Work-Related Health Effects in Swine Building Workers After Respiratory Protection Use

Bønløkke, Jakob Hjort; Veillette, Marc; Mériaux, Anne; Duchaine, Caroline; Cormier, Yvon

doi:10.1097/jom.0b013e31825461f4

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In addition, intermittent use of PPEs has been suggested to cause cross-shift inflammatory and respiratory reactions at return to unprotected work. 182 Besides the high levels of dust and endotoxin exposure, results from the reviewed studies demonstrated high variability of both temporal and personal nature in personal exposure concentrations to dust and endotoxin among livestock farmers. A detailed description of this issue is not within the scope of the present paper.…”

Section: General Discussion and Concluding Remarksmentioning

confidence: 95%

A comprehensive review of levels and determinants of personal exposure to dust and endotoxin in livestock farming

Basinas

Sigsgaard

Kromhout

et al. 2013

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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The respiratory health effects of livestock farming have been on debate for more than three decades. Endotoxin-contaminated organic dusts are considered as the most important respiratory hazards within livestock environments. A comprehensive review of the knowledge from studies assessing the exposure status of livestock farmers is still to be published. The present study reviews research published within the last 30 years on personal exposure of livestock farmers to organic dust and endotoxin, focusing on studies on pig, poultry and cattle farmers. Applied measurement methods and reported levels of personal exposure for the total, inhalable and respirable fractions are summarized and discussed, with emphasis on the intensity of exposure and the size and distribution of the reported exposure variability. In addition, available evidence on potential determinants of personal exposure to dust and endotoxin among these farmers are documented and discussed, taking results from exposure determinant studies using stationary sampling approaches into consideration. Research needs are addressed from an epidemiological and industrial hygiene perspective. Published studies have been heterogeneous in design, and applied methodologies and results were frequently inadequately reported. Despite these limitations and the presence of an enormous variability in personal exposure to dust and endotoxin, no clear downward trends in exposure with time were observed, suggesting that working environments within stables remains largely uncontrolled. Exposure control and prevention strategies for livestock farmers are urgently required. These should focus on the development of novel and improved methods of controlling dust and endotoxin exposure within stables based on the currently available knowledge on determinants of exposure.

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Section: General Discussion and Concluding Remarksmentioning

confidence: 95%

A comprehensive review of levels and determinants of personal exposure to dust and endotoxin in livestock farming

Basinas

Sigsgaard

Kromhout

et al. 2013

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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“…5,6 Recently, our group found that adaptation was partly lost during the low-exposure summer season 7 or after use of respiratory protection. 8 As part of a study on effects of different work conditions on lung function and inflammation among swine building workers, we investigated plasma levels and white blood cell mRNA expression of selected proteins known to be involved in the response to inhaled endotoxin or swine dust. Our aim was to identify differences in selected mRNAs and some of their proteins known to relate to work in the swine houses on three ordinary workdays preceded by different work conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunologic mechanisms in the adaptation of swine farm workers to their work environment

et al. 2012

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Swine building exposure causes inflammatory reactions that appear to be attenuated with prolonged periods of contact. The mechanisms behind this adaptation to a dusty and endotoxin-rich environment are poorly understood. Our aim was to compare levels of selected inflammatory mediators in swine farm workers at times with differences in exposure. Participants had blood sampling done before and after each of three work shifts-two in winter and one in summer. Before one of the winter visits they had avoided pulmonary exposure to the swine buildings by wearing respiratory protection for 4 d. The other visits were done after non-protected periods of work. Protein and mRNA concentrations were measured in blood. Mixed models were used for the statistics. During summer higher concentrations of mRNA to IL-8, lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 and bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) were observed. BPI mRNA increased only over the work shift after the unprotected winter period (P = 0.039). BPI decreased from elevated levels across the shift after use of respiratory protection (P = 0.003), but was unchanged during the other two visits. The findings suggest possible roles for these proteins in adaptation to the swine building environment after repeated exposures.

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“…This association is a potential indication of healthy worker effect bias where only the healthiest and most tolerant of symptoms report for work every day. It may also be due to the fact that when workers are away from work exposures their respiratory system rebounds, leading to inflammatory reactions (Bønløkke et al 2012). Another unexpected finding was that at baseline, workers who reported "always" wearing all three types of PPE at work reported increased odds of allergies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Self-reported work activities, mucus membrane symptoms, and respiratory health outcomes among an industrial hog operation worker cohort, North Carolina, USA

Coffman

Hall

Pisanic

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Respiratory disease among industrial hog operation (IHO) workers is well documented; however, it remains unclear whether specific work activities are more harmful and if personal protective equipment (PPE), as used by workers, can reduce adverse health outcomes. Objectives: To assess the relationship between self-reported IHO work activities and PPE use with mucus membrane and respiratory health symptoms in an occupational cohort. Methods: IHO workers (n=103) completed baseline and up to eight bi-weekly (i.e., every two weeks) study visits. Workers reported typical (baseline) and transient (bi-weekly) work activities, PPE use, and physical health symptoms. Baseline and longitudinal associations between work activities and health outcomes were assessed using generalized logistic and fixed-effects logistic regression models, respectively. Results: At baseline, reports of ever versus never drawing pig blood, applying pesticides, and increasing years worked at any IHO were positively associated with reports of eye, nose, and/or throat irritation. Over time, transient exposures, including those associated with dustiness in barns, cleaning of barns, and pig contact were associated with increased odds of symptoms including sneezing, headache, and eye or nose irritation, particularly in the highest categories of exposure. When PPE was used, workers had decreased odds of symptoms interfering with sleep (odds ratio (OR): 0.1; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01, 0.8), sneezing (OR: 0.1; 95% CI: 0.01, 1.0), and eye or nose irritation (OR: 0.1; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.9). Similarly, when they washed their hands ≥8 times per shift (the median) versus less frequently, workers had decreased odds of any respiratory symptom (OR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1, 0.8). Discussion: In this healthy volunteer IHO worker population, increasingly unfavorable work activities were associated with self-reported mucus membrane and respiratory health outcomes. Strong protective associations were seen between PPE use and handwashing and the odds of symptoms, warranting further investigation in intervention studies.

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Work-Related Health Effects in Swine Building Workers After Respiratory Protection Use

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

A comprehensive review of levels and determinants of personal exposure to dust and endotoxin in livestock farming

A comprehensive review of levels and determinants of personal exposure to dust and endotoxin in livestock farming

Immunologic mechanisms in the adaptation of swine farm workers to their work environment

Self-reported work activities, mucus membrane symptoms, and respiratory health outcomes among an industrial hog operation worker cohort, North Carolina, USA

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