Acute Effects of Grain Dust Exposure during a Work Shift

Abstract

We studied 248 grain handlers and 192 city services workers (control subjects) before and after an 8-h work shift and measured total dust levels using personal samplers. We found that grain workers exposed to a mean total dust level of 3.3 +/- 7.0 mg/m3, when compared with control subjects, had (1) a higher prevalence of work-related respiratory symptoms (p less than 0.05) and significant decrements in forced-expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and maximal flow rates after exhalation 50 and 75% of forced vital capacity (Vmax50 and Vmax75) during the work shift, and (2) significant differences (p less than 0.05) in preshift/postshift percent changes in forced vital capacity (FVC), Vmax50 and Vmax75. Adjusting for age, height, and smoking habit, grain handling still had a significant negative effect on FVC, Vmax50, and Vmax75. In grain workers, we found a significant (p less than 0.05) negative relationship between total dust levels and the percent change in FVC, Vmax50, and Vmax75 and a positive relationship between dust level and percent change in leukocyte counts. Grain workers' perception of dust level correlated with the measured dust level and the prevalence of symptoms. Occupational exposure to grain dust during a work shift has a dose-related adverse acute respiratory effect regardless of smoking habit, atopic status, or age, and it produces a dose-related leukocyte response at total dust levels below 15 mg/m3.

Identification of IgE-Binding Components in Occupational Asthma Caused by Corn Dust

“…Atopic status and the presence of specific antibodies have not been consistently associated with either acute or chronic airway response to inhaled grain dust. 5,6 There have been few studies suggesting an immunologic mechanism for corn dust-induced occupational asthma. In this study, the patient had occupational asthma and rhinitis due to grain dust, specifically corn dust, as confirmed by bronchoprovocation test.…”

“…2 Immune mechanisms may be operative in some grain handlers who develop airflow obstruction 3,4 but several lines of evidence indicate that the physiologic response to grain dust extract is mediated primarily by a nonimmunologic inflammatory response in the lower respiratory tract. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] A recent report 12 of cytokine patterns in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cells from corn dust-induced occupational asthma patients suggests that a predominantly nonimmunologic mechanism, an acute inflammatory response to an inhaled toxin such as endotoxin, may be involved in the development of corn dust-induced bronchoconstriction. There have been few reports regarding an IgE-mediated mechanism in occupational asthma caused by corn dust.…”

Asthma durch Getreidestaub

“…Schon bei relativ niedriger Belastung sind schichtbezogene und während einer Arbeitswoche auftretende reversible Einschrän-kungen der Lungenfunktion festzustellen [7,9,13,18,22,29] (Tab. 1).…”

“…Über diagnostisch eingesetzte arbeitsplatzbezogene Expositionsteste wurde bisher nur vereinzelt berichtet [8,14,18,39]. Dabei fanden sich sowohl Sofort-als auch verzögerte und duale asthmatische Reaktionen.…”

Methanol extract of grain dust shows complement fixing activity and other characteristics similar to tannic acid.

“…Grain elevator workers collectively develop increased respiratory symptoms and impaired pulmonary function (1)(2)(3)(4)(5), both of which are reversible (6). The pulmonary function impairment shows exposure-response relationships with the respirable fraction of grain dust (7).…”