AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
The On-line Detection of Biological Particle Emissions from Selected Agricultural Materials Using the WIBS-4 (Waveband Integrated Bioaerosol Sensor) Technique
DAVID O'CONNOR, David Healy, John Sodeau, University College Cork
Abstract Number: 22 Working Group: Bioaerosols: Characterization and Environmental Impact
Abstract Agricultural activities, including crop harvesting, have for been linked for some time to adverse health effects such as Farmers’ lung, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, aspergillosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This connection is known to be, at least in part, due to the numerous microbiological organisms that live and grow on materials found in occupational settings such as barns, animal shelters, stables and composting sites.
In the study reported here, fluorescence and light scattering signals obtained from primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) were analysed in conjunction with the traditional impaction/optical microscopy technique to provide near real-time data for spore types released from hay and silage. On-line particle emissions were characterised by a Waveband Integrated Biological Sensor (WIBS-4) according to their numbers, size distributions, asymmetry values and fluorescence characteristics. The variables obtained were subsequently plotted to provide potential “fingerprint” signatures for PBAP emissions emanating from both hay and silage. Comparisons between the data acquired by the WIBS-4 bioaerosol sensor, our optical microscopy findings and also previous literature suggest the likely identification of Aspergillus/Penicillium and Actinomycetes spp.