Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:54:25.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aerial pollutants and the health of poultry farmers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2007

R. T. Whyte
R. T. Whyte
Affiliation:
Welfare Science Division, Silsoe Research Institute, Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4HS, UK
Get access

Abstract

The sources and factors by which poultry house dust and gases are generated, the levels encountered and their effect on the respiratory health of stockmen are reviewed. Although exposure to aerial pollutants in intensive housing can lead to respiratory disease, the mechanisms involved in this process are poorly understood. These mechanisms and the dynamics of the micro-environment involved in the generation of dust and gases from poultry litter are discussed. From the limited knowledge available, only partially effective methods of dust and gas control are possible.

Keywords

Ammoniadustpoultryrespiratory diseasestockmanwelfare
Type
Research Article
Information
World's Poultry Science Journal , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , July 1993 , pp. 139 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, D.P., Beard, C.W. and Hanson, R.P. (1964) The adverse effects of ammonia on chickens including resistance to infection with Newcastle disease virus. Avian Research 8: 369–379CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bacon, C.W. and Burdick, D. (1977) Growth of fungi in broiler houses. Poultry Science 56: 653–661CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baseler, M.W., Foglemark, B. and Burrell, R. (1983) Differential toxicity of inhaled Gram-negative bacteria. Infection and Immunity 40: 133–138CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyer, R.B., Klock, L.E., Schmidt, Duwayne C. et al. (1974) Hypersensitivity lung disease in the turkey raising industry. American Review of Respiratory Disease 109: 630–635Google ScholarPubMed
Bongers, P., Houthuijs, D., Remijn, B., Brouwer, R. and Biersteker, K. (1987) Lung function and respiratory symptoms in pig farmers. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 44: 819–823Google ScholarPubMed
Burrell, R. and Rylander, R. (1982) Further studies on inhaled endotoxin-containing bacteria. Environmental Research 27: 325–336CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlile, F.S. (1984) Ammonia in poultry houses: a literature review. World's Poultry Science Journal 40: 99–113CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, G.A. (1986) Dust in livestock buildings: review of some aspects. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 33: 227–241CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, L.E., Wheaton, F.W. and Douglass, L.W. (1990) Empirical models to determine ammonia concentrations from broiler chicken litter. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 33: 260–265CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charles, D., Elson, A. and Warner, A. (1992) In-house manure drying. Poultry Progress 16: 03 1992Google Scholar
Clark, S., Rylander, R. and Larsson, L. (1983) Airborne bacteria, endotoxin and fungi in dust in poultry and swine confinement buildings. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal 44: 537–541CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conceiçāo, M.A.P., Johnson, H.E. and Wathes, C.M. (1989) Air hygiene in a pullet house: spatial homogeneity of aerial pollutants. British Poultry Science 30: 765–776CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cormier, Y., Belanger, J. and Durand, P. (1981) Factors influencing the development of serum precipitins to farmer's lung antigen in Quebec dairy farmers. Thorax 40: 138–142CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cotes, J.E. (1979) Lung Function. Assessment and Application in Medicine. 4th edn. Blackwell Scientific Publications, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Cox, C.S. (1987) The Aerobiological Pathway of Microorganisms. John Wiley, Chichester, UKGoogle Scholar
Cravens, R.L., Beaulieu, H.J. and Buchan, R.M. (1981) Characterisation of the aerosol in turkey rearing confinements. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal 42: 315–318CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crook, B., Robertson, J.F., Glass, Travers S.A., Botheroyd, E.M., Lacey, J. and Topping, M.D. (1991) Airborne dust, ammonia, microorganisms and antigens in pig confinement houses and the respiratory health of exposed farm workers. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal 52: 271–279CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dalhamn, T. (1956) Mucus flow and ciliary activity in the trachea of healthy rats and rats exposed to respiratory irritant gases. Acta Physiologia Scandinavia (Supplement 123) 36: 97Google ScholarPubMed
Dawson, J.R. (1990) Minimizing dust in livestock buildings: possible alternatives to mechanical separation. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 47: 235–248CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demaria, T.F. and Burrell, R. (1980) Effects of inhaled endotoxin-containing bacteria. Environmental Research 23: 87–97CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dennis, C. and Gee, J.M. (1973) The microflora of broiler house litter and dust. Journal of General Microbiology 78: 101–107CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donham, K.J. (1986) Hazardous agents in agricultural dusts and methods of evaluation. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 10: 205–220CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donham, K.J. (1987) Human health and safety for workers in livestock housing. In: Latest Developments in Livestock Housing (Proceedings of the Seminar of the 2nd Technical Section of the CIGR, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA, 22–26 June 1987). St Joseph, Michigan, USA, pp. 86–95Google Scholar
Donham, K.J., Haglind, P., Peterson, Y. and Rylander, R. (1986) Environmental and health studies in swine confinement buildings. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 10: 289–293CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donham, K.J., Rubino, M., Thedell, T.D. and Kammermeyer, J. (1977) Potential health hazards to agricultural workers in swine confinement buildings. Journal of Occupational Medicine 19: 383–387CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donham, K.J., Zavala, D.C. and Merchant, J. (1984) Acute effects of the work environment on pulmonary functions of swine confinement workers. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 5: 367–375CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dutkiewicz, J. (1978) Exposure to dust-borne bacteria in agriculture. Archives of Environmental Health 33: 250–259CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elliott, H.A. and Collins, N.E. (1982) Factors affecting ammonia release in broiler houses. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 25: 413–418, 424CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrant, J. (1990) Fatal warning to rearers. Poultry World June: 10Google Scholar
Grub, W., Rollo, C.A. and Howes, J.R. (1965) Dust problems in poultry environments. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 8: 338–339, 352CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagmar, L., Schütz, A., Hallberg, T. and Sjöholm, A. (1990) Health effects of exposure to endotoxins and organic dust in poultry slaughterhouse workers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 62: 159–164CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatch, T.F. and Gross, P. (1964) Pulmonary Deposition and Retention of Inhaled Aerosols. Academic Press, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Health and Safety Commission (1988) Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. Regulations 1988, Approved Code of PracticeGoogle Scholar
Hering, S.V. (1989) Air Sampling Instruments for Evaluation of Atmospheric Contaminants 7th edn. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, Cincinnati, OhioGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, L.D. and Jordan, K.A. (1978) Aerosol concentration in a turkey barn environment. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 21: 325–328CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, A., Morring, K., Olenchock, S.A., Williams, E. and Hickey, J. (1984) Environmental study of poultry confinement buildings. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal 45: 760–766CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koon, J., Howes, J.R., Grub, W. and Rollo, C.A. (1963) Poultry dust: origin and composition. Agricultural Engineering 44: 608–609Google Scholar
Kroodsma, W., Scholtens, R. and Huis in't Veld, J. (1988) Ammonia admissions from poultry housing systems. In: Proceedings of the Seminar of the 2nd and 3rd Technical Section of the CIGR, Uppsala, Sweden, 20–22 September 1988. JTI Rapport 96(2): 7.1–7.13Google Scholar
Lenhart, S.W. and Olenchock, S.A. (1984) Sources of respiratory insult in the poultry processing industry. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 6: 89–96CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leonard, J.J., Feddes, J.J.R. and McQuitty, J.B. (1984) Air quality in commercial broiler housing. Canadian Agricultural Engineering 26: 65–71Google Scholar
Louhelainen, K., Kangas, J., Husman, K. and Terho, E.O. (1987) Total concentrations of dust in the air during farm work. European Journal of Respiratory Diseases 71 (Supplement No. 152): 73–79Google Scholar
Lovett, J. (1972) Toxigenic fungi from poultry feed and litter. Poultry Science 51: 309–313CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madelin, T.M. and Wathes, C.M. (1989) Air hygiene in a broiler house: comparison of deep litter with raised netting floors. British Poultry Science 30: 23–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McQuitty, J.B., Feddes, J.J.R. and Leonard, J.J. (1985) Air quality in commercial laying barns. Canadian Agricultural Engineering 27: 13–19Google Scholar
Moum, S.G., Seltzer, W. and Goldhaft, T.M. (1969) A simple method of determining concentrations of ammonia in animal quarters. Poultry Science 48: 347–348CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mulhausen, J.R., McJilton, C.E., Redig, P.T. and Janni, K.A. (1987) Aspergillus and other human respiratory disease agents in turkey confinement houses. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal 48: 894–899CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Müller, S., Bergmann, K.-Ch., Kramer, H. and Wuthe, H. (1986) Sensitisation, clinical symptoms and lung function disturbances among poultry farm workers in the German Democratic Republic. American Journal of Industrial Hygiene 10: 221–227Google Scholar
Müller, W. and Wieser, P. (1987) Dust and microbial emissions from animal production. In: Animal Production and Environmental Health (Ed. Strauch, D.). Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 47–89Google Scholar
Nagaraja, K.V. (1982) Ammonia caused E. coli congestion. Feedstuffs 54: 14Google Scholar
Nakaue, H.S., Koelliker, J.K., Buhler, D.R. and Arscott, G.H. (1979) Distribution of inorganic elements in poultry house dust. Poultry Science 60: 1386–1391CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordstrom, G.A. and McQuitty, J.B. (1976) Manure gases in the animal environment: a literature review. Research Bulletin 76–1, Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of AlbertaGoogle Scholar
O'connor, J.M., McQuitty, J.B. and Clark, P.C. (1988) Air quality and contaminant loads in three commercial broiler breeder barns. Canadian Agricultural Engineering 30: 273–276Google Scholar
Oyetunde, O.O.F., Thomson, R.G. and Carlson, H.C. (1978) Aerosol exposure of ammonia, dust and E. coli in broiler chickens. Canadian Veterinary Journal 19: 187–193Google Scholar
Parry, R.R., Schlenker, E.H. and Feistner, B. (1987) Correlation of positive farmer's lung serologies, respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary function tests in non-smoking workers involved in confinement raising of livestock. American Review of Respiratory Diseases 135: A451Google Scholar
Pearson, C.G. (1988) Air cleaning for livestock production buildings. Farm Buildings and Engineering 5: 13–17Google Scholar
Pearson, C.G. (1989) Air cleaning with wet scrubbers. Farm Buildings and Engineering 6: 36–39Google Scholar
Pepys, J. (1980) Immunological perspectives. In: Occupational Pulmonary Disease. Focus on Grain Dust and Health (Proceedings of the International Symposium on Grain Dust and Health, Saskatoon, Canada, 1977) (Eds Dosman, J.A. and Cotton, D.J.). Academic Press, New York, pp. 37–50Google Scholar
Pinello, C.B., Richard, J.L. and Tiffany, L.A. (1977) Mycoflora of a turkey confinement brooder house. Poultry Science 56: 1920–1926CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reece, F.N., Bates, B.J. and Lott, B.D. (1979) Ammonia control in broiler houses. Poultry Science 58: 754–755CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, J.F. (1989) Effect of purge ventilation on the concentration of airborne dust in pig buildings (Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on Agricultural Engineering, Dublin, 4–8 September 1989). Agricultural Buildings 2: 1495–1499Google Scholar
Rockliffe, J. (1991) Reducing odours via yucca extract in animal feed: does it help performance too? Poultry Forum February: 7Google Scholar
Rylander, R. (1986) Lung diseases caused by organic dusts in the farm environment. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 10: 221–227CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rylander, R. and Morey, P. (1982) Airborne endotoxin in industries processing vegetable fibres. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal 43: 811–812CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rylander, R. and Haglind, P. (1983) Relation between FEV1 change over workshift and dust/endotoxin levels. Proceedings of the Seventh Cotton Dust Research Conference,San Antonio, Texas,3–4 JanuaryGoogle Scholar
Sauter, E.A., Petersen, C.F., Steele, E.E. and Parkinson, J.F. (1981) The airborne microflora of poultry houses. Poultry Science 60: 569–574CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schefferle, H.E. (1965) The decomposition of uric acid in built up poultry litter. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 28: 412–420CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schlenker, E.H., Parry, R.R. and Hellickson, M.A. (1987) Respiratory characteristics of poultry laborers. In: Latest Developments in Livestock Housing (Proceedings of the Seminar of the 2nd Technical Section of the CIGR, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA, 22–26 June 1987). St Joseph, Michigan, USA, pp. 127–136Google Scholar
Stahuljak-Beritić, D., Dimov, D., Buthović, D, and Stilinović, L. (1977) Lung function and immunological changes in poultry breeders. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 40: 131–139CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thedell, T.D., Mull, J.C. and Olenchock, S.A. (1980) A brief report of Gram-negative bacterial endotoxin levels in airborne and settled dusts in animal confinement buildings. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 1: 3–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thelin, A., Tegler, O. and Rylander, R. (1984) Lung reactions during poultry handling related to dust and bacterial endotoxin levels. European Journal of Respiratory Disease 65: 266–271Google ScholarPubMed
Veenhuizen, M.A. and Bundy, D.S. (1990) Electrostatic precipitation dust removal system for swine housing. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, International Summer Meeting, Columbus, Ohio, USA, 24–27 June 1990. St. Joseph, Michigan, USA, Paper 904066Google Scholar
Vincent, J.H. and Mark, D. (1981) The basis of dust sampling in occupational hygiene: a critical review. Annals of Occupational Hygiene 24: 375–390Google ScholarPubMed
Welch, A.R. (1987) Dust in animal houses – sources and measurement. In: Environmental Aspects of Respiratory Disease in Intensive Pig and Poultry Houses including Implications for Human Health. EN Agriculture Series, European Communities Commission, pp. 45–53Google Scholar
Yoder, M.F. and Van Wicklen, G.L. (1988) Respirable aerosol generation by broiler chickens. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 31: 1510–1517CrossRefGoogle Scholar