AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
The Effect of Horse Bedding Type on Air Quality in an Equine Farm
YEVGEN NAZARENKO, Michael L. Westendorf, Gediminas Mainelis, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Abstract Number: 574 Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
Abstract In New Jersey alone there are close to fifty thousand horses spread across several thousand farms. When horses are in their stalls, airborne particulate matter from their stall bedding materials is released, especially due to horses’ activities. This aerosol can be inhaled by the horses and become a factor in their health and racing performance. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of different stall bedding materials on the potential for the horse inhalation exposure.
Four horse stall bedding materials were tested: wood shavings, straw, wood pellets Woody Pet™ (Woody Pet Products Inc., Surrey, BC, Canada) and wheat straw pellets STREUfex™ (Fex Straw Manufacturing Inc., Lumberton, NC).
We used a Grimm 1.108 optical particle counter (OPC) (0.30-20micro-meters, Grimm Technologies, Inc., Douglassville, GA ) to measure various mass concentration fractions (PM2.5, PM10 and Total PM (<20micro-meters)) of airborne particles near the breathing zone of horses when those four stall bedding materials were in use. A control measurement session was conducted with no horses present. The measurements were performed at Rutgers Equine Science Center in New Brunswick, NJ.
During measurements, three adjacent stalls occupied by horses had the same bedding material and the OPC was placed in the middle stall. The measurements were conducted over 7 consecutive weeks during spring time between 4:20 pm and 8:00 am when the horses were turned in.
Total PM for Woody Pet™ (range 459-1126micro-grams/m$^3) was significantly higher while Total PM for straw (110-253micro-grams/m$^3) was significantly lower than control (305-385micro-grams/m$^3). We also found significantly higher PM10 production from Woody Pet™ (127-373micro-grams/m$^3) compared to straw bedding (63-126 micro-grams/m$^3).
In conclusion, inhalation exposure of horses to airborne particulate matter at equine farms is likely to substantially depend on the stall bedding type, and can be minimized with its proper selection.