust • Recommended health threshold limits • inhalable = 2.4 mg/m3; respirable = 0.23 mg/m3 • Weaner unit operator inhalable dust exposures were significantly higher than other SEG’s • Possible factors: high stocking density; greater activity; dry based ration; and close interaction with young swine

  13. No exposure limits / regulatory standards Recommended health limit, range from 90 to 800 EU/m3 Fattening, Weaner & Farmer SEG workers Up to 170,000 EU/m3 of air Poultry workers 719,950 Simpson et al., (1999) Results cont’d: Endotoxin

  14. Conclusions • Swine Confinement Workers potentially exposed to levels of contaminants at concentrations above recommended maximum health limits for prevention of respiratory ill health • Lack of awareness of the effects of occupational exposure in swine industry has on workers • Lack of use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

  15. Study Recommendations/Project Outcomes • Exposure monitoring & health surveillance • Efficient Management & Best Practices • Cleaning routines • Vegetable oil spraying • Eliminate accumulated gases • Education & awareness training • PPE – dust masks/respirators • Occupational Respiratory Health Brochure • Further Research

  16. Thank You Patricia Mc Donnell Department of Physics National University of Ireland, Galway E.mail: patricia.mcdonnell@nuigalway.ie Tel: 091-495289

More Related