Healthy respiratory systems and air quality go hand-in-hand. Swine producers are at particularly high risk to respiratory disease as a result of the conditions they work in. A recent UMASH project, Occupational Hazards in Pork Production Associated with Production Practices, compared swine pen housing and how differences impacted air quality. Peter Raynor, PhD and lead author’s takeaways:
“While pollutant concentrations were generally slightly higher in a room with pen housing than in a room with stall housing, these concentration differences were considerably smaller than the seasonal differences that we observed. In addition, concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and endotoxin were higher on a day when power washing was performed in the gestation stall housing, suggesting that power washing presents a higher risk of elevated inhalation exposures for workers.”
Want to know more? You can read the full publication, find more information on this project, and stay connected with UMASH online.