AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Single-particle Fluorescence Measurements for Bioaerosol Exposure Monitoring
GAVIN MCMEEKING, Kimberly Anderson, Nicholas Good, John Volckens, Droplet Measurement Technologies
Abstract Number: 273 Working Group: Primary and Secondary Aerosols from Agricultural Operations
Abstract Agricultural workers are at particular risk to high levels of bioaerosol exposure, which have been linked to a wide range of adverse health effects. Inhalation risks from agricultural bioaerosols include endotoxins, bacteria, and fungi – all of which can be present at high concentrations in agricultural environments. Current methods for assessing bioaerosol exposure require long sampling times and do not provide time-resolved measurements, making it difficult to link activities to exposure. Here we evaluate a single particle aerosol fluorescence instrument, the DMT Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor (WIBS-4A), against conventional filter-based measurement techniques to examine the utility of the instrument for bioaerosol exposure assessment. The study focused on a series of measurements performed in dairy parlors located along the Colorado Front Range region in the spring and summer of 2015. Individual particles measured by the WIBS-4A were classified according to fluorescence signature, size and shape and compared with filter-measurements in addition to being evaluated for trends in diurnal patterns and potential relationships with different activities in the parlor (e.g., milking, rotating of livestock). Measurements were also performed in different locations at the dairy parlors including pens, milking sheds and waste treatment areas. Finally additional testing and evaluation of the instrument response and detection efficiency for particles in the size range 10-90 µm were performed using a dry particle dispersal chamber available during the study.