Indoor exposure to particulate matter and volatile organic compounds in dwellings and workplaces and respiratory health in French farmers

Abstract

Introduction: Few investigations have related objective assessments of indoor air pollutants to respiratory health in farmers, in spite of the many rural environmental hazards to which they are exposed. Chemical air pollution has been particularly neglected. Objective: We investigated the relationships of indoor exposure to particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to respiratory health in farmers. Methods: Nineteen VOCs (5 families) and PM (from ultrafine to total suspended particles (TSP)) were objectively assessed in dwellings and workplaces in 109 French farmers during a week. To take into account multiple exposures, scores of exposure were computed for total VOCs and VOCs families. Individuals filled a standardized questionnaire and underwent spirometry with bronchodilation test. Results: On average, VOCs concentrations were higher in dwellings than in workplaces. The reverse was observed for PM. When considering the mean concentrations of air pollutants for the whole farm (dwellings + workplaces), asthma (9.3%) was positively associated with elevated exposure to benzene (adjusted odds-ratio (ORa) = 6.64, 95%CI: 1.56–28.27), trichloroethylene (4.80, 1.00–23.30) and halogenated hydrocarbons score (2.9, 95% 1.3–6.8). Early airway obstruction (FEF25–75 < 80%, with normal FEV1 and FVC and FEV/FVC ≥ 70%) (29.8%) was related to elevated exposure to 2-butoxyetylacetate (11.49, 1.55–85.37) and glycol ethers score (2.0; 1.0–4.1) in the whole farm and to PM2.5 (ORa = 5.26, 95% CI: 1.09–25.28) in the granary/stable. The risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (FEV/FVC < 70%) (COPD) (4.26%) was found to be larger with elevated exposure to aldehydes (OR = 3.95, 1.09–14.26). Conclusion: Indoor chemical air pollution is detrimental to farmers’ respiratory health. More epidemiological investigations with detailed exposure assessments and clinical measures of respiratory effects are needed in rural settings to corroborate these findings.

Association Between COPD Symptoms and Psychological Distress Among Farmers

“…Although the most common risk factor of COPD is smoking (GOLD, 2020), some people develop COPD as a result of exposure to environmental components unique to farm environments (Cho et al, 2015). Farmers work in complex environments that expose them to multiple hazards, including organic dust, pesticides, and zoonotic pathogens (Nordgren & Charavaryamath, 2018), which have been associated with an increased risk of developing COPD (Maesano et al, 2019). Furthermore, studies have observed that farmers have a higher prevalence of COPD (5.1%) compared to the general population (2.9%), even though the prevalence of smoking among farmers is lower (Guillien et al, 2018).…”

Monitoring of air pollution in agricultural settings: a systematic review of the literature

“…2+ ) were examined by Wei and collaborators(Wei et al 2019). Moreover, 2 studies(Maesano et al 2019;You et al 2008) analysed different families of VOCs in the atmosphere; benzene (C 6 H 6 ) and formaldehyde (HCHO) were measured in another study(Reinhardt et al 2011) and different PAHs were considered in 3 studies (de Assuncao et al 2014; Sevimoglu and Rogge 2016; Xing et al 2020). Moreover, in addition to the pollutants reported above, the presence of endotoxin (Barnig et al 2012; Pavilonis et al 2013), levoglucosan (Jimenez et al 2006), acrolein (Reinhardt et al 2011), quartz (Swanepoel et al 2011) and asbestos bers (Buczaj et al 2014) were considered as well (Table SM1 and TableSM2).…”