| Popis: |
The levels and composition of agricultural dusts ar e influenced by animal species, production strategy , housing type and ventilation efficiency. Agricultural dust within animal houses is complex and consists of fee d particles, microbes and their products, dander, fecal matter, gases, metals and other organic and inorganic components. Livestock and poultry production facilities may be categorized as confinement, semi-confinement or pasturebased. Characterization of animal husbandry buildin g dust will provide insight into understanding expo sures experienced by animals, workers and farm visitors. The goal was to characterize biophysiochemical feat ures of livestock dusts from swine, small ruminant, equine, poultry and cattle husbandry units. Settled dust s amples were collected from livestock and poultry housing units at the University Farm and other livestock farms ac ross the state. Morphological features were determined by el ectron microscopy and gravimetry. Biochemical evaluation consisted of pH determination and trace metal detec tion via mass spectrometry. Biological assessment c entered on bacterial characterization via selective media, DNA analysis and endotoxin quantitation. Morphological analyses revealed higher levels of respirable and t horacic particles in poultry, swine, small ruminant and equine units compared to the dairy unit (p |
