Air Quality In Confinement Buildings
(Continued from Page Al)
are increasingly concerned about
the occurrence of chronic lung
disease in humans associated with
confinement farming.
To Kephart the problem hits
close to home. Although he enjoyed
working with the animals in the
500-sow Adams County farrow-to
finiah operation where he worked
in the mid-70s, he found that his
lungs didn’t share his enthusiasm.
Allergic to grass pollen, Ken found
himself coughing and spitting
phlegm from the lung irritation
resulting from spending 75 percent
of his time inside hog housing.
“I actually looked forward to
going outside and shoveling
manure by hand just so I could get
out,” Kephart recalls. “I always
wondered what the inside of my
lungs looked like.”
This extension specialist isn’t the
only one wondering.
lowa University researchers
explored the problem by exposing
rabbits and guinea pigs to a swine
confinement environment 24 hours
a day for 12 months. “The changes
seen in these test animals
enhanced the supposition that long
term occupational exposure to the
atmosphere in swine confinement
buildings could lead to chronic or
permanent pulmonic disease in
persons,” the researchers
reported.
According to this same report,
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published in a 1984 edition of the
American Journal of Veterinary
Research, a variety of respiratory
problems are common to the half
million people who work in swine
confinement buildings. Bronchitis
afflicts nearly 70 percent of this
group, with 12 percent reporting
problems with asthma.
A number of gases have been
reported at potentially harmful
levels in swine buildings, including
ammonia and hydrogen sulfide.
According to Penn State ex
tension agricultural engineer, Dan
Meyer, though, the most pervasive
of all confinement unit pollutants is
probably dust. In a study funded by
the Pennsylvania Pork Producers
Council, Meyer explored the dust
problem in eight large commercial
swine operations last year. The
specialist divides dust into two
types, based on particle size: those
particles five microns or smaller,
capable of making their way into
the lungs, are termed respirable
dust. Total dust includes all par
ticles up to 10 microns. Many of
these larger particles are filtered
out in the nose and esophagus
before reaching the lungs.
In the study Meyer enlisted the
aid of technicians from Penn
State’s Center for Air En
vironment Studies to measure dust
levels. Dust concentrations ranged
from .6 milligrams per cubic
meter to 5.1 for total dust, and .2 to
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1.4 mg/cu. meter for respirable
dust. According to Meyer, the
University of lowa recommends
that total dust levels not exceed 2.5
and respirable dust levels remain
at or below .2 to prevent long-term
health problems.
“Even the good systems (in the
Penn State study) were still too
high in respirable dust levels, if
these figures are accurate,”
Meyer points out. He also stresses
that high-speed recirculation
ventilation systems had much
higher respirable dust levels than
conventional systems. Total dust
levels for both types of systems
were about the same.
In the typical hog finishing unit,
dust is usually composed of about
50 percent feed, with the balance
made up of dried manure, molds,
proteins and dead skin cells.
Bacteria and viruses also hitch a
ride on these particles, says
Meyer.
The problem with this suspended
brew is that most of it isn’t visible,
so victims often fail to make the
connection between the dust and
the coughing and spitting that it
triggers. Then too, those who
experience day-to-day exposure
tend to become desensitized to the
pollutants. One tip-off to potential
problems, says Meyer, is the in
frequent visitor who enters a unit
and comes out coughing.
For farmers whose motto is
“seeing is believing,” Meyer
recommends placing a furnace
Zip Phone.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 20,1986-Al7
filter in front of (Hie of the
building’s recirculating or exhaust
fans, then examining the dust
accumulation.
By contrast, it’s easier to pin a
value on the amount of ammonia
pollution present. The product of
decomposing manure, ammonia is
a common by-product in hog,
poultry and veal operations, or
anywhere manure is handled or
stored.
Typical ammonia levels in
Meyer’s study ranged from zero to
107 parts per million, with SO to 60
ppm being the level at which the
eyes start to bum. “It’s nothing to
find 50 to 70 parts per million,(in
swine buildings) especially in
winter,” says Meyer.
Meyer recommends that am
monia levels not exceed 25 ppm in
environments where producers are
exposed for eight hours. When
concentrations rise to 35 ppm the
safe exposure time drops to one
hour. A syringe-type collecting
instrument utilizing a color metric
evaluation system similar to lit
mus paper pH testing is available
to farmers interested in
monitoring ammonia levels in
their units. Meyer says the test
unit sells for about $125, and each
test costs $2.
Extension poultry specialist
Forest Muir rates manure gases,
particularly ammonia, as the most
important pollutants in poultry
operations. He also points out that
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hvdrogen sulfide can be dangerous
when liquid manure is agitated in
an enclosed environment. Since
many producers are using
fumigation to disinfect houses
between flocks. Muir cautions that
formaldehyde is another poten
tially hazardous gas that should be
added'to the list.
Poultry dust, composed of dry
manure, feed dust and feather and
skin dust, is also a potential health
hazard, he says. Muir rates the
broiler house dust situation more
serious since a producer tends to
spend more time with broilers on a
daily basis than he would with an
equal number of layers. Also,
broiler houses are commonly
cleaned about-every eight weeks,
increasing the amount of exposure
time.
Muir emphasizes that proper
building ventilation is essential to
air quality. During the summer
months an evaporative cooling
system, utilizing high-pressure
spray units at air inlets, will
precipitate much of the dust from
the air inside the building.
Ken Kephart points out that fecal
dust in hog units can be kept to a
minimum by keeping hogs on slats
and flushing frequently.
Another effective way to reduce
dust is to add five percent tallow to
the finishing ration, he says.
Although the addition of fat should
result in some improvement in
average daily gain and feed
conversion, Kephart cautions that
adding fat strictly to improve
performance isn’t normally
economically feasible. “But there
isn’t any question that you can
reduce the amount of dust by
adding fat,” he says, adding that
research suggests that the cleaner
air may reduce the severity of lung
lesions in swine, as well.
One economical way to reduce
dust levels significantly, says the
extension specialist, is to install
extended spouts on feed delivery
(Turn to Page A 46)