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Factors affecting vegetable growers' exposure to fungal bioaerosols and airborne dust.

ABSTRACT: We have quantified vegetable growers' exposure to fungal bioaerosol components including (1?3)-?-d-glucan (?-glucan), total fungal spores, and culturable fungal units. Furthermore, we have evaluated factors that might affect vegetable growers' exposure to fungal bioaerosols and airborne dust. Investigated environments included greenhouses producing cucumbers and tomatoes, open fields producing cabbage, broccoli, and celery, and packing facilities. Measurements were performed at different times during the growth season and during execution of different work tasks. Bioaerosols were collected with personal and stationary filter samplers. Selected fungal species (Beauveria spp., Trichoderma spp., Penicillium olsonii, and Penicillium brevicompactum) were identified using different polymerase chain reaction-based methods and sequencing. We found that the factors (i) work task, (ii) crop, including growth stage of handled plant material, and (iii) open field versus greenhouse significantly affected the workers' exposure to bioaerosols. Packing of vegetables and working in open fields caused significantly lower exposure to bioaerosols, e.g. mesophilic fungi and dust, than harvesting in greenhouses and clearing of senescent greenhouse plants. Also removing strings in cucumber greenhouses caused a lower exposure to bioaerosols than harvest of cucumbers while removal of old plants caused the highest exposure. In general, the exposure was higher in greenhouses than in open fields. The exposures to ?-glucan during harvest and clearing of senescent greenhouse plants were very high (median values ranging between 50 and 1500 ng m(-3)) compared to exposures reported from other occupational environments. In conclusion, vegetable growers' exposure to bioaerosols was related to the environment, in which they worked, the investigated work tasks, and the vegetable crop.

SUBMITTER: Hansen VM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3277710 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Factors affecting vegetable growers' exposure to fungal bioaerosols and airborne dust.

Hansen Vinni M VM Meyling Nicolai Vitt NV Winding Anne A Eilenberg Jørgen J Madsen Anne Mette AM

The Annals of occupational hygiene 20111014 2

We have quantified vegetable growers' exposure to fungal bioaerosol components including (1→3)-β-d-glucan (β-glucan), total fungal spores, and culturable fungal units. Furthermore, we have evaluated factors that might affect vegetable growers' exposure to fungal bioaerosols and airborne dust. Investigated environments included greenhouses producing cucumbers and tomatoes, open fields producing cabbage, broccoli, and celery, and packing facilities. Measurements were performed at different times d ...[more]

PMID: 22003240

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Project description:The aim of the study was to determine the exposure of workers within biodegradable waste processing facilities to bacteria and fungi to identify any exposures of potential concern to health. Occupational measurements were performed in six composting and three bioenergy (bioethanol or methane/biogas) producing facilities. Bioaerosols were measured from breathing zones with Button aerosol or open face cassette filter samplers, and swab specimens were taken from the nasal mucous membranes of the workers. Aspergillus fumigatus, Bacillus cereus group, Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp., Streptomyces spp., and Yersinia spp. were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). A. fumigatus, and mesophilic and thermophilic actinobacteria were also cultivated from filters. Bacterial airborne endotoxins collected by IOM samplers were analyzed using a Limulus assay. Bioaerosol levels were high, especially in composting compared to bioenergy producing facilities. Endotoxin concentrations in composting often exceeded the occupational exposure value of 90 EU/m3, which may be harmful to the health. In addition to endotoxins, the concentrations of A. fumigatus (up to 2.4 × 105 copies/m3) and actinobacteria/Streptomyces spp. (up to 1.6 × 106 copies/m3) in the air of composting facilities were often high. Microbial and endotoxin concentrations were typically highest in waste reception and pre-treatment, equal or decreased during processing and handling of treated waste, and lowest in wheel loader cabins and control rooms/outdoors. Still, the parameters measured in wheel loader cabins were often higher than in the control sites, which suggests that the use of preventive measures could be improved. B. cereus group, Salmonella spp., and Yersinia spp. were rarely detected in bioaerosols or nasal swabs. Although Campylobacter spp. DNA was rarely detected in air, as a new finding, Campylobacter ureolyticus DNA was frequently detected in the nasal mucous membranes of workers, based on partial 16S rDNA sequencing. Moreover, especially A. fumigatus and C. ureolyticus spp. DNA concentrations in swabs after the work shift were significantly higher than before the shift, which indicates their inhalation or growth during the work shift. Microbial qPCR analysis of bioaerosols and swab samples of nasal mucosa allowed measuring exposure in various work operations and during the work shift, identifying problems for health risk assessment to improve working conditions, and evaluating the effectiveness of preventive measures and personal protection of workers.

Project description:Settled airborne dust is used as a surrogate for airborne exposure in studies that explore indoor microbes. In order to determine whether detecting differences in dust environments would depend on the sampler type, we compared different passive, settled dust sampling approaches with respect to displaying qualitative and quantitative aspects of the bacterial and fungal indoor microbiota.Settled dust sampling approaches-utilizing plastic petri dishes, TefTex material, and electrostatic dustfall collectors (EDCs)-were evaluated in indoor spaces in the USA and Finland and in an experimental chamber study. The microbial content was analyzed with quantitative PCR (qPCR) to quantify total bacterial and fungal biomass and through high-throughput sequencing to examine bacterial community composition. Bacterial composition and diversity were similar within a sampling environment regardless of the sampler type. The sampling environment was the single largest predictor of microbial community composition within a study, while sampler type was found to have much less predictive power. Quantitative analyses in indoor spaces indicated highest yields using a petri dish approach, followed by sampling with EDCs and TefTex. The highest correlations between duplicate samples were observed for EDC and petri dish approaches, indicating greater experimental repeatability for these sampler types. For the EDC samples, it became apparent that, due to the fibrous nature of the material, a rigorous extraction protocol is crucial to obtain optimal yields and stable, repeatable results.Correlations between sampler types were strong both in compositional and quantitative terms, and thus, the particular choice of passive settled dust sampler is not likely to strongly alter the overall conclusion of a study that aims to characterize dust across different environments. Microbial cell abundances determined from settled dust varied with the use of different sampling approaches, and thus, consistency in the method is necessary to allow for absolute comparisons within and among studies. Considering practical aspects, petri dishes were found to be an inexpensive, simple, and feasible approach that showed the highest quantitative determinations under typical building conditions, though the choice of sampler will ultimately depend on study logistics and characteristics such as low- or high-exposure settings.

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Factors affecting vegetable growers' exposure to fungal bioaerosols and airborne dust.

Publications

Factors affecting vegetable growers' exposure to fungal bioaerosols and airborne dust.

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